Rococo and other big words like endoplasmic reticulum

"Let’s go downtown and watch the modern kids
Let’s go downtown and talk to the modern kids
They will eat right out of your hand
Using great big words that they don’t understand"
-Arcade Fire, Rococo

I've been meaning to write about this since the first time I heard this song. There can be many interpretations of a specific piece of art, even from one person. Sometimes this song means different things to me, but the last time I heard it I imagined the "modern kids" were my students.

It's true - they will eat right out of your hand. They trust me and I try to never take that for granted. If I can't answer a question I tell them that I don't know. I don't like to just guess at an answer because I know they won't view it as a guess. If I say something then it's probably true (to them at least). 

We talk to them about levels of trust in our sources when doing research. Don't go to sites like Yahoo! answers, Answers.com, or Wikipedia(or at least make sure you can check the original source of the information). I've said it enough that I think they're starting to get it, but they still trust that their teachers are going to give them the truth.

By instinct, I probably teach pretty similarly to how I was taught. I had some fantastic teachers and some not-so-fantastic. I try to break the habit when I can. To some degree, we are what we eat. We have to be careful how and what we feed our kids. They'll eat right out of our hands. We've trained them this way.

They use "great big words that they don't understand." Honestly, at times, I wish they used more big words - as long as they understand them - but too often they just spit back what we want them to say. The bigger the word is the more correct it is, right? As teachers we do the same thing. We use big words like "differentiation," "flipped classroom," and  "engagement" without always stopping to think what that means - or will really require. 

The term "Rococo" refers to a style of 18th century art characterized by a light, whimsical style, shallow in substance. "Rococo" - a big word that people don't understand (I had to look it up) symbolizing an art that lacked substance and depth. Brilliant.

I hope for:
Students using big words because they know what they mean, know how to use them and understand the importance of using them.
Students who question what they read, hear, and see. 

Enjoy the song in its entire live glory below:

 They're singing "rococo rococo rococo rococo..."