When Ariane Taught the Geography Class

In a quiet classroom in Millfield High School, Ms. Turner was beginning her geography class as she had done countless times before. However, fate had other plans for her that day. Within the first ten minutes of the lesson, a sudden mishap unfolded. Ms. Turner lost her balance on a stool, tumbling to the floor with an audible thud. The class gasped as their teacher clutched her ankle in pain.

Panicking, some students rushed to help, while others fumbled to find their phones to call for assistance. The school nurse was swiftly on the scene, and soon Ms. Turner was being carefully carried away on a stretcher. The remaining students exchanged uncertain glances, wondering if the class was dismissed.

Amidst the confusion, Ariane, a diligent and responsible student, took a step forward. With a calming voice, she suggested that they continue with the lesson as planned. "I think we can handle this," she said, exuding confidence that belied her youth.

Ariane began to ask the types of questions Ms. Turner typically posed, guiding the class through the material. She made sure to involve every student, encouraging them to share their thoughts and participate in the discussion. Despite the unexpected turn of events, the atmosphere in the room shifted from chaos to focused learning.

As the impromptu lesson progressed, the school principal, Ms. Rodriguez, happened to pass by the classroom. Curious, she peered through the small window in the door, observing the scene within. The students were engaged, and Ariane was leading the class with admirable composure.

Ms. Rodriguez spent just a few moments before moving on. After school, Ariane approached the principal and asked, "Why didn't you enter the classroom when you came by?"

Ms. Rodriguez smiled and replied, "I didn't need to walk in. Knowing your high level of maturity, I was confident you were doing the right thing. Kindly join our next faculty meeting on Wednesday at 1 pm—so I can publicly acknowledge your contribution to our school."

Ariane, taken aback but proud, attended the faculty meeting. She sat in the meeting with her new peers -- school teachers with many years of experience teaching. Ms. Rodriguez made her comments short to allow Ariane to return back to her class.  She said, "Most of you know Ariane as a student at our school, but I just want to acknowledge that she is both a student and teacher at our school. The purpose of education is to prepare students to handle unexpected situations. Our school is doing something right when one of our students rises to the occasion. We should not be surprised when that happens because the entirety of our work is to support such things happening."

Ariane was expecting she might receive a round of applause from the other teachers. No applause occurred. As she slipped back to her class, Ariane realized she gained something better than a round of applause -- she received wisdom that she could carry with her throughout her life. 

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Public domain. Freely distribute in print or digital form.

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Story discussion questions for parents and teachers to pose:

1. Based on the incidents in this story, how likely do you think it might be for Ariane to choose teaching as a career? Based on her temperament, what other careers might she be considering? Explain your thinking. What careers might she be considering that are not connected to her temperament revealed in this story?

2. What wisdom did Ariane gain from attending the faculty meeting? Could she have gained more than one piece of wisdom? Explain your thinking.

3. Do you think Ms. Turner returned to teach class the next day? Why or why not?

4. This story was written using ChatGPT.  Predict how many sentences were used to prompt this story. This story has 32 sentences. Do you think the prompt was seven, ten, or fifteen sentences? Perhaps more than fifteen? Explain your thinking.

5. Why would this story be a lesser story if the faculty broke out in applause in the faculty meeting?

6. Although this story is a fictional story, do you think it might have been based on something the author witnessed or heard about?  What incidents in your own life might lend themselves to short fictional treatment?  Could you tell those stories with due privacy to the parties in the real life incidents? How can privacy matters be best attended to?
 
7. Based on the temperament of the author of this story, what changes to the generated story do you think he made? Explain your thinking. 

8. What is an open educational resource (OER).  Is this story an OER? Why?

9. Bonus question: Do you know any tweens or teens who would have done what Ariane did in this story?

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Recommended reading --

Free Innovation, E von Hippel, 2017. Cambridge MA: MIT Press
 
Recommended viewing --
 
"How we're reverse engineering the human brain in the lab" (Sergiu P. Pasca)
 
 
 
 
--
--
Phil Shapiro, pshapiro@his.com
 
He/Him/His

"Wisdom begins with wonder." - Socrates
"Learning happens thru gentleness."
"We must reinvent a future free of blinders so that we can choose from real options."  David Suzuki

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