Taught some
while in Peace Corps in Bombay's Worli Chawls and at Our Lady's Home
Orphanage and Bombay's exclusive John Connon School. Taught while
obtaining M.A. and Ph.D. at Glendora High and part-time at Citrus
College and later at University of San Francisco and Dominican
University. Enjoyed teaching and look forward to doing more.
Was effective, thought provoking
teacher, with all that implies.
Teaching FAQs:
Were you a demagogue in and out of the
classroom? Nah, I was just
a textbook democracy teacher.
Were you insensitive to the self esteem needs of
students as reflected in their grades? What does that
mean?
Weren't you a terrible grader? I once flunked
about 67% of my students at the quarter grading period -- which happened
to be one of the charges against me when the administration tried
to dismiss me . My belief about flunking
students was covered in Harper's Weekly.
Did you and the administration sometimes
disagreed on educational philosphy and teacnher enfranchisement? Sometimes
I publically and basically disagreed on bootstrapping
and voting.
You were vocally against the Vietnam War and
number one on the San Gabriel Valley's John Birch Society's hit list for
several years. Were there many kids at Glendora High School
against the war? More and more gutty kids
quit following the Vietnam bandwagon.
Did you rant like a demagogue? Some
people thought so.
Aha, so you admit being a demagogue? I
admit this
Were you charged with bad odor, typographical
errors, having profane words in hand-outs, being 'pro-black God and
anti-white Jesus Christ', being a bad teacher and fired by your high
school administration? The administration attempted to fire me
and we went to court.
What was the result? A student summed it up
thus, and I was told I became the third non-tenured teacher in
California's high school history to win such a dismissal
.
Don, do you think you
are understanding the driving forces behind the formation of the United
Nations?
Ah, yeah, I think so., Mr Hunn. Ah.. ah, I'm just..ah...
taking a lot of notes about what you've been saying..Taking them
in a creative way you...uhm...
suggested might help us remember historical stuff.
"Okay... Would you like to show me or the class
your notes?"
"Nah. Maybe some other day when my
penmanship is better...."
