Interesting, Fun Website

I received the link to this website in my inbox the other night, and thought that I would share it.

The URL is www.freerice.com

Not only can you expand on your vocabulary, but for every word that you define correctly 10 grains of rice is donated by the United Nations! It's not much, but it's better than nothing ...

I do warn you, it's addictive! (which is not necessarily a bad thing, all things considered)

The First Thanksgiving

In the spirit of historical accuracy, I thought you might enjoy a 30-second promo for the History Channel's docu-drama, Desperate Crossing, which tells the story of those who journeyed across the Atlantic on the Mayflower. I tried to link to it directly, but couldn't get it to work. To view it, go to www.youtube.com, type "What is Thanksgiving" in the search bar, and then click on the first result that pops up. The promo basically asks the question: "What if the traditional elementary school Thanksgiving play told the real story?"

And in the same spirit, what kinds of activities/lessons/celebrations are you seeing in your schools this week focused on Thanksgiving? Any little Pilgrims with buckled hats and shoes? Or any "alternative" looks at the Thanksgiving story that go beyond the traditional approach?

"How to teach Controversial Content and not get Fired"

Today during class I discussed this article with my group. I meant to bring it up to the whole class, but we never got to this article. I was hoping someone might help clarify things for me.

The teacher explains how she taught a unit on the civil rights movement and her students wrote and prepared a class play. The class presented it at the school's February assembly, which was a "black history" theme. Isn't that a little contradictory to teach about such an important topic, expecially for blacks, during black history month? Doesn't that send students the wrong message? I remember talking about in class how in February schools might teach about important African American figures, but only during that time. We discussed how we should be teaching these things throughout the year, because otherwise we are showing our students we only care about blacks during February. I was just wondering what other people thought about this.

I was also wondering about something she said at the end of the article. I asked as teachers, should we expect ourselves to integrate social justice perspective in every thing we teach and teach about specific issues of justice within everything as much as possible? Is this the same as having a multicultural classroom? Is it either all there, or it doesn't exist? We were talking about integrating it within everything and how teachers are expected to do this with their math and science curriculum. We felt Social Studies, Literature, art, and music were all great opportunities for this but we weren't sure how to do it all the time.

Thanks for your opinions!

"Putting Compassion Into Action"

As Mary Cowhey states in her chapter, "Compassion, action, and change," the typical model of the school food drive should be looked at critically. It wasn't until I read this article that I thought about how food drives "inadvertently reinforce stereotypes about poor people, oversimplify the problem and the solution, fail to teach an understanding of the causes of poverty or local effort to improve conditions, and further stigmatize low-income children in the school." It was truly eye opening for me as I was reading everything that she did NOT want children to believe because she was describing everything that I always believed. I believed many of the things she described children should NOT believe because when it came to school food drives, I was never given an explanation beyond "We're collecting food for poor people because they deserve a nice dinner/holiday, too." What's more is we were only encouraged to collect food and clothing around the holidays. I was completely left in the dark about "the complex reasons why people go hungry or cannot afford housing." I was also blind-sighted to the fact that poverty-stricken people lived in my neighborhood 365 days a year; it wasn't just a seasonal thing. My concern is that if I never truly understood the complexity of poverty growing up, then obviously many others did not either.

From here, we move to taking action today. I really liked the idea of reimagining food drives, and putting children into the driver's seat as far as taking action beyond simple collection of items. Also, I felt "The Giving Tree" would be extremely beneficial for families within the schools and families in the community. Is it possible for us to take some of Cowhey's ideas and integrate them into the schools we're currently working in? As student teachers, or even first and second year teachers, what are some ways we can help students understand the complexity of poverty and put our "compassion into action?"

Addressing the issue of gangs in our classrooms

We had talked about the issue of gangs in class a while ago now. In my second phase, the issue was a little more prominent with our students. We had some students whose parents were openly involved in gangs and some students who had the potential of getting involved within the next few years.

How would you begin the discussion in your classroom about gangs without sounding naive or causing some students to get mad? Is it likely for the students who are already involved to become more offended and pull away? Or could it have the opposite affect?

Atheist's teen daughter fights Illinois' moment-of-silence law

After discussing in class about whether or not it is wrong to say the Pledge of Allegiance in class, I automatically thought about a local issue in the Wheeling school district and Buffalo Grove High School that deals with the same issue. For those of us teaching in Wheeling, or have heard about Rob Sherman, we know that he is an Atheist father whose children are very outspoken about including anything religious within the school. I found the following article, written on October 26 in the International Herald Tribune, a newspaper in France. I was shocked to see that this issue was so global. Let me know what you think!


Atheist's teen daughter fights Illinois' moment-of-silence law
The Associated Press
Published: October 26, 2007

CHICAGO: A 14-year-old girl and her outspoken atheist father filed a federal lawsuit Friday challenging an Illinois state law requiring a brief period of prayer or reflective silence at the start of every school day.
The lawsuit asks the court to declare the law unconstitutional, said attorney Gregory Kulis, who represents Dawn Sherman, a freshman at Buffalo Grove High School, and her father, the atheist-advocate and radio talk show host Robert Sherman.
Kulis said the law is an attempt to inject religion into public schools in violation of the First Amendment. The suit also seeks a temporary restraining order to halt schools' obeying the law until the case is decided. A judge will consider that request at a Monday morning hearing.
The lawsuit names Gov. Rod Blagojevich and local school officials as defendants. The governor's office and state attorney general's office had no immediate comment Friday. School district spokeswoman Venetia Miles said schools will continue to comply with the law.
The suit also names high school teacher Binh Huynh, who according to the lawsuit is the teacher responsible for ensuring the girl prays silently or reflects quietly on the anticipated events of the day.
"What we object to is Christians passing a law that requires the public school teacher to stop teaching during instructional time, paid for by the taxpayers, so that Christians can pray," Sherman told The Associated Press.
An Illinois law called the Silent Reflection and Student Prayer Act already allowed schools to observe a moment of silence if they wanted. The new measure changed just a single word: "may" observe became "shall" observe.
Sherman said he went to court after he asked the school board to ignore the law and was rebuffed.
It is not Sherman's first church-and-state lawsuit and not the first to involve one of his children. He has sought removal of religious symbols from city seals and a ban on Boy Scout meetings at public schools.
In 1989, he sued challenging a state law requiring public-school children to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. Sherman's then 7-year-old son, Richard, appeared at a news conference that year, dressed in a blue blazer and red-and-blue striped tie. The boy recited the pledge without the phrase "under God."
"How can I raise Ricky to be a good little atheist when he's required to say the words 'under God' at the start of each day?" Sherman said at the event.
In 1998, Sherman was convicted of beating Richard, by then a teenager, and later was sentenced to jail for failing to complete domestic violence counseling. He claimed at the time he hit his son twice because he refused to baby-sit his sister, making Sherman late for his radio show.
On Friday, Sherman told The Associated Press he is "the best-known atheist activist in the Midwest."

Jonathan Kozol's hunger strike and NCLB

I recently read , in the announcements on icampus of all places, something that I found particularly interesting. The announcement was about Jonathan Kozol and his recent action taken in regards to No Child Left Behind. Since July, Kozol has been on a hunger strike to protest the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which is now up for reauthorization. He is 71. Although I do feel that his cause is a noble one, and that NCLB is an act worth protesting, I cannot help but wonder if Kozol will net a result from his actions. Throughout his career, Kozol has written many eye-opening accounts on the reality faced by many children in America's inner city public schools. His most recent being Letters to a Young Teacher and The Shame of the Nation. His writing is both honest and surreal and allows you to see into the lives of the children who are experiencing unequal educational opportunity in this country. I feel that is impossible for Kozol's activism through his writing to go unnoticed.

It is safe to say that many people have had their disagreements with NCLB since its reenactment in 2002 and that many of these people have voiced their arguments throughout the years. Educators, administrators and parents alike have voiced their opinions in regards to such issues as accountability, funding, etc. Is it possible for Kozol to make more of an impact by going on a hunger strike? And, in general, can one person really make a difference?

Teachers and the First Amendment, Take 2

Here's a news story about another teacher's collision with the First Amendment. See what you think:

Teacher wouldn't pledge allegiance:

Woman has filed lawsuit against school

seacoastonline.com

October 12, 2007 6:00 AM

SEABROOK — Seabrook Middle School teacher Dianne Dunfey is suing the school district and Principal Stan Shupe for alleged retaliation for her refusal to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

Dunfey, a Rye resident, claims that since the 2004 incident, Shupe and the district singled her out for disciplinary action and created a negative public controversy. She claims she was unfairly disciplined for leaving the building without signing out and mandated to submit lesson plans when no other teacher was required to do so.

Dunfey brought suit in federal court in Concord in May, and the case is scheduled for trial in October 2008. Dunfey declined comment Thursday at the school, where she teaches seventh-grade social studies.

In the suit, Dunfey claims her First Amendment rights were violated. She seeks relief against retaliatory interference in her teaching duties and compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys' fees and costs...

Dunfey's choice to remain seated during the pledge was unpopular with parents, who complained to the Seabrook School Board...

The controversy began in the fall of 2004, when Shupe learned Dunfey and some students in her homeroom class remained seated during the Pledge of Allegiance. Shupe, according to Dunfey's court records, called each student one at a time into his office and "falsely accused the Plaintiff of attempting to persuade her students not to participate." Shupe denied that claim in court records.

Dunfey said at the time she did not instruct students to remain seated during the pledge.

At subsequent School Board meetings attended by parents upset by Dunfey's actions, members approved a policy urging respect for the U.S. flag. The board, Dunfey said in court records, "...was barred by law from taking disciplinary action against the Plaintiff for not participating in the Pledge of Allegiance."

Dunfey claims disparaging comments about her at these meetings and the board's expressed desire to take disciplinary action created a negative public controversy that made her fearful for her and her family's personal safety.

Dunfey never stated publicly why she chose to remain seated during the Pledge. "My position is I support federal law, state law and school policy," Dunfey said at the time. "The policy in print at Seabrook Middle School is participation is optional."

Dunfey has taught at the school since 1986. She alleged in the court complaint that in March Shupe told her she was being involuntarily transferred from teaching eighth-grade 20th-century American history to seventh-grade geography.

The suit lists numerous complaints against Shupe and the district...

"It was a culmination of all of the things, going back to a difference of opinion over the pledge issue," said Steven Sacks, a staff attorney with National Education Association, which filed the suit in Dunfey's behalf. "Or the principal's perception of Dianne somehow not setting the right example for these kids."

Teaching the "sanitized" version of Columbus

During class, we discussed the article, "Teaching History so Children Will Care." It made me really think about the effects teachers have in teaching the "unsanitized" version of Columbus and who he really was. I believe that teachers should be able to teach what they want in the classroom, whether that be the real truth about Columbus, or the watered down version. What I am concerned with is, what will happen the next year with a new teacher who teaches the "sanitized" version to a student who was taught the real truth the year before? How will the student react to this?
I think the student will be flustered about the whole subject and not know which teacher to believe. Will this make the student start to doubt texts, and lose interest in the subject altogether? After all, if I were told two different stories, I would not know which one to believe.
As the teacher in this situation, what would you do? I think the teacher would need to have a plan on what actions to take for this child.

The Boston Massacre

While preparing for the teach-in about the Revolutionary War my group and I found some interesting information about the different perspectives of the Boston Massacre. One book I found had a quote from Captain Thomas Preston who was in charge of the British troops involved in the Boston Massacre. Here is the statement he gave in court while being tried for ordering his soldiers to fire at the colonists:

“The mob still increased and were more outrageous, striking their clubs or bludgeons against one another, and calling out, come on you rascals, you bloody backs, you lobster scoundrels, fire if you dare… fire and be damned, we know you dare not, and much more such language was used. At this time I was between the soldiers and the mob, parleying with, and endeavoring all in my power to persuade them to retire peaceably, but to no purpose. They advanced to the points of the bayonets, struck some of them and even the muzzles of the pieces, and seemed to be endeavoring to close with the soldiers. On which some well behaved persons asked me if the guns were charged. I replied yes. They then asked me if I intended to order the men to fire. I answered no, by no means, observing to them that I was advanced before the muzzles of the men’s pieces, and must fall a sacrifice if they fired; that the soldiers were upon the half cocks and charged bayonets, and my giving the word fire under those circumstances would prove me to be no officer. While I was thus speaking, one of the soldiers having received a severe blow with a stick, stepped a little to one side and instantly fired.”
– American Voices from the Revolutionary War by Susan Provost Beller

Reading this was definitely a shock because I always remember learning about the Boston Massacre from only the colonists’ perspective, which made it seem like the British started killing innocent colonists who just happened to be walking down the street. This account from the British captain who was there shows us this perspective alone may not give an accurate picture of the whole story. After reading this quote I still don’t think it was right for the British troops to kill the colonists who were in Boston that day, but I feel like I have a better understanding of what caused this to happen.

In my group we also talked about how this event was covered by the press and I learned that the colonist papers never even mentioned the colonists in Boston on the day of this event were taunting and provoking the British soldiers; they focused solely on the fact that the British killed colonists. This is a clear example of propaganda and was very important in rallying the colonists to go to war with the British. Propaganda has been used like this throughout time and is still used today. This example from history underscores the importance of learning about the different perspectives surrounding events and what influences people to act the ways they do. It also reminds us that we need to be critical of how our media portrays events and help our students do the same.

Christopher Columbus

At the beginning of the year in one of our Social Studies classes, I posed a question about whether not Europeans study Christopher Columbus and if they do, what are they taught? Over the last few weeks I have had the opportunity to talk with some European natives from various countries, all of which confirmed the same thing. In Europe, educators teach Christopher Columbus like we do here. They learn the wonders of and glories of Christopher Columbus and his legend.

In some regards I'm surprised, but at the same time I'm not. I guess I assumed if anything there would be a switch in focus, but according to my informal research there isn't. Interesting!

Youth for Human Rights International

Who says you cannot learn something from watching TV? As I was watching TV this afternoon, a commercial came on (surprise surprise) ... This is the commercial I saw ...



I went on the website that was mentioned at the end of the commercial - www.youthforhumanrights.org and found that there are a total of 30 human rights advertisements produced by this company. This is the direct link to the advertisements, which you can click through on the left side of the screen (in orange) or just scroll down the page to view them all: Youth for Human Rights International.

The site also has materials that you can buy (teachers and educators get a discount), but you can view the commercials online for free. I just think that this is a really interesting tool that can be used in the classroom very easily to discuss human rights issues. The majority of the commercials seem to present the information in a way that is easily accessible and understandable for students because it relates to their experiences.

One of the human rights featured was "No Slavery" (video below). I think that this video in particular can open OUR (meaning teachers') eyes to some issues that we discuss in the past tense, but are really still a struggle for our international, world society. What I mean by this is that, in America we do not think twice of issues of being enslaved or tortured, having basic rights and being protected under law for these rights, or other rights that we take for granted in this country. In other countries around the world, these are the realities of life.



So, I just thought that I would share this site with everyone, as well as some of my insight as to the content's usefulness.