I gave a science/maths lesson today while out running. I didn’t plan it, it just happened. And like some students the ones I gave the lesson to didn’t appreciate it nor want it.
Let me recreate the classroom for you. Leafy Suburbia, late afternoon, not too hot, not too humid, in fact quite a nice time for a run. A downhill section, which I love by the way, leading down to the station, a pavement (sidewalk) wide enough for maybe three large people abreast.
My students appear, all three of them, from around the corner and head in my direction. At this point they are still 200 metres or so away from me. They are fairly typical of this area and have that kind of swagger that shouts “Don’t mess with these boys”. They are probably 17 or 18 years old and I know immediately they are not going to get out of the way. They haven’t spotted me yet so I could easily cross the road and avoid them but if I did that there would be no lesson. One of them looks up and sees me. The Teacher has entered the classroom.
There is about 30 seconds before we will reach a point where we can touch each other and I find maths formulas and scientific experiments going through my head. I would guess that the combined weight of these three is about 400 lbs give or take and in a normal “Pavement face off” most people would avoid them or come off second best. And these young students are using past performance as an indicator to future predictability. What they forgot to take into consideration is all the factors. I weigh 220 lbs, am 6’2″ and am running at near to 8 mph downhill. I am a bowling ball and they are just skittles, they just haven’t realised it yet.
I move left, they move that way, I move right, they cover me. I have two choices now: Stop and effectively be bullied out of the way or become the bowling ball. I’ve never been bullied in my life and as I get close to being 50 I’m not starting now.
I’d love to end this story by telling you that I knocked all three down and that they learned their lesson but life just doesn’t work like that.
I only got two of the buggers, the third one will do well in school if not in life.