Biography of a Twelve Year Old

Autobiography brings my mind to biography. I just returned from a computer conference in Palm Springs, California. I interviewed a group of school children, 6th graders- 11 and 12 years of age. They created a giant time line via “Tom Snyder Productions”. I take these little videos when I interview with my Aptek camera. What I look for today is ways to turn on children to education and these children were turned on. I am focused on technology in education, because that is my job, my orientation and training. But they called my attention to what they were wearing. A girl said’ My name is Mary Beth but my character is Clara Barton. I said, “Oh, you’re Clara Barton?” Then she jumped right into the character. Assembled before me was not only Clara Barton, but Cleopatra, George Lucas, Empress Wu Zetian of China and Julius Caesar. They were so full of knowledge and enthusiasm, that it made me reflect on many things.

I first thought about my own classes that I teach and how if I could help my students take on character personalities, how much potential I could release into my class. Young people are quick to adopt alternate personalities. Even adults flock to Renaissance Faires throughout the world escape from their everyday drudgery to take on some romantic historical figure. I teach high schoolers, but immediately I saw the potential and the implications. We are beginning the study of World War I. I thought that if I could help my students take on the personalities of historical characters born somewhere between 1880 and 1900, these students could follow the lives through various eras of history, from one particular historical vantage point. Each student not only vicariously lives in the mind of a real historical figure, but that student can view the world over time from that perspective. Then as students interact, in character, they must think about the various perspectives of others from a similar time frame but completely different perspectives.

I know that when anyone takes on a twenty first century perspective of an early twentieth century character, that there is likely to be massive distortion. Student may develop a stereotypical characterization, even a cartoonish shadow of the real person. Nevertheless, they must move outside their own minds and inhabit and embrace a different personality- thus to begin to unlock a the ability to think in new and creative ways and more importantly to empathize with vastly different personalities.