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.
My Students Solve the World’s Problems
For the past five years, I held a school “History Day” fair, which I always called “the best thing I do.” As I’m teaching a senior government/economics course this year, I decided to hold “Citizenship Night” yesterday. Students completed Project Citizen portfolios, and we opened up the doors of our school to the public to hear students discuss their work. Project Citizen asks students to identify a public policy problem in their community. They then researched the problem, evaluated alternative solutions, developed their own solution in the form of a public policy, and created a political action plan to enlist local or state authorities to adopt their proposed policy.
The work my students presented last night was impressive, but not nearly as impressive as the passion in their voices as they shared their thoughts with members of the public. It was a testament to the amazing things young women and men will do when they are given some freedom to choose a topic, instruction and practice in research skills, and an authentic public audience for their work. Yesterday was the first time in seven years of teaching in NYC that I had 100% of projects completed on time, and for most of my students, it was the best work they’ve done. In the coming weeks, I’ll post photos of the work as well as some more information about what into the event.
There was a professional photographer on hand who took incredible photos (a little tricky to find: Go to http://jaydorfmanphotography.com/, click on the little arrow button, scroll down on the list in the top-right corner, and click ISA Citizenship Night). Gotham Schools has also an absolutely tremendous write-up of the event that, I have to admit, included some information from my students I didn’t even know yet. From Jessica Campbell at Gotham:
“Don’t be nervous,” Young Writers’ history teacher Stephen Lazar told his 72 seniors last night. The seniors were buzzing around the warm cafeteria, prepping their final citizenship projects for the imminent arrival of evaluators, who would be assessing their work and knowledge. “They’re nervous to hear what you’re going to do with the world.”
Citizenship Night Tonight!
If you happen to be in the Brooklyn-area and are free from 5:00-6:30 pm tonight, please join me for the Academy of Young Writers 1st ever Citizenship Night.
There, our seniors will present their work as part of Project Citizen. Project Citizen, sponsored by the Center for Civic Education, is a curricular program for students, youth organizations, and adult groups that promotes responsible participation in local and state government. The program helps participants learn how to monitor and influence public policy. In the process, they develop support for democratic values and principles, tolerance, and feelings of political efficacy.
Groups of seniors identified a public policy problem in their community. They then researched the problem, evaluated alternative solutions, developed their own solution in the form of a public policy, and created a political action plan to enlist local or state authorities to adopt their proposed policy. My students developed a portfolio of their work and are eager to present their project to civic-minded community members.
Students are taking on a range of issues, including:
- Cyber bullying
- Internet Privacy/Piracy
- Gentrification
- New York City School Reform
- Domestic Violence
- Animal Cruelty
- Trafficking
- Obesity
- Gay Rights
We hope you will join us to listen to what our students have to say, ask them difficult questions, and potentially help them begin to make the changes they wish to see.
The Academy for Young Writers’ Citizenship Night will take place on Tuesday, March 20 from 5-6:30 pm in the cafeteria of our current building at 183 S. 3rd St in Williamsburg.
(For those of you not in NYC, I will share pictures and more here in the coming days)
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
