Golden Apple 2000; 14 Debbe Goldberg

Is state you name in start for us please we get it right Debbie Goldberg dbbb Goldberg to conductivity Artie Really glad I asked because I have it still I know, I know. I know. I know, I know. My father never spelled my name right. Dare to be different. And what do you teach? How would you title yourself? We're going to put Debbie Goldberg in a title. Eighth grade teacher, social studies. Social studies, geography, social studies. As I said before, I'm really intent about geography is just such an important concept through the Gmet Downs. I'd like eighth grade geography, social studies. American history. So, geography, American history. Geography, American history. Geography, middle school. Yes. Okay. Okay.

How'd you get into teaching? Really by default. Okay. Let me start over again. Repeat the sentence for me. I got into teaching really by default. I got into teaching really by default. Okay. Let's, let's, okay. Let me start. I just didn't know what you wanted from me. All right. Let me start. Okay. Okay. So, how did you get into teaching? I became a teacher really out of default, not knowing what I wanted to do. And what I wanted was to get an education. And teaching just became the way for me to get an education and to experience things. I think if I had gone to college later, I probably would have become a scientist. What kind of scientist? It sounds very different. I become, I'm sorry. They sound very opposite, but I think the scientist ought to become either an astronomer or a geologist, because they're really very much the same.

Why things began and what things are one in the outermost and the other in the innermost sense. And I'm very fascinated always with not what happened, but why something happened. That's much more important to me than the end product. What do you think is the most important thing about teaching kids about history? The most important thing about teaching children about history is that history is their life. It's not an old life. It's not somebody else's life. I spend a lot of time in my American history classes when we did the Constitution, pulling stories directly out of the newspaper going, what does this have to do with that? I think the proudest thing about what I'm doing now is I don't have kids ask me anymore. Why do we study history? Why do we need to learn all this old stuff? They really understand the why, the connection and how it rolls continuously, and it is so gratifying to have them come to me what they've read in the newspaper and have an understanding of how that could take place in this country

and why it is either right or wrong according to our national values in the way the country was set up. And I find that absolutely thrilling and I find it extremely exciting because I feel like I might actually be beginning to develop participatory citizens in our democracy, which is something we lack so much today. So how do you get these kids interested to that extent? I'm passionate about it. I think you can tell that I'm so passionate about what I do and I'm so, like some days I come in with articles from the newspaper that have made me absolutely rabid and I will stand in front of the class and I will say, let me read this to you and then you tell me why this upset me so much. And when I find it that passionate and I find it that interesting and when I pull them into it and make them feel like they're adults and I remind them continually that in four years that's not the same value or good work. In four years they will be doing the voting, they will be making the decisions

and that it does matter and one person one vote does matter and I make them feel important because they aren't important. It is important. I'm a first-generation American and democracy is incredibly important to me. It is very important to me to look at the rest of the countries in the world and it's very scary to me to see how we're letting the democracy begin to disappear by non-participation. And I feel very passionate and I feel that they can change it and I think they understand that I truly believe that they are the future and I truly believe that we can change things. A child of the 60s, I started and went to college and I still believe that, I believe all of that and I believe we can change things. And we change it one person at a time and we change it face to face and we change it with passion and with care and with thought. And I respect what they say and I give them that respect

and they give it back and therefore it functions into my subject. And they understand I explain to them everything I do and why I do it. I don't expect them to do it because I said so. I want them to know how important this is and how important it is to me and how important it is to their country and how important it's going to be for their children. This is a sacred trust to me, it really is what I do. I love what I do. I love teaching geography and American history. I absolutely adore it. I think we're done with the interview. You just answered four of my questions. But I'm going to ask them to get anyway and then you can edit in what you want. I might get a little bit different phrasing that works better than another. I'm going to edit. You did just give me my whole sound bite there. It was great. But what do you think is the single most important thing? I want to answer this one.

It sounds to me that the single most important thing is students can take away from your classes and it's just a story to my friends. Yes, that's it. Thank you. Give me that sound bite. In 30 seconds if you can. The most important thing to me that they leave my class with is understanding that they are an American citizen and what the responsibility is and that we are a democracy and that they're vote counts and this is their country to make or break. That's great. Now you remind me of one of my favorite teachers in junior high school in seventh grade. Mr. Gulp, who was just like that. Thank you. And would drag us into class and stand up there and give us some rabbit opinion that we could agree or disagree with. Yeah, and you don't wrap yourself. In fact, today in my other classes we won't be doing it there. We discuss nationalism. And I'm so against nationalism because that's what destroys your country. You know, my country right or wrong. It should be your country. Let's fix it. Let's make it better.

Well, you know, obviously you see how rabid I am about that at this point. Okay, so here's another redundant question. What's your teaching philosophy or philosophy of life that fits into teaching? My philosophy of life and teaching is that every individual deserves respect. And if you would truly honestly respect them, not pretend to respect them. They will respect you back. And my philosophy of teaching as strange as this sounds is I learn as much from my students every day as they learn from me. And as long as you really understand that as a teacher that gives them the respect, that gives them the feeling that they can belong and contribute to your class. Teaching is active and passive and learning should be incredibly active as well as passive. Why do you think you won? Wait, I have to think on this one a second. Good, finally a hard question.

I didn't expect to win. I didn't expect to win at all. As a matter of fact, when they came to judge me, my kids came up afterwards and said, well, when you get to find out if you won. And I said, winning is not important at this point. The point that they had to come and watch us was what was important. And now it's in somebody else's hands. And we think we're wonderful. And that's all that really matters. I hope that I won because I teach in an unusual way. I hope that I won because I'm passionate about teaching. I'm incredibly passionate about the search for knowledge and learning. And I hope that I won because my students are wonderful. Because that's how I show what kind of teacher I am. It kind of goes into the next question or study questions. And that no teacher works in the vacuum clearly. Oh, absolutely not. And you have the staff around you. So how did this community, how did the Vargas Middle School help you get to this point? I've had two principals since I've been here at DeLargas.

And Mrs. Cardin and Mrs. Baca. Both of them, to my great gratitude, have allowed me to be what I am. As long as my kids are learning, as long as I'm covering what I need to cover, and as long as I'm doing what I need to do, they allow me to do it in the way that I want to do it. And that changes from day to day, and it changes with my class, and it changes with my atmosphere. And I have teachers in this building who have taught me so much. I have learned they open their doors, I go in their classroom, and I readily take things from them and incorporate it into what I do. And I hope that they will come to me and take things from me and incorporate it into their classroom. The teacher right next door, Mr. Pope, when I work on projects, he has the Media Lab. He just lets my students go over, who've had him, for Media Lab, and use what they need for my project. There's a lot of incredible teachers in this school. I mean truly incredible teachers that love teaching and love knowledge.

And we sit every lunchtime and we discuss philosophy, we discuss problems. It's like my little learning class every day that we have a topic from. And it allows me to really enjoy and be passionate with what I do. And it allows me to feel like I really have colleagues that I can go to with problems or with questions. And I do that. And this school has just been an incredible place. I don't know if the Vargas school changes, if something happens. I don't know if I would continue to teach. I've had such liberty here and such support. And what I do, I can't imagine teaching in another junior high school. Now you strike me as somebody who can be a bit controversial. You're discussing things in class that I might really take some parents off. Do you get support from the parents? Do you run into much of that? I have several times had parents whose children have done poorly in my class.

Of course, come and be unhappy with me. But I have wonderful parents and I have parents that realize what I'm doing. And many times I understand what I'm doing that's controversial. I've been doing this for a lot of years. And sometimes we'll come to a point or agreement in the class that I know if the student goes home and parrots this to their parents, their parents are going to tear their hair out and go what's going on in this school. So we debrief. After we do something incredibly controversial, we debrief when it's over that. Do you understand in the context to which we came to this view? And do you understand what this means? It's very good for the students because they need to understand the context. And I had a parent not at this school many years ago come to me in the first time I met him. He said, you must be Debbie says. And I said, I didn't get it at all. My students called me by my first name there. I didn't get it at all.

And I said, excuse me. And he said, well, everything at home is Debbie says. Debbie says. Debbie says. I really try to teach human values and what is right and what is wrong from a personal philosophical sense. And I think most of my parents truly understand that. And I have an open door. I love to have parents come to my room. And I had several parents this year with their students in my class. And I can't tell you how wonderful it was to have parents come up to me afterwards saying, this is just the best class. I enjoyed this class so much. I learned so much. I don't have that problem. And I'm often very surprised that I don't myself accept. I don't believe in a solid truth. I don't believe this is absolutely right. This is absolutely wrong. So in my classes, I'm usually the devil's advocate. And so if they come up with this, well, this is what you mean. Then I will immediately throw something else in which makes them go, well, wait a minute. Maybe this is not the answer. So I really try to make them think and to look at things.

And I think because I teach that also. I don't think parents get upset with me because they understand it's a concept and a thought process. And the very fact that I want them to think. That's what is important. And parents want their kids to think. And their parents are thrilled when they come home and say, did you read what happened to the alien on Gonzales today? Did you hear about the gambling? Did you hear about this? That their kids actually have informed opinions and can discuss with them? Does there anything you want to add? I think you can remember it pretty darn well. No. I can't think of another thing to ask you as far as... I mean, I have tons of questions for you. But, you know, be sitting in your class. Now, let me ask you this. We're going to be doing a... Woo! Hey, guys. Are you ready to go together with me? I am. Do I? Do I?

No. Hey, you! Come on! Come on! Come on! I like it! Come on! It's a new student. Put your bags in the front of the room, take a desk. Coden back in front of the room, sit in a desk. Come on, you got your head shine. Go in, put your bags in the front of the room, sit in a desk. Fine. Mr. Hubbard's room. Come on! Get some spin-off. Bag's in the front of the room, get the desk. Seminar. And I think I've chosen a really hard topic.

Where we have the balls. Where we have the balls. There's things out of our green from all year. So what I want, now listen to what we're going to do today, because we have to do it slightly different. We're going to circle up the wagons like we usually do. But I want to leave a space in there of about two desks so that they can come in and out with the camera. Okay? So, no empty desks. Leave an empty desk for me in a space of two. So let's circle, huh? The empty desk is pushing back against the wall. I'll help you. Let's just get this together. So, let's leave a little space here for them to come in and out, guys. Thank you. Yes. Push those in the back. That'll be fine. Everybody have ladies? That's fine. You'll slip in here. We'll slide over just a little bit, honey. Felicia's. This slide over a little bit.

Okay. Okay. Okay, wait. Okay. And we were afraid you wouldn't talk and you're just like normal. I'm so happy. Okay. I'm going to do a setup here of what we're doing. So far this year we've been looking at American history and kind of a timeline and cause and effect. We've tried to do that. And we looked at the way that we treated the Native Americans. We looked at the kind of people that came over here to settle. And we looked at the reasons that they came to settle. We have looked at the Revolutionary War. We have looked at the culture in Africa before that we brought the slaves over

and what we took from them, what we took from the Native Americans to make our life richer. We've looked at the Constitution. We've looked at the Declaration of Independence. We've read these words. We read the newspaper every week. We see what's going on in our country today. We relate that back to why could this happen here? I got a really hard question for you. So please remember, the three parts of seminar are talking, listening, and thinking. This may actually require some thought on your part. Uh oh. Oh no. I know. This is scary. I want to know what do you think it means to be an American? What do you think America is? And what do you think America will be choosing all these things that we've seen? Good things and bad things. Where did we start? Where are we going?

And why are we going there? Where are we going? Where are we going? Where are we going? Where are we going?

Where are we going? Where are we going? Where are we going?