Meinertzhagen's Haversack: Using Red Herrings, Ruses and Escamotage in the Classroom

What is Meinertzhagen's Haversack?

Meinertzhagen’s Haversack is actually a reference to the Haversack Ruse, employed by British Colonel Richard Meinertzhagen during World War I. In 1917, the British were having a difficult time defeating Turkey and taking Gaza. To create a ruse or 'red herring' Colonel Meinertzhagen doctored a bunch of fake war plans, put them in his bag, tricked a few Turkish soldiers to chase him on horseback, and during the course of the chase, Meinertzhagen dropped the bag, deliberately. 

He had filled the bag with fake letters from home and rations as well as some money, to make it seem as though it was an important bag he really didn’t want to lose. More specifically, however, he put doctored maps and military plans inside to throw them off track. He made sure the nap sack seemed legitimate and valuable.

The Turkish soldiers found the bag, or haversack and were so convinced that the documents inside were authentic, that they sent them up the chain of command to Turkish intelligence. Turkish military planners then changed their game plan and their war strategy accordingly. They were expecting to be attacked from one side, when in fact they were attacked from another. The ploy worked, and the British took Gaza. 

Red Herrings or Ruses in the Classroom

We all learn best, remember events easier and are more willing to participate if we are curious about what is going on. If the intrigue is there, so is our engagement. A magic show would be predictable and boring without sleight of hand. If the act was lacking showmanship and misdirection we would literally see right through the magic. It is all about building suspense. But, more critically to entertain we also need to add some distractions, diversions and even a little frenzy. In the classroom, if students feel some uncertainty, even a level of discomfort, they will have to reconcile with the notion that they are not all knowing. That events unfold in mysterious ways. The more we can throw a wrench in their thinking and get them to reshuffle their knowledge base, the more adept they will get at handling adversity.

Meinhertzhagen's Haversack A Classroom Experiment

Escamotage or trickery in the classroom is all about painting a level of perplexity and dilemma. Creating a lesson where students are not merely the participant and problem-solver but also the architect, cartographer and engineer. Alternate endings occur depending on what clues students find and how they decide to construct their arena, their field of play. Each new piece of evidence steering them down a different path. While some are telltale or dead giveaways others are more cryptic or challenging. This is what keeps students interested. This is what keeps them 'gladiators' battling and conquering. 

I decided to implement Meinhertzhagan's Haversack, into a classroom lesson, bag and all. I knew I wanted it to only last one class period so I had to make it solvable with a level of motivation and urgency. I basically had to introduce it with showmanship and passion. I had to lure them into a false sense of security, all the while, giving them the confidence to succeed. How did I do this? I described what Meinertzhagan's Haversack was, like I did above. Then I asked, "Can you be fooled too?"

Let me preface this by saying this lesson was an engagement or hook lesson. My students had not dived into the digestive system yet. I knew they had basic knowledge of the process but the specifics were a bit hazy for them. 

I placed paper bags around the room: each containing a picture of a different organ of the digestive system, the structure and function of a different organ (ruse #1) and then various examples of what could go wrong in a different organ, i.e diseases etc. (2nd ruse). There was one bag out of 10 total, in which every piece of information was correct. But I didn't tell them this. They eventually figured it our on their own. 

I also placed baggies of what 'food' would look like as it passed through the various organs: mashed up bread, chunky liquids, solid chunks etc. These were placed around the room on different tables (ruse 3) because some were totally wrong: whole M n M's or dry cookie crumbs. They also had to match these with the correct organ. Students had a lot of misinformation and they had to work together to sort out all the facts from the falsehoods, as I call them. This incorporated not only collaboration and communication skills but also processing and reasoning skills. There were a lot of options and a lot of steps to go through to find the 'truth'. 

Leaving false information throughout led them astray but they used their common sense and deciphering skills to organize their knowledge of the digestive system, not just structure and function but on a much deeper level. This activity occurred before we took notes or even mentioned the design and purpose of the digestive system. So I knew that they would have to look at the pictures and decipher what food would look like at each stage. Also, that they would have to use process of elimination to discover some of the answers. Every student had a different piece of the puzzle to solve and they were excited to mingle and share ideas. They struggled at first but then once they determined how to cooperate and discuss the clues effectively the pieces fell into place. 

Students discovered that even with some misdirection and red herrings that if they slowed down and really took the time to listen to one another that everything they needed to know to solve the puzzle was right in front of them. This activity worked really well. I plan on using it again at the end of the human body unit incorporating all of the body systems, to make it more challenging and suspenseful.

It's A Jungle Out There: A Students Perspective

Introduction: Hurricane Harvey impacted every one of my students in some way. While some lost their belongings and had to relocate, others gave back and volunteered in their community. We were out two weeks and students were watching the news, dealing with the disaster first hand, studying at home trying to stay focused on school, and many were dealing with the situation by just being kids: playing video games, reading books and catching up on their favorite television shows. No matter what activities they participated in over the unexpected break, now each student is dealing with the affects in their own way. Throughout this week, our first week back after the storm and flooding, our actual second week of school, I sat down during one-minute check-in's, at table talks and even yesterday at our first quiz bowl tournament of the year and asked my students questions, listened intently to their responses and gained a lot of insight as to how a catastrophic event like Harvey truly perturbs and alters the outlook of the children who live through it. These are their words, their thoughts and their emotions. For this post, I will keep them anonymous, but will use their responses to create a first person narrative, a combination of emotions, demeanor and temperament.

It's A Jungle Out There: I was excited at first when school was cancelled for Friday August, 25th. I was able to stay up late because we were told we wouldn't have school at around 8:30 at night, before my week night bed time. My parents told me there was a storm coming and I had watched the weather channel, but they didn't seem worried, so I wasn't either. But then by the next evening, the rain started pouring down, it was a hard rain for hours and hours. This was when I started to see my parents become a little worried. They reassured me that our house was not in a flood zone and that we would be fine. But, we didn't go out to eat for my brothers birthday. Instead we baked a cake and made dinner together as a family. Then we watched a movie. My parents decided it was best to keep the television off because it might scare my brothers and sisters. I am the oldest, so they were giving me the task of keeping my younger siblings entertained. I couldn't help looking out the window though, the water on our street just kept coming closer and closer to our front porch.

The trees were blowing and the tornado sirens kept going on and off all night. We kept going into my parents closet over and over. Then my parents decided to just bring in our sleeping bags and have us sleep in there. The wind just kept howling and howling. The trees were smacking against their bedroom window. It was not a pleasant night. I was worried the water would come into our house while we slept. But my parents told me to sleep, we were upstairs and we would be safe. The next morning, there was a lot of water in our downstairs. You couldn't see the carpet, a brown, dirty water was splashing around. My parents wouldn't let us come downstairs. We spent the whole day in my parents bedroom watching movies on Netflix. We were lucky our power never went out. Our neighbors did and they had to leave. It was scary but we were dry and safe and my parents brought us popcorn and microwave pizza so at least we had good food.

The next day, the water got higher and my parents told me that the district water department had to let water out of the reservoir near us to make sure it didn't overflow. They were worried we would get more water in our house so we had to go to my grandparents house. A boat with some men in it came up to our yard and asked if we needed to evacuate and our parents said "yes." My mom and my two younger sisters went on one boat and then another boat took my dad and me and my brother. We couldn't drive our car because it was under water. So when we got out of our neighborhood, where it was dry, we had to ask someone to drive us over to my grandparents house. I sat in the back of a van with my brothers and sisters. My mom just kept looking out the window and saying, "It's a jungle out there, it looks like a wrecking crew is just chopping down trees in the Amazon, it looks like a devastated jungle." and she cried a lot.

Fortitude and Gratitude: I was excited to go back to school because I wanted to see my friends. It is boring at my grandparents house. I also have to share a room with all my brothers and sisters, it is really crowded. I also wanted to have a place to go and something to do. My parents have a lot to do and having us back in school gives them time to make sure our house is getting repaired and our car is too. I was a little nervous to come back to school though because I thought we would have a lot of extra work to catch up on and that we were really behind in our classes. But, my teachers were really nice and we do not have any homework for two weeks. We are doing lots of reviews and group work and this makes me happy. We get to talk with our friends and ease back into school. All of my teachers are smiling and greeting me in the hallway. I am excited they know my name and are happy I am back in school. I am happy to see them and my friends.

One of my teachers asked me "How are you? What can I do to help you get back into the mindset of school?" I thought this was really cool because sometimes, they just talk to us about what happened and give us copies of notes. Sometimes we need to just be asked that question. What we really need is to do is have time to talk to our friends and get comfortable being back in the routine of our school day. We need to be kids and have time to just smile and laugh. I have been through a lot and not being able to live in my house is stressful. But, I know we will be back in our home in a few months. So what I need, and my friends need, is to have a distraction from what has happened. To be able to learn in a safe place and feel comfortable and happy in our classrooms. I am grateful to my teachers for making this happen. I am looking forward as my teachers remind me to do, because looking back prevents us from growing. Fortitude and grit my teachers say. Not only does learning make me happy but being back in school with my friends I feel safe and that is what kids need to feel. Safe and happy.

F.O.M.O. Feeling of Missing Out- Harmonizing the Learning Environment After a Setback

Obstacles occur in every classroom. These complications can be almost indistinguishable and easily overcome or they can be dynamic and life-changing. As educators, how we deal with a disturbance or interference makes all the difference. Either way, large or small, as teachers we need to have strategies in place to help our students recover from them. They need a stronghold on routine and familiarity so that when they re-enter the classroom, their footing is solid. Students need to know that the foundation of the learning environment is consistent with what they remember, what they are already comfortable with. The first few days need to be structured but flexible. Have conversations about what happened, but keep them short and get back to learning quickly. By having a review of previous content, students will begin to feel more connected and at ease. Just talk, make connections, let students feel comfortable with what they have learned, before you add new information. As facilitators, we need to make sure we are not cramming in data and rushing through lessons because we feel behind schedule, this will only cause more anxiety for our fragile students.

Students need to feel solidarity with one another and have time to get their bearings, express their disappointment, insecurities and bewilderment. Give them some class time to talk, just have conversations. Some of our students have not spoken to one another through this absence and need to reconnect. Let them bond over what they have all gone through. Many of their emotions will be hidden, only coming to the surface in times of stress or confusion. Many will laugh and interact with their peers, seemingly like nothing is wrong, however, even the smallest, inconsequential of setbacks takes its toll. Even if students were only impacted by watching the event unfold on television, they know people who have been affected, they understand what has happened and processing it will take time. One can choose to side step it, letting students cope outside of school with family or as a teacher we can address it head on, make sure that students talk about it, as difficult as that may seem, the feeling of missing out, or being consumed with something no one is discussing is worse.

Allowing time for students to share and reconnect is critical, but re-harmonizing our relationships with our students is just as important. Monday is the first day back for my students and I am going to sit down at every table and talk to each group individually. Listen to their stories, help them feel safe and secure in our classroom community. Reassure them grades are not at the forefront of our learning, understanding and confidence in the content is. I want to make sure they know that learning is important and we will be moving forward, but that we will also be continuing to heal together. We will review and make connections and add to our knowledge slowly but surely, to readjust back to school in a mindful manner, not a hectic, chaotic one. I will be spending a lot of time in the ‘power zone’ out among my students but also one-on-one with them during our one-minute check-ins.

Before we were impacted by the hurricane, I had a 1-minute check-in with every student. We talked about science and hobbies as well as strategies and goals. So, this week I will be sitting down with each of them again. I will listen to them intently to determine where they are, what they need from me to feel content and safe, and how I can help them teach themselves strategies of resilience and focus. There will be a lot of distraction and uncertainty for many students and I want to make sure I ease them back into a routine but also back into a growth mindset. One of overcoming adversity, listening to one’s instincts and asking for help.

The most important thing I can do as a teacher right now is to listen. While some students will rebound quickly, others will reestablish stability more slowly. Emotions will run high for some students and others will appear cheerful, when deep down they are in a very dark place. I need to be able to just observe and listen. I need to make sure every one of my students feels safe and comfortable back at school and in our learning community.

The only way to make sure every student harmonizes back into the learning environment is to look them in the eye, regularly, and talk to them. Ask them questions and get them to open-up to me. I am thankful I had the opportunity to have a one-minute check-in with each of them before we were separated. This will make next week more comfortable and relaxing. 

As a class, we have laughed and played. We have created a community board, a graffiti wall of cell vocabulary and we have collaborated and had personal conversations. I may not know all their names yet, but I know each of them, personally. There is a bond already formed. Therefore, next week has a foundation, the scaffolding is in place, all I need to do is slowly add the sheet rock and let students construct their knowledge, independence and trust around the community center we call our learning environment. To be available and present but also remote, because during times like these kids need to be kids too. They need to have time to be silly without an eyeful watch. I am going to be mingling and providing hugs and smiles. But most importantly, I will be emanating a sense of calm, mindfulness and joy needed to re-center and re-focus as a learning community.

A Tear in the Fabric of Space and Time

Nothing feels the same after a catastrophic event. The colorful looks washed out. The vibrant becomes dingy. What was once routine, going to the school, becomes complicated. Learning no longer takes precedence. When students return to school on Monday we are having an activity schedule, so we can spend some time in the morning block to just talk and reassure our students. We have 10 teachers who have been displaced due to major flood damage. We have many students who have been relocated for the same reason and many new students entering our school because they are now living with family members. Things will feel and look very different. It feels like a tear in the fabric of space and time. Yes, I am a huge Whovian (Dr. Who) fan and the aftermath of Harvey feels very much like a blending of two worlds: one shiny and active, the other in slow-motion, every new action trailing behind the last.

The Doctor never runs away from a challenge, well sometimes he does from danger, but he always returns to fight the inevitable battle. He charges in while everyone else is fleeing. First responders, volunteers, neighbors all became heroes during and after Harvey. A week later, the focus may have changed nationally, but locally Houstonians, Texans, are rebuilding, donating, selflessly doing everything they can to help one another get back on their feet. The focus for me Monday will not be on the hurricane but on the coming together of a community to stay Texas strong, Katy strong. That is the beauty of America, we come together, regardless of class, race, nationality and simply stitch the tear, sew the holes and tighten the gap. Through our diversity and cultural beauty we create a quilt of unity and strength that even the most cruelest of situations can't destroy. Physically we are worn and battered but we are overcoming hardship and from the ashes of despair we are taking flight. T.A.R.D.I.S. or not, our hearts are bigger on the inside.

Happiness: Pervasive and Perpetual

What does happiness look like? Pink: wispy, magical, sugary goodness like a puff of cotton candy. The shininess of a Mylar balloon, floating calmly above the excitement and laughter of celebrating children. The perfect semblance of wind and water as a line of surfers, anticipate their next wave. Finding 'flow,' the transformation of thought into purpose, forgetting problems or adversity and losing yourself in the moment. The locality of desire, determination and direction. Yes, happiness is visual and colorful. But, happiness is not merely external reward or acquired revenue. It is communal and boundless, family and friends. A beautiful image only you can see. A smile that emanates from a memory as fresh as the day it occurred. Happiness is also exclusive, cozy and personal.

It is often forgotten in times of struggle or endeavor, yet it is omnipresent. An internal continuance, within us, pouring through our minds, even in the darkest of times. It may trickle or dribble, but it courses through our veins, like life itself. The baseline is always there, it may plummet or surge, ebb or flow, but all the while, there is a continuity of spirit, of faith, of joy, that is relentless. This is the current, keeping us from washing ashore. The uplift, pushing us forward over even the most tumultuous of circumstances. It carries many purposes: to remind us that things will get better, that we are not alone, that we have within us, the strength to endure and survive. Happiness looks like "Monchu" one family, one cause, one solution- belief.

We all have that moment when our eyes first open after slumber. When the divide between dream and sensibility is erased. Where contentment, spirituality and happiness co-exist with uncertainty. A split second where belief is entangled with our doubt and fears and rather than succumbing to any lingering melancholy, we use it as a beacon to count our blessings. Even after nightmares we settle into the corporeality. We begin to recognize our surroundings and breathe. It is these blurry fragments where happiness finds its stronghold. We just need to remember to bring it with us as we step out of bed.

Happiness is not a myth written in the books of yesteryear. It is a truth both palpable in times of celebration and tragedy. Not necessarily outright laughter, but a quiet perceptibility and validity that we have people who care for us and love us unconditionally. When we return to any kind of normalcy after hardship or misfortune we need to remember this. Happiness is always there. Always circling overhead in the densest of fog. Always embedded in the actions of those around us. Always within ourselves as we process our pain. Everyone finds strength and endurance in different ways. But as humans, the feeling of happiness is universal. A smile, hug, or kind word gets us back to our baseline. Where our intimate, indigenous, innate sense of faith will take over. Joy will return if we listen for it. It has a melody both enticing and hypnotic. Cradling and calming. A warm blanket, a soothing embrace, a whisper of confidence and hope.

There and Back Again

You just want to help. You collect items and deliver them to shelters. You offer your time, they say we have plenty of volunteers at the moment. Go check at this place or that. You walk around in a haze because you honestly do not know what to do. How you can make the biggest impact. Financial donations of course are helpful but not meaningful. You want to offer help to those who are under-recognized. Maybe undocumented. The fear of deportation keeping them in their homes. You want to be anonymous, sneak in and do some cleaning, then vanish into the shadows. You do not speak Spanish, but you understand anguish. You speak devastation fluently. You are seen as a foreigner, so you have to coax your way closer. Smile, offer a hand to shake. They will not let you close but they will accept supplies. They will smile and nod.

There are shelters and churches, food banks and police stations but many refuse to go, to seek help. There are so many in need, that it simply becomes overwhelming for you, you can only go there and back again. You can walk neighborhoods and greet people. You can offer water bottles and words of encouragement. But you can not erase the fear and trepidation in everyone's hearts. You are safe now, helicopters fly over head. The National Guard is patrolling, offering assistance and for those who feel secure, there is acceptance. But for many they remain behind curtains. All you can do is leave supplies on the lawn in plain view. You do not want to encroach. So many volunteers, so many in need.

The haze becomes fog as the guilt of minor damage, the remorse you can't do more, wraps around you. The only thing you can do is to escape, at least for a little while. Then the news is reporting the condemning of sleeping first responder's, more stigma you place on yourself. But, after a respite and a moment of reflection you begin to recognize the spiral and find the railing to venture back up and out into the sunshine. Survivors remorse is a horrible feeling. The sigh of relief that you can find groceries on the shelves of the local supermarket and put gas in your vehicle, makes you feel more isolated. You have to tune out and focus on routine, delve into family because they are traumatized too. This event has caused so much physical and mental demolition it is palpable. It hangs in the air like a dense fog, the same murky reality that encompasses you.

Find solace in family. There is no guilt to be had there, yet it lingers thick like vapor, creeping into every crevice. You are no good to anyone locked in a dark room, hidden under the covers that you have decided are cotton linens of despair. You must navigate out, talk to others who escaped Harvey with little damage. You need to look into the eyes of those you have lost and instead of seeing surrender, see determination. This lessens the miasma and under the density of confusion and isolation you will find commonality, community, positivity and faith. Guilt is causing pain twice. You can not help others if you are in pain. Believe in making a difference any way you can and make a difference. There and back again. To the place of mindfulness and joy that guides you. Spread the joy and watch the haze become sunny skies.

This is dedicated to the countless volunteers who are simply heroes. Doing everything within their power to make a difference.