Hobbits, and their funds of knowledge

On the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an Uzi smell, nor yet a dry, bare sandy hole, with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat. It was a hobbit hole, and that means comfort. At the moment, however, this particular hobbit was not very comfortable. He was a teacher, and hobbits came from far and wide all over the Shire to learn from him about the history of hobbits, elves, and men. But the teacher had three students in particular who were giving him a very hard time of it. There was griffo, who was a bulger, and came from budger, and you all about food and ale for his family ran the in there. They served food and drink to hobbits and all other sorts of travelers, and so history was of little interest to him. There was mundo who came from the south Farley. He was a hornblower, and the horn blowers had grown the best tobacco in all the wide world for generations on end. Mundo thought his teacher always uppity, and his classroom stuffy. He didn't care for the teachers learned at accent, and thought little of how his classes would ever help him. For he knew he would be a tobacco farmer too. Then there was falco, from needle hole, falco could tell you of every sort of tree there was. He knew beach from oak, oak from ash, and so on until your head would spin. How could history, taught by this old hobbit with a funny way of speaking, ever interest him. The class was dull, and his three students were bored to tears, or at least sleep. Our teacher was very distraught, and sat and sat and thought and thought about how to reach these students. How could he show that he cared about them, and where they came from, and still teach them about their history. An idea came to him at last, he would show these three hobbits just how much he cared, and wanted to learn about them. He would see where they lived and what they loved. He would learn of their funds of knowledge, though he had never heard of such a thing, and wouldn't call them. You and I would say he was going to learn of their background knowledge and grow his relationship with these young hobbits, becoming a learner, a student of his students in the process. And so he went to buy water with griffo, and learned all about the family business. He sampled the cakes and the ale, talked to his family, and came to truly understand who griffo was. Griffo was satisfied indeed at this, and came back to class with a fresh face in a knowledge that his teacher really cared. Then he went to the south farthing and saw mundo's farm. He was fascinated that all the kinds of tobacco there were, and how careful one had to be in harvesting it. He sat by the fire and the family farmhouse, and listened to the stories they told. Different, but just as interesting as the stories the teacher loved from the history books. He even told these stories and class the very next week. And at last he went to needle hole, and walked the Woods with falco. He smelled the sweet forest air, and sat under a mighty beech tree. He saw that falco's people did with those trees, and was amazed. Soon he even had a student creating histories and glossaries of trees. Class changed for our teacher and for his students, soon enough class was exciting, and all the students really felt like they belonged there. The teacher had learned where his students came from, and the knowledge they brought to class. He knew now that they weren't just jugs to be filled. For you and I, we would have called it their funds of knowledge, and we would know that students want to feel valued and engaged. They want to be more than learners, but active parts of the classroom. And, like our teacher, we know that this is the first step in teaching, showing that we care.