To be clear about this bit of inspiration, I am in the middle of finishing up the study guide for the upcoming Social Science: Maps and the World test. In the background on the same computer I am working on, I've got Master Chef Junior playing through Hulu. I'll explain the relationship of those soon enough, but for now, let me address the title of this post.
As I brought up my blog to start writing, I checked the time. 10 pm. Having just been writing about maps and the world, I briefly asked myself, how far away am I from the prime meridian, which runs through Greenwich, UK? My wife had just mentioned that an old friend of ours who lives in England in London, which is fairly close to Greenwich, will be returning to Chicago for a while fairly soon. This, I suppose, made me fairly aware of time differences.
In any case, each 15 degrees along the surface of our planet corresponds to (or is equal to) an hour as the world turns. Based on that, as I write at 10 pm, I know that 180 degrees away from me, it is 10 am.
So, back to my inspiration: the show.
Let's be clear, I like cooking, a lot. So much that is is common knowledge, and Mrs. White tends to make fun of me in meetings on a semi-regular basis because of it. "Ooh!" she'll say. "I mentioned bolognese sauce, and Mr. Stevenson's eyes lit up!" Or something along those lines. The show in question features kids cooking in competition. Little kids. Like, as young as 8 year olds.
And they're doing great. The judges are clowning around as though the kids are idiots, at times. Not all the time: they have a clue that their contestants are sophisticated, and hints keep bubbling to the surface. Yet over and over, there is this constant astonishment that the kids are as smart and talented as they seem to be.
So I think, "Of course they are." Kids aren't stupid. They're just inexperienced, and at times undisciplined. Age doesn't add smarts, it adds wisdom! (Just ask any D&D roleplayer.*)
I guess the moral of what I'm trying to say, is that I am so frequently challenged about my job, as though teaching 7th graders is somehow an affliction. But the great thing is, for the most part, I get to have a yearlong conversation with people...people who may not be experts, but who are perfectly capable of understanding everything I do.
And those conversations make my job awesome.
So, yes, there are Masterchef Jrs. out there. And all sorts of other masters, too.
And I look forward to talking to them again, soon.
*D&D separates the ability of intelligence, which is mostly knowing stuff, from the ability of wisdom, which is noticing and understanding stuff. This is kinda valid.