A Change For the Better (Caitlin)

The same routine I followed day in and day out with my class: Start with a recap of the last lesson, build the skill du jour, listen to music, describe said music, and end with time to work or play games. Today, I would get a new class. It's hard to believe how fast time flies and the changes my teaching makes. Caleb went from dreading this class to the point of feeling sick at the beginning to having a solid A in the class and loving it. Yuki's teachers reported that she seemed happier and more motivated after my music class. Other students showered me with gifts that spoke volumes without any words. After getting out of the hospital, Adrian gave me the arrows he made in Basic Survival. I had no idea why, but he held a special place in my heart. Katelyn arranged Everything's Alright for note block choir and is performing it in the sixth grade note block ensemble. I would know the names of my new class today.

Today, I noticed a letter from the Minecraftian School Administration sat on my desk. I was worried as I tore it open. Had I been fired for not teaching enough courses? Were there new standards to be met? I unfolded the letter and read:

To Whom it May Concern:

Mindcrack High School and Middle School is becoming a part of the Initiate Training and Education Program (ITEP). This means that there are modifications to be made in your curriculum in order to accommodate initiates and non-initiates alike as students. We need your full support of the Initiate Program as it is part of the Minecraftian way of life.  It is a tradition that started as military training for the First Minecraftian War, so, by doing this, we preserve history.

The Initiate Program is an opportunity for Minecraftian youth to survive in the wilderness as quasi-immortal beings with enhanced strength and cognition. Most initiates are in between the ages of 12 and 19, but initiates as young as 10 have been selected via the lottery process. 

I have always been concerned about the Initiate Program. What are they getting initiated for that would require them, at such a tender age, to survive on basically nothing? I have studied the Eight Minecraftian Wars and how the Minecraftian military used something similar to the Initiate Program to enhance their armies, but no such thing is needed today. My heart breaks for the children who have to give up their names, their identities, and the comfort of a family all in the name of tradition. Some of my students: Emma, Brady, and Luke have left to be initiates and never returned. I wonder how they are in the harsh elements beating against their fair little faces.

Most initiates are uneducated due to the lack of available education and those who are enrolled in Minecraftian schools have experienced their grades dropping by as much as 30% due to the lack of accommodations available to them. By joining the Initiate Training and Education Program, your school will become an Initiate Training Academy. Please go to these coordinates (35, 234, 145.53) to  review the policies and standards of ITAs.

We wish your luck with your transition, so drop a note in our chest if you have any questions, concerns, or comments. Please alert your students of the transition and assist them with the transition. Keep in mind that this is as difficult for them as it is for you. Mindcrack courses that need modification are:

• AP Brewing
• Honors Weapon Modding
• Chemistry I
• Chemistry II
• AP Physics, Year 1 and 2
• AP Biology
• Advanced English 7th Grade
• Advanced English 8th Grade
• General Minecraft Skills
• General Music
• 6th Grade Redstone
• 8th Grade Physical Science 
• 7th Grade Geology and Mining 

 Thank you for understanding. For more information, contact the Minecraft Education Department. There will be a meeting today at 06500.

Yours Truly,
Alisha H. Netherfield
CEO of the Minecraft Education Department 

My head started buzzing with questions. How did Alisha get to be head of the Minecraftian Education Department? Was it really her that spearheaded the equal opportunity reform? This Alisha was not the one I knew years ago. I wonder what caused her change of heart. I never knew for sure, but something told me it had something to do with the slaying of the Ender Dragon. When Steve made that final hit with his sword, he made history. He started a new era. He made things better for all of us, not just me. Alisha often muttered things about the bad education system and, now that she has risen to the top, she is making it better. 

The time for the meeting came rather quickly. All Mindcrack teachers assembled in the theater while the students relaxed at home, practiced combat, or studied for tests. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. All this change at once sent me off balance. A few of the middle school teachers glanced concernedly at me. The teachers and a few of the more savvy students shared a joke that I should be a science teacher because it is pretty much expected of Mindcrack teachers to be idiosyncratic in some way, but science teachers even more so. I have taught entire classes without oral speech and my students did not question me once for it. They started writing down their questions and answers on paper themselves. Perhaps a book they read whilst in literature class enlightened them on a part of me even I struggled to crack for years.

Alisha, with her striking gold eyes, spoke with alacrity. She talked about modifying the curriculum and policies to fit the needs of initiates. Unfortunately, Mindcrack was never flexible with absences and for a good reason too. Why would I want a student who had an erratic absence pattern and who was too busy surviving to get their work done? I raised this issue. The high school teachers nodded in assent.
         "It would mean that I have to change the nature of my AP Chemistry course," complained Daisy Carraway, the chemistry teacher at Mindcrack. Unlike the adaptable, dynamic Tom Watts, the biology teacher, she readily protested anything that meant altering the curriculum and upsetting previous policies.
         "If you're smart enough to teach an AP course, you should have the intelligence to make slight changes for the benefit of our initiates while maintaining the nature of the course." She went on to general music modifications. According to her, I would have to completely derail my teaching methods! Doing away with the worksheets, teaching on the fly, and teaching different things to different classes all in one day sent me spinning. "Miss Netherfield, what do you have to say about my proposal?" I tried to speak, but my words would not come! It was just my luck that I forgot my notepad too. Tears filled my eyes as I began to panic. My fellow teachers had mixed reactions. Some laughed. Some looked concerned.
         "Come on, who gave her a teaching license?" A combat teacher cut into my soul. "I wonder how students listen to a teacher who can't talk!" They did listen to me when I couldn't talk. They even stopped speaking themselves.
         "Who gave you yours?" Steve rose and began challenging the combat teacher. "You shouldn't teach if you're...you're.." He couldn't seem to find the words. The shame was now directed at him. He stammered and seethed with visible frustration. His pain became mine. A new energy surged through me.
         "Teaching is about making a difference in the lives of students and delivering to them useful skills for their benefit. I know many students in the Mindcrack Band Program who don't mind if their teacher misses a word or two and who play their instruments quite well. I have even been told about a student whose life was saved because they chose their instrument over their sword. We should-"
         "All right, Soapbox Sadie. Now, let's see how we're going to modify the sixth grade courses." Alisha went on. She suggested less presentations and more leniency on late assignments. She was going to turn my teaching methods on their head. As much as that upset me, I was also glad of that she was as passionate about education as I was. "Now, let's talk about dress code leniency and absences."
         "But deviating from the dress code is a sign of disrespect!" I hurriedly tried to maintain the routine and policies. I remembered that shortly after Emma became an initiate, I sent her to the office because her fingertips barely hung over the edge of her skirt. She started protesting and telling me that it was all the fabric she had. Alisha addressed my concerns.
         "And so does over-enforcement. A 12 year old Mindcrack student by the name of Emma Turner told me that her teacher treated her unfairly by telling her that her skirt was too short because it was one pixel shorter than her fingertips. As important as modesty is, fear of violating the dress code is a reason why many initiates choose to discontinue their schooling. You said school was about making a difference in the lives of students.  If clothing prevents you from doing that, I feel sorry for your students already." My students would have readily disagreed. All of them comply with my policies and would say that they have more fun while doing it.
          "And why would I want initiate students? Frequent unexcused absences, disregard for the dress code, and incomplete work are all signs of a bad student. Why would we want bad students?"
          "You have a very narrow definition of a good student, then. Meeting adjourned!" Alisha packed up her things and a new feeling sank into me. Perhaps it wasn't initiate-hood that made Emma quit school. Perhaps it was the policies. One thing I know for certain is: It was me.