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Getting Their Attention. It Can Be Easier Than You Think

Getting Their Attention. It Can Be Easier Than You Think

Getting students engaged in a lesson can be an enormous challenge. Teachers have so much competition. Distractions from social media, societal and family issues, and raging adolescent hormones are just a few of the things that come before anything a teacher has to offer in the world of today’s students. Pity the poor math teacher trying to excite the students about the algorithm of the day. No thank you.

History and Civics teachers have it relatively easy. So much of what we have to “sell” comes with a wonderful back story. Why not use those stories to engage the students? Instead of diving headfirst into the three branches of government, why not provide a short vignette that explains the origin or importance of the how those structures came to be?

For example: Start the lesson with this quote from President George Washington.

“Few men have virtue to withstand the highest bidder.”

    — George Washington

First, post or read the quote and then ask the students to explain what they think the quote means. Accept all student responses without comment. Nothing turns off students more quickly than immediately having their opinions dismissed. (Remember, these are opinions on what might be the meaning of the quote.) After fielding several opinions, tell them in today’s vernacular what the quote means but do not leave it there. Tell the reason for the quote. Here is the back story for the quote:

During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington was worried about spies. Everyone is familiar with the story of Benjamin Arnold but there were many others willing to spy for either side. General Washington was especially suspicious of double agents enlisted among his own ranks. One suspected spy was Elijah Hunter, a prominent farmer who had first been recruited as a British spy by a Loyalist governor and then convinced to play both sides by patriot leaders. In August 1779, Washington wrote a letter to Major General Robert Howe, explaining why he didn’t trust the young spy. The British, Washington explained, possessed significantly more money than the Americans and could corrupt the agents to favor their side. He advised Howe that he thought it “necessary to be very guarded, with those who are professedly acting as double characters.”

Now, how does this relate to the three branches of government? Most students are merely taught that the three branches of government exist to manage distinct functions of government:  

•  the Legislative to write the laws

•  the Executive to enforce the laws

    •  the Judicial to determine if the laws that are written are Constitutional

What is often neither taught nor emphasized is that these separations of powers were written as a means of checks and balances. The Founding Fathers recognized the fragility of human nature as expressed by James Madison in Federalist Paper 51

“If men were angels, no government would be necessary, if angels were to      govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be          necessary.”

and purposefully crafted a document that would protect the government from corruption. Few people, even students, can resist a good spy story. Just maybe, by getting their attention with a true tale of human treachery and corruption, the teacher will be able to engage the students in a lesson about the oh so dry subject of the structure of government. It’s at least worth a try.

Let’s take a look at another famous quote:

“Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

    — Theodore Roosevelt

Following the same procedure, the teacher could introduce a lesson or unit on Diplomacy by displaying this quote from President Theodore Roosevelt. The quote itself is obvious in meaning but few people know the story behind the quote.

Theodore Roosevelt is famously known for his "Big Stick Diplomacy" policy which was a mainstay during his career. When he was New York's governor, he credited the phrase as a South African proverb, according to a 1900 article in the Brooklyn Eagle. As Vice President, he delivered a speech at the 1901 Minnesota State Fair explaining that he believed the soft-power of diplomacy was best bolstered by the lingering presence of military might. The rest of Teddy’s quotation, however, is worth hearing: “If a man continually blusters, if he lacks civility, a big stick will not save him from trouble, and neither will speaking softly avail, if back of the softness there does not lie strength, power. In private life there are few beings more obnoxious than the man who is always loudly boasting, and if the boaster is not prepared to back up his words, his position becomes absolutely contemptible.”

While this back story is not as compelling as the George Washington spy tale, it does contain elements that are of interest to students – human behavior often seen on the schoolyard. Students can easily relate to this story. Additionally, it can be applied to any number of real-life global scenarios played out daily.

One more:

“Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed.”

    — Dwight D. Eisenhower

This is a quote that can launch a lesson related to the post-World War II era leading into the Civil Rights era.

This speech was given in March 1953. Josef Stalin had just died. The Cold War was in full swing and Eisenhower saw an opportunity to end Cold War hostilities. Rather than just indict the Soviet regime — he wanted to call an end to the growing arms race. Eisenhower had been a five-star general and Supreme Commander of NATO in World War II. However, he believed that war-fighting nations had been understandably derelict of their duties at home and needed to shift priorities. He presented the speech, called “The Chance for Peace,” to the American Society of Newspaper Editors. He considered these words so important; they'd later be engraved over his tomb.

The quote itself is not difficult to unpack. However, the revelation that a career military leader is advocating for what seems to be peace initiatives can lead to a wonderful discussion about the complexities of public policy and who authors those policies.

The quotes used in this post were all spoken or written by former presidents. However, there are many more quotes that can be used from presidents, politicians, historical figures, and others. It is important to use quotes that complement the content that is being taught and that a small vignette or story accompany the quote so that students can make a connection to their lives or current events. The more interesting the story, the better the chance the teacher has in pulling the student into the lesson.

And after all, isn’t that what teaching is all about?

Note: Portions of the stories behind the quotes were adapted from  "The Story Behind 8 Famous Presidential Quotes" www.triviagenius.com