H-back…a player in football that is not defined as a reciever, running back or tide end.

Why did i title my post with a football term? Well it wasn’t until i was in my @#($ies i found out that H-back meant Hybrid; having more than one function in an offensive scheme. Now when we hear of hybrid we think of cars. While tooling around town or cruising on the freeway the electric element of the hybrid is humming along. When the car needs some extra power, as when going up a hill, the old technology known as the combustible engine takes over. What is my point you may ask? If you haven’t moved on to someone else’s  blog; it is this correspondence of congruency, one element of power working while the other is being sustained, functioning symbiotically and at times hyperbolically to the  other. One thing is for sure, having a hybrid gives one the best of both worlds.

While in my observational class at Chico High, i was asked by the teacher to put together an assignment with regards to Macbeth. Did I feel intimidated since i hadn’t read Macbeth since high school, nor did i probably read it then. But I know that i had the internet as a safety net. I made an assignment focusing on Shakespeare’s use of symbolism. I fingered through act three looking for some examples. I ran across five and made an assignment sheet. I will not lie, i did explore the internet for some direction. I finished the assignment and gave it to Mr Asnault. He looked at me; and said wow, thanks. I think he impressed by my expediency.

Easter break went by and when i returned to his class he asked me if i would grade them. I said sure. I wanted to see if the students followed my direction and what they had come up with. After class was over and i was on my way out, Mr Asnault asked me if i wanted to do a presentation on  the assignment on Monday. I said sure. I had broken that arrogant wall. I was going to be given the opportunity to command the class. I was amazed that he was giving me  this opportunity. Returning Monday he introduced me to the class as Mr Mulholland before i had the chance to get nervous. I went through the assignment with the students and after twenty minutes i finished up with a couple questions. The most poignant being, how many of you used the internet for this assignment?  I knew the answer would be one. It was obvious when i graded them. Mr. Asnault’s ears perked up when i asked this and he started to take control of the class back. I wanted to know why their were so many “wrong” or incomplete answers when there is the answer machine known as the internet.

These kids were living in the times where there was only a gas engine. They hadn’t been taught or even learned on their own how learn with the help of the digital age. Was i in the stone age, were we still teach from books and rely on the students to “grind out the material,” or am in in the 21 century where an answering machine doesn’t pick up the phone for you? There was no hybrid learning. There was just the old way of pedagogy.  i was stuck in a quandary, am i a running back or am i a wide receiver? Am i running on fumes or do i have alternative energy to fall back on.

The answer came to me from a student who had been so attentive to my teaching, i wanted to reach out and hug her after she said, “i think it is important to learn from here,” as she pointed to her heart. After class was over Mr. Asnault gave me the best compliment i have heard in years. He said, “Mike I am amazed, you are a natural.” he told me that he learned from me. He was more than supportive of my efforts and shook his head, man that was great. He said usually “observers” just come in, sit and stare out the window. You came in here and made a difference. I was amazed at how candid he was because there had been this wall of arrogance when i first showed up. I broke down that wall, he gave me his class and i did it.

Enough of my immodesty, Mr. Asnault was happy i brought up the question about who used the computer. It made him think. It made him question his pedagogy…I as a student my have influence a teacher to cross over into the 21st century…maybe i learned from the girl in the front row that we need to learn from our hearts. Either way it is difficult to deny that hybrid learning is upon us and we as future teachers must be careful not to give the answers away.