The subtitle of this entry is �Kat in Historyland.� Alice had nothing on Kat. The Queen of Hearts wanted the sentence before the verdict but Kat�s teacher, the Queen of History, tried the test before the teaching. Had this been a pre-test, one of those tests you take just to see what you already know, this procedure would have been logical. But it wasn�t. First, she told them just before break that they would be tested on the French Revolution on the Monday they returned. Then, never having discussed the French Revolution before, she played some musical spoofs on Thursday. On Friday, she was absent and sent them to an English class.

There was a study guide, for what it was worth. The Queen of History, unfortunately, uses the words �study guide� the way Humpty Dumpty (who is not in Wonderland at all but is Through the Looking Glass instead) uses �glory� to mean �a nice knock-down argument� because when he uses a word �it means just what [he] choose[s] it to mean.� To the Queen of History, �study guide� means �a list of some things that might be on the test but then again I might test on other things altogether.�

So Kat dutifully dragged her study guide, her articles, and her history books. Yes, I mean articles and books. The Queen of History wants college-level reasoning from ninth graders. She does not want them to just read history. She wants them to discover the connections themselves. She has a bright group of freshman. I suspect she is correct that many of them are capable of extremely high-level thinking. But they need guidance�and only those kids with academically sophisticated parents who are fluent in English get it.

I liked history when I took it in high school and college but I really don�t care to take it again. Too bad. When a child goes down the rabbit hole, a mother naturally tries to follow and make the landscape make some sense. I re-learned the French Revolution and then I taught it. All the time, I kept thinking that the Queen would delay the test, at least until after she showed the tape that she listed on the study guide as something the test was based upon. How foolish of me!

She gave her test. She graded her test. Kat got a reasonable grade on the test. As for the others, well, to quote a Queen (if not the correct queen), �Off with their heads!�

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