The 500 - #127 - Younger Than Yesterday - The Byrds

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by New York-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Album: #127
Album Title: Younger Than Yesterday
Artist: The Byrds
Genre: Folk Rock, Country Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Recorded: Columbia Studios, Hollywood, California

Released: February, 1967

My age at release: 1
How familiar was I with it before this week: A few tracks
Is it on the 2020 list? No
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: My Back Pages

As I prepare to return to the classroom after a restorative and creative winter break, I’m reminded that January always feels like a fresh start...even though we’re already halfway through the school year.

Why? Because this time, planning feels different. In the summer, I’m guessing, imagining the learners I’ll meet based on experience teaching students of their age.

However, now, after months together, I know exactly who will be sitting in those desks. I know their quirks, their strengths and the challenges they are overcoming. More importantly, perhaps, they know me and are better prepared to respond to my expectations and the requirements of a middle school curriculum.

The Ontario Curriculum documents, that guide classroom instruction.

Together, we built something special in the first four months of the school year that started in September. It is a shared, collaborative, creative learning environment. And that changes everything. Preparation in January is not hypothetical; it’s personal. It’s about continuing a journey we’ve already started. I have prepared some (hopefully) engaging and exciting lessons and activities to kick off the first month of 2026, and I found myself reflecting on them while listening to Younger Than Yesterday, the fourth studio record by American folk rock band, The Byrds. In particular, their version of the song My Back Pages had me deep in thought during a long walk through a nearby wintery wood -(gotta burn off a few of those Christmas calories!).

Jacket sleeve for My Back Pages, by The Byrds.

Written and recorded by Bob Dylan for his 1964 record, Another Side Of Bob Dylan, the lyrics for My Back Pages are a philosophical meditation on the tension that comes between youthful certainty and the humility that arrives through life experience. The lyrics reflect on how convictions once held as absolutes can soften over time and how wisdom often comes when one embraces doubt and the complexities of life.

Album cover for Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964).

In the opening verse, Dylan layers vivid imagery of heat and fire to convey the intensity and impulsiveness of his youthful convictions. He wrote:

"Crimson flames tied through my ears
Rolling high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads
Using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I
Proud 'neath heated brow."

Conversely, the song's refrain, Dylan pens the seemingly paradoxical line:

“I was so much older then, I’m younger than that now”,

These eleven words, which repeat throughout the song, capture an odd contradiction inherent in our chronological and philosophical growth. As we mature, we learn to accept doubt for what it is, and see the world in shades of gray, rather than in black and white truths. It  allows us to  become more curious, and less rigid than in our younger years.

For Dylan, these lyrics were a confession about his earlier ignorance and a realization that many of his previous songs and public statements came from a time when he was young and less open minded.

Bob Dylan.

According to lead guitarist and vocalist Jim McGuinn, in 1967 The Byrds re-recorded the song to  align with their evolving artistic direction and thinking. By then, they were moving away from pure folk-rock and starting to embrace a more introspective, psychedelic sound. Dylan's lyrics, and his growth as an artist, resonated with that shift.

The Byrds (1967) (l-r) Chris Hillman,David Crosby, 
Michael Clark and McGuinn. 

Among the activities I have planned for my students this month are several focused on critical thinking and media literacy skills. Like many educators, I recognize the teaching profession has a responsibility to help students navigate an information-overloaded  world in which truth and opinion often blur. The goal is for them to question sources, analyze bias, and consider how messages are constructed. Such skills are essential not only for academic success but for becoming thoughtful, informed citizens.

However, as I prepared my lessons, I reflected on Dylan's refrain in My Back Pages and affirmed to myself that making mistakes is part of the learning process. It is the path to making sound decisions.. . My young charges deserve the opportunity and time to wrestle with their own lack of knowledge, much like Dylan did in the mid-sixties. Intellectual growth doesn’t happen in a straight line; It happens through missteps, reflection, and recalibration. My role isn’t to drag them to the “right” answer but to shepherd them toward it.

One day, they’ll arrive at their own conclusions, not because I forced them down the best path, but because they discovered it themselves. And who knows, with the passage of time, the path of old may have become passe, replaced by a new, more fitting route. That’s when I’ll say to myself, once again:

"I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now".

The Power of Kindness

A friend shared a story with me the other day and it made me reflect on a teacher truism that many educators will know from the work of Rita Pierson, particularly this TED Talk Every Kid needs a Champion.

This friend, let's call him Bill, was walking through a parking lot toward a grocery store. Nearby, walking in the same direction was a teenager, probably in high-school. Suddenly, a man in dishevelled and dirty clothing, emerged and began to yell random, unconnected statements toward the pair. It became obvious that he was homeless and suffered from some form of mental illness (likely schizophrenia).

Bill and the teen were taken aback momentarily. In an instant, the man became distracted and then temporarily disoriented. Seconds later, he turned and, as he moved away through parked cars, continued his verbal barrage in the opposite direction toward no one at all.

The teen reached into his pocket to retrieve his cell-phone and Bill was outraged to realize he intended to record this event. Furious, Bill prepared to unleash his offence. The words "obnoxious, entitled, unfeeling & callous" swirled in his head alongside a tirade of expletives.

However, before he discharged his venomous, but justified, derision - his age and wisdom kicked in. In a calm and patient tone he said, "Hey, don't you think that guy has it hard enough without being recorded? Wouldn't it be kinder to just let him be?"

Sheepishly, and silently, the teen put his phone away and quickly walked in a different direction - away from Bill and the homeless man.

I'd like to think that I would respond similarly - but Bill might be a better man than I. Regardless, the story made me reflect on my role as an educator and adult citizen in this world.

• Escalating a situation unnecessarily only gives the offending party the opportunity to feel justified in their behaviour and vindicated by the outrage of their inevitable response.
• It's our responsibility to socialize the youth with whom we interact. This has been emphasized from Plato to Rousseau to Egan
  
• Children rarely learn from people they don't respect or that don't treat them with respect. How would that teen have responded if Bill had started by calling him a jerk?

As I plan my return to the classroom next September, this is a lesson on which I will frequently reflect. It's also a story I hope to share with my students. Perhaps, together, we can help each other become the best we can be.

There is an Educator on Survivor

I live in a 90 year old, three-storey brownstone near downtown London. It has 16 apartments in total, 8 on each side of the building. The residents are a mix working and retired professionals - I am one of three teachers who live here.  However, it is more than a residence for its occupants - it is a community. 

We have BBQ's on the back patio, summer Rib Cook-Off Competitions and celebrate events like the Oscars and Superbowl together. We've even installed a portable television on the back wall so that we can watch the Stanley Cup Finals outside over burgers and beers.

Yes, that's a duck in the window - very popular with late night University revellers returning from the bars. 

So, in January of 2001, we were watching the Super Bowl (a bit of a blow out as the Baltimore Ravens defeated the New York Giants soundly). At the end of the game, the second season of Survivor premiered and we hastily put a pool together. This was the beginning of a Survivor watching tradition that has continued for nearly 20 years. We PVR it now and only my wife and my retired neighbour Art watch it weekly (on Thursdays because I have hockey on Wednesday nights).

I've always wanted to get on the show - but as a Canadian, that is an impossibility. When I was younger and fitter, I thought I would have a chance at some of the physical challenges. Now that I am older, I'd have to rely on mental agility and hone a successful social game. There is so much to overcome in order to win this game. The hunger, the boredom, the physical toll, the unexpected twists, the social strategy - playing hard and deceptively enough to get to the end while still gaining the respect of a jury of eliminated participants who will eventually determine the winner.  

When I watch each episode I can't help but envision myself in each scenario. Invariably, I know that my role as an educator would have to come into play. 

That's the thing about being an educator - you have to be in professional teacher mode whenever you are in the public eye. Even on Twitter, I am cautious. I don't get overly-political, I am careful which tweets I "like" - even though a "like" isn't an endorsement. Posting a picture of a craft beer on a Friday night is the extent to which I expose my celebratory side.

This year on Survivor, there is an educator. Not just any educator, Ron Clark. The guy who...

• Left his small town to teach in New York City Public Schools,
• Founded the Ron Clark Academy, 
• Wrote 4 New York Times Best Selling Education Texts,
• Built a 90K Twitter following,
• Was named Oprah's first "Phenomenal Man",
• Had a biopic with Matthew Perry made about him,

...that Ron Clark.

So, I was keen to see how this would play out. 

• Would he need to stay in professional teacher mode?
• How deceitful could he be?
• Is all forgiven if he takes on the role of villian in order to Outplay, Outwit and Outlast?
• Is it "just a game" or are there real world consequences?

This week he was eliminated and, potentially, became the 10th member of the jury. However, it was the way in which he was eliminated that has me reading articles and blogs this weekend.

After lying to fan favourite contestant Rick Devins on multiple ocassions, Ron made a devilish choice. Privately, he offered Rick an olive branch in the form of a parchment that offered an immunity reward - ostensibly making the possesser safe from elimination at Tribal Council. However, here is the deception. The immunity scroll was expired - something Ron knew and Rick didn't.  

Granted, deceit is part of the game. But, Ron made a decision that, ultimately, was revealed to be mean-spirited - particularly when Ron and his ally Julie reinforced the veracity of the parchment later in the day. 

That evening, when Rick tried to play it at Tribal Council - the ruse was revealed. Seemingly defeated, he turned to the remaining survivors and, in front of the jury and television audience said: 

"Ron and Julie, you are villains! I was already going home! You just wanted to make me look stupid? Why? So my kids think I'm an idiot?"

In a brilliant twist of fate and what is bound to become a legendary Survivor moment, Rick reached into his bag and produced an authentic immunity idol and Ron, not Rick, was sent packing.

Again, I put myself in the scenario...could I have made the choices Ron made? What would the fallout among my friends, student and colleagues be if I made that choice?

What about you?

• Have you ever wanted to participate on Survivor?
• Would you be able to play the role of villain to win?
• Would there be fallout in your professional life?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The Litmus Test

In my last post Sharing our Passions with Students I weighed the Pros and Cons of a teacher bringing his or her interests or “passions” into the classroom - be it a Maple Leafs poster on the wall, a viewing of The Princess Bride or an integrated lesson using the music of The Beatles. After some musing, I settled on the following list of guidelines.

1. There must be clear curriculum connections.

2. It can’t be self-indulgent or, worse still, lazy.

3. It can not alienate a group of students (seen or unseen) in your classroom.

4. Is must be appropriate to share - given the sensitivities of the greater school community.

5. Older passions can be misremembered. They should always be revisited and reevaluated.

6. It should be fun.

So, do they work? Let me put them to the test by evaluating a few of the lessons from my passions that I have started to line up for this year.  

Thinking One Step Ahead - Like a carpenter building stairs.

Like many colleagues, my planning for a new school term always seems to begin during the previous year. As each unit ends, I can’t help but reflect on it and consider new ways to approach each lesson. This school year was no exception. However, my planning began in earnest last spring when I decided to move to a different grade. (I was teaching Grade 4 and was offered the opportunity to move to Grade 5/6). A new grade meant a new curriculum. I was sad to retire many wonderful units (Ancient Civilizations, Rocks & Minerals, Light & Sound) but; I was excited to explore new subject matter (Canadian Government, First Nations & Space to name a few).

As I thought about the work I was doing to prepare for the upcoming year. I realized that I am already peppering my lessons with flavours drawn from my interests and passions? Let’s look at a few to see how they would be graded my self-imposed list of guidelines.

Rush - “The Trees”

I am considering the use of the song “The Trees” by Rush to help introduce the ideas of Socialism and Capitalism to my Grade 5’s for our Social Studies unit on “People and Environments: The Role of Government and Responsible Citizenship”. By extension, this connects to literacy, the environment and even the Grade 6 unit on Canada’s interaction with the global community. 

I grew up loving this Canadian Rock Trio and was engaged and challenged by their thoughtful and intelligent lyrics. I recently saw them play live and revisiting them reignited my memories of the sense of wonder and imagination that they inspired in me when I was in elementary school. They were, far more than some of my teachers at the time, the impetus for my desire to learn and think. Using a song or two from them this year is a little indulgent (but I think it is easily outweighed by the clear curriculum connections I can make.) Additionally, a metaphorical song about overbearing oaks and union-minded maples is timely, appropriate, engaging and fun.

Rush "The Trees" - with lyrics

Grade B+     

A Baseball Unit

The current success of the Blue Jays (fingers crossed - no jinx - no jinx) is making me consider adjusting my Phys. Ed. units. Soccer could be shifted to the spring with the kickball / slo-pitch unit in October to coincide with the playoffs. I might also do a quick lesson to introduce the sport of baseball to my class. Baseball scoring lends itself well to data management and other statistics, like averages, are easily demonstrated in a real life context.

“Ahmed and Sarah play baseball for the school’s co-ed team. Ahmed goes to the plate 100 times and hits to get on base safely 35 times. Sarah goes to the plate 75 times and hits to get on base safely 25 times. Ahmed thinks Sarah is a better hitter. Is he right? If you were the coach, who would you bat first - Why?”

Cross curricular extensions could be made by showing the Who’s on First routine (Grammar and Drama), reading Ernest Thayer’s Casey at the Bat (Literacy, Shared Reading, Reader's Theatre) or even Canadian,Wilson MacDonald’s De Stop-Heem-Short. The latter poem, which highlights the challenges a new Canadian faces when trying to understand Baseball, naturally lends itself to my many ESL students. This, in turn, can launch a candid discussion about “learning new things” and “differences in culture”. I have many students whose families are new Canadians. I think it is important that we welcome them to our country by sharing and celebrating as many cultural touchstones as possible. If, fingers crossed, the Jays make the playoffs, we could even watch part of an afternoon game on television and discuss the use of advertising or score a few of the innings.

Abbot and Costello - "Who's on First"

"Casey at the Bat" - read by James Earl Jones

Editable Google Doc for "De Stop-Heem Short"

Casey at the Bat is a perfect example of the importance of why #5 is important.  Check out this version of the poem as a cartoon clearly informed by the time.    

"Casey at the Bat" Disney Cartoon (1946)

Grade A-

The Time Travelling Marty McFly

This is the 30th Anniversary of Back to the Future and October 21st of this year is the date that Marty traveled to from 1985. My teaching partner and I are debating a way to incorporate that into our classes. This one is a tougher one and is going to require some serious consideration. Curriculum connections can be made and it can be wonderfully engaging. I often have my students write letters to their future selves on the week of their graduation from Grade 8. I keep the letters and deliver them each June. The graduating students are always delighted to receive these long-forgotten messages from their past. However, I don’t need to show BTTF in order to provide this opportunity. I haven’t screened it since leaving Grade 6 many years ago. Additionally, there is some "spicy" language that needs to be addressed. I have always maintained that a discussion of inappropriate language and its utility, or lack of utility, is something that students as young as 9 are prepared to engage. I think it is empowering for students to engage in a deeper understanding of the fluidity of language. However, that is a discussion for another post.

If we do investigate it - these are some resources to guide us further.

Back to the Future Classroom Activities

This great activity requires that only clips from the film be shown - that could be a solution that raises the grade of this lesson.

Back to the Future - Inventions

Grade C-

Use The Force Luke

A few colleagues and I are investigating a private screening of the new Star Wars film The Force Awakens on December 18 (The Friday it is released coincides with the last day of school - so it will be a tough hustle). We also need to get more information about the film to see if it is age appropriate. We remain confident that the curriculum connections will be easy to make. A colleague uses Star Wars references in his classroom gamification. Students that meet expectations can earn “The Force” which provides them extra lives in classroom games and Phys. Ed. activities. Each year, as the number of “new” Canadian students in his classroom increase, he finds that fewer and fewer are familiar with the Star Wars canon. This does not, necessarily, justify a screening of the original film. However, it has been his experience that it can be used to inspire a new generation of fans and ignite their imaginations. They are keen to read books, create art and explore the science behind everything from X-Wing fighters to Landspeeders to Lightsabers.

There is also this wonderful resource waiting for educators too.

Star Wars in the Classroom

 

Grade B-

And then there is my annual Football Pool...but, that is my topic for the next post.

Sharing our Passions with students - Engaging or Indulgent?

The problem with Ben and Jerry

Some time ago, a fellow educator, let’s call him Ben, was discussing another colleague, Jerry. Now, Jerry is an excellent teacher on all fronts. He does his job effectively while regularly volunteering to coach several teams & coordinate multiple events at the school. He is, in all ways, a committed and involved member of the school community. He also has a preoccupation with the Montreal Canadiens.  

I would like to suggest that it is an unhealthy preoccupation, but I suspect that would be a product of my forty-plus year allegiance to the Buffalo Sabres. This is a passion for him and he regularly incorporates it into his lessons. 

This does not apply to the reading or viewing of the Roch Carrier short story "The Sweater". I affect my best Quebecois accent every year to share that engaging and chat-worthy piece of Canadiana.

Jerry goes a little further - (or a lot further, according to Ben). He will incorporate the Montreal squad into math problems or as examples of statistical analysis daily. He will use stories from the current team or team history as his teaching or writing prompts. Canadian history in his social studies lessons are inexorably tied to Les Habitants and his walls are covered with logos, team pictures and other assorted paraphernalia. Some would even argue that his mood is dictated by the team’s success.  

Over lunch, Ben lamented to me,  “I really feel for those kids. That wouldn’t have interested me in the slightest. I would have been bored and miserable being bombarded by that everyday.  It would make me detest the sport of hockey, not love it.  I’ve certainly developed a knee-jerk repulsion to that logo.”

Granted, Ben is not a sports guy. He is, however, also an excellent, giving educator who helps kids succeed in other areas - particularly in, music, art and literature. He has his own passions and, on occasion, shares them with students. However, he is far more reserved and only introduces them when they fit specifically with an area of curriculum he and his young charges are exploring. Consequently, there is no evidence of his appreciation of Van Gogh or Brahms in his classroom and the student have never been asked to write an essay on Miles Davis or Monet.

But, there’s something to be said about a teacher that brings his own life experiences and interests into the classroom.  It makes the teacher real and genuine. I loved my Grade 6 teacher, Mr. MacDonald, when he would tell us about hiking the Bruce Trail or camping in Algonquin Park. My Grade 9 math teacher, Mr. Lee, was also a martial arts instructor and practitioner who would tell us about his tournaments - the wins and the losses. We are supposed to be passionate and sharing our lives and interests is essential - correct?

When is it enough and when is it too much?

Ben’s criticism immediately made me look inward and consider my own practice. Do I incorporate too many of my passions into my curriculum? Have I been alienating former students? Were those expansive cross-curricular units hinged by a television series too much? Did they really connect to the curriculum? Were they really worth the time?  

I took the time to consider this and thought I needed a list. These precepts have always guided me - I’ve just never organized them formally. I guess this will become my litmus test for incorporating passions.

1./ Is there a clear curriculum connection or are you forcing it?

I’ve found that it is better to look at the curriculum and then consider what it connects to it rather than the other way around. Granted, many educators know their curriculum well and are immediately enthused when they see something that fits. In 2013, a colleague who teaches grade 6 saw the film “Gravity” and quickly made field trip plans for his class before it left the theaters.

2./ Is it self-indulgent or lazy?

Are you doing the unit because it pleases you or because you think the students will truly benefit from it?  Worse still, are you “treading trodden trails” because it’s easy and you’ve always done that unit. Clearly, Jerry is being self-indulgent. Also, despite great enthusiasm, there are units that simply go stale. I've there always more passion in the fresh and new - I know it, and my kids can certainly feel it.

3./ Does it, in any way, alienate a group of students (seen or unseen) in your classroom?

Is a sports-themed unit unsettling for the student who has no interest in sports? Does a scene from a lavish musical-theatre production make a student from a machismo home feel uncomfortable. I think it is imperative that students should get exposure to a wide range of experiences - so focus on that. Make the experiences broad and avoid dwelling in one area for too long.  

4./ Is it appropriate to share?

Your own sensibilities have to be put aside and you need to think about it against the backdrop of your school community. Sometimes, you can push the limits. Sometimes, you need to accept that the sensitivities of your community do not match your own and you have to let it go. This is a tough one. I still struggle with this when I feel that something of extraordinary value is being silenced by unnecessary or misguided conservatism.

5./ Are your mis-remembering it and applying your own experience to it?

Sometimes, great movies or television series from our past carry with them stereotypes and sensibilities that would make us cringe today. I grew up loving the Tintin graphic novels. However, the original releases are alarmingly racist - despite the fact that the protagonist is noble, kind and honourable.  Sometimes, they are just tired and worn out. Be sure you revisit before you share.

6. Is this often harmless fun (and am I overthinking this a bit)?

I have a Sabres logo and a few small bits of sports paraphernalia (all given to me by students) placed near my desk. I I often use stories from the world of sports to highlight aspects of perseverance, commitment, teamwork and sportsmanship. That’s harmless stuff. Relax.

Next time, on the 50/20 blog 

I will apply these rules to the lessons I am planning for the upcoming year.  Will they pass the litmus test I have set out for myself?

Disclaimer

Ben and Jerry are fictional amalgams of several colleagues and many conversations. If you've worked with me - and are a Montreal Canadiens fan - it isn't you.