Resources for Teachers Teaching about Trayvon Martin
Tomorrow we will begin a formal discussion of Trayvon Martin’s murder in my classes. As all my students are of the colors that causes them to experience police harassment and distrust in lighter communities, there won’t be much need for background. We’ll read this article to establish facts, and then use the following protocol:
- Students are presented with readings (and sometimes video) on the event
- The class constructs a list of the facts of the event based on the texts and their knowledge
- The class lists questions that the event raises
- The class discusses the questions
This will allow my students concerns and voices to dictate the class, as it should be in a case like this that affects them so personally. This “class” could take anywhere from a day to a week, and that needs to be the case.
If I taught a more diverse group of students, I might use some of the readings below to help my students who don’t experience race-based discrimination on a regular basis. This reading list also serves as a good list for white teachers who might not fully understand why people are so angry (I’ve had three such conversations in the past week). Each article speaks for itself, and all should be read.
Guest Post: A Pi Day Lesson for History Teachers
As math teachers around the country gear up for the one day a year some students get excited about math tomorrow, (at least if my remeberance of high school is correct), I am happy to share this History of Pi (Day) Lesson from my friend and former colleauge, John Mcrann, of the Bronx Lab School.
I’d like to thank Steve for letting me “math-evangelize” through his blog. One of my biggest goals as a mathematician and math teacher is to connect my students to the ways in which they use mathematical reasoning in their lives outside of my class. One way that I’ve had some success doing this in the past is to teach about the history of the discipline – empowering students to see math concepts as solutions developed by other humans to solve human problems rather than problems on a page. On pi day, I shared this lesson with some history colleagues at our school who were interested in these ideas and I submit them here for anyone who’s interested. Please let me know what you think.
Pi Day History Activity (Download the Power Point)
Resources for Teaching about Kony 2012
I’ve been quite bummed as my students near the end of a major research project with students for Project Citizen (which they will display to the public next Tuesday), because I have not been able to have deep conversations with my students about the Kony campaign. It’s the perfect teaching opportunity:
- Students are engaged and curious about the content (I heard about it from a half-dozen students before any major media picked it up),
- The truth about the situation is far more complicated than it seems at first, and
- What appears at first to be a black and white moral issue reveals many shades of gray after further inquiry.
I’m hoping students will still be excited for it in a couple of weeks, especially because the teacher(R)evolution job has put together an incredible wealth of resources to investigate the Kony2012 phenomena in much depth. There’s enough great stuff there for a week’s worth of lessons, as well as to kick-start a great inquiry-based research unit. Check them out and I hope there will be many great, complex conversations in classrooms in the coming weeks.
Can’t Wait to Have Students Read This
There’s an interesting op-ed in Thursday’s New York Times, “Why China’s Political Model Is Superior.” The author Eric X. Li, makes some claims in it that are beyond radical from an American perspective:
In the history of human governance, spanning thousands of years, there have been two major experiments in democracy. The first was Athens, which lasted a century and a half; the second is the modern West. If one defines democracy as one citizen one vote, American democracy is only 92 years old. In practice it is only 47 years old, if one begins counting after the Voting Rights Act of 1965 — far more ephemeral than all but a handful of China’s dynasties.
3 Ways to Honor Martin Luther King, Jr.
Have Your Students Participate in the Manning Marable “Along the Color Line” Speech Contest
While there is more to the contest than just writing about King, one of the suggested lessons focuses on King’s legacy, and Dr. Marable’s view of it. The King lesson is here, and full contest information and suggested lesson plans are here.
Remember King’s Reality
Last Martin Luther King Day, I wrote about four lessons students, and their teachers, can learn about Dr. King that challenge common misconceptions about his life and work:
- Sometimes, history happens by accident
- King dreamed of a whole lot more than white and black boys and girls joining hands
- King fought against terrorists
- King was a human being, with flaws
Some Amazing Questions: Follow up on Black Friday Lesson
I had great conversations that carried into today after the Black Friday lesson I did with them yesterday. We spent the second half of today using the Right Question Institute’s Question Formulation Technique to move further with deeper inquiry into the issues raised by this lesson and to help us answer our essential questions for the unit: How democratic is the US? & Does my vote count?
My students came up with some incredible questions, which means I’m feeling pretty overwhelmed with even beginning to think about how to move forward. I’m leaning towards letting them make that decision (democratically) tomorrow. Here are their questions, which I’ve categorized.
Questions about Democracy
- How democratic does the government consider itself?
- What makes something democratic?
- Is democratic being liberal or conservative?
- If we have democracy do we have to be socialists?
- What makes the US democratic?
- If our government is capitalist, how can we expect the government to be democratically successful?
- Can the US be democratic without a capitalistic system?
Questions about Voting
- Why would a democracy want an electoral college?
- How much of the 99% votes?
- Can my vote get canceled out?
- Are certain votes rules out?
- What happens when we can’t decide with votes?
- What limitations do voters face?
- Should the US give workers a voice?
- Do only rich people’s votes count?
- Who is in charge of making votes count?
- Whose vote really counts?
- Does the rich vote count more?
- Does age matter when talking about voting?
- How does capitalism play into voting?
- What are the demographics of voters?
- How does the voting system work?
- Does the youth vote actually count?
- Do you think at the age of 18 you are capable of making decisions that can effect the US?
- Why would the people that usually don’t vote be motivated to vote?
- Do you think when our generation votes our type of government will change?
Questions about how the Government Works
- Where is the government when these events happen?
- How is the government run through parties?
- Is the country more liberal or conservative?
- Who declares if the country is Republican or Democratic?
- Should a state be labeled Democratic or Republican?
- How can a president change his political views during his presidency?
- How does the democratic government work in the US?
- How much power should one person have in a government?
Questions about History
- Was it necessary for capitalism or democracy to come first for the second one to happen?
- Does capitalism cause democracy?
- What was the first type of government the US had?
Questions about Laws
- Why is pepper spray legal when police use it?
- Why didn’t the government get involved with the aggressive shoppers?
- Why is it okay for shoppers to camp out and not for protesters?
- Why is it okay for cops to pepper spray people in NY if pepper spray is illegal?
- What laws are they making?
Questions about the Police
- If people are allowed to protest, why do police attack protesters for protesting?
- Should police officers think about the rights of others?
- How are citizens affected by police decisions?
- Why do you think cops think they can do whatever they want?
- Why did cops think it was right to pepper spray innocent protestors?
Questions about Values
- Why is violence accepted during shopping by non-violent protesters are arrested for being democratic?
- Why are they worried about safety when it comes to protesting but every year a person gets hurt during Black Friday sales and they don’t stop that?
- How do the conflicts between capitalism and democracy affect the nation?
- How can we balance the ideals of democracy and capitalism?
- What brings more conflict to the US, capitalism or democracy?
General Questions
- Do the majority fully agree?
- Is “the younger you are, the less you know” really true?
- Can we manage to have safer Black Fridays?
Questions about Economics
- Why is it better for business to be privatized?
- What would the US economy be with a Communist government?
- What would you want to pursue other than a capitalist lifestyle?
- What does how much we pay people show the values of our society?
- How do we eliminate poverty without becoming communist?
Question Comparing to Other Places
- Do you think Democracy here is different from anywhere?
- Do you think capitalism is different anywhere else except New York?
- Why hasn’t there been another form of government?
- Which countries are democratic?
- What are the other practices of other democratic countries?
- Is there a way to make our country more democratic?
