October 11, 2007
-
Topic: Activism
Here’s a brilliant quote by Thomas Freedman in today’s NYT:
“Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy didn’t change the world by asking
people to join their Facebook crusades or to download their platforms.
Activism can only be uploaded, the old-fashioned way — by young voters
speaking truth to power, face to face, in big numbers, on campuses or
the Washington Mall. Virtual politics is just that — virtual.”I’m being an activist in my own small way. In 5 years, if I stay at my school, I think I can help transform an underperforming inner-city school, into a positive learning community, with minimal discipline problems despite students who live in a community where there are sometimes gaps in role models for positive behaviors, and where students are engaged in serious learning.
Part of the struggle of my 2nd year has to do with curriculum development. With only a vague picture of what each month looks like, and no textbook to guide me or my grade team, we’re essentially left to build a curriculum from scratch. A wonderful opportunity, but also a terrible burden, given our time constraints. Clearly, to be successful, a great deal of planning needs to occur the summer before.
Currently, we are having students practice summarizing skills in reading, learning how to write surveys in writing, learning how to identify fractional parts and add fractions in math, and exploring the ideas of community, conflict, and co-existence in social studies. In the next month, our social studies unit will shift to Chistopher Columbus and the effects of his expedition to the New World, as well as learning more reading comprehension skills, writing memoirs, and learning about fractions, decimals, and percents. All the while incorporating a philosophy of character development into the daily activities.
It’s a challenge, but a fun one. The kids are great, but I forgot how chatty and pre-occupied 10year olds can be. There is so much for me to learn about their behaviors and personalities, along with their cognitive abilities, their content knowledge, and their academic interests.
But, as Thomas Freedman pointed out, “America needs a jolt of the idealism, activism and outrage (it must be
in there) of Generation Q. That’s what twentysomethings are for — to
light a fire under the country.” Now I just need to get myself networked.
Comments (1)
You can contribute “virtually” as the internet allows active organisations to recruit supporters without the confronting experience of attending a meeting. I use the ‘net to keep track of and contribute financially to the Union movement here in Oz. We are in the process of trying to get rid of a conservative government. My husband and I have donated money several times but only attended one rally. We both work full time and the time we get for ourselves is severely restricted so we don’t go to much.
As you prgress with your teachung career I would encourgae you to join your local union. While In understand that’s not an “American’ thing to do, there has to be balance between the employers and government who are organised into one big lump, and enployees who often are not and therefore by definition have less clout.