Things got off to an interesting start today with our class tuning in to watch President Obama's address to schoolchildren. Unbelievably, the teacher had to e-mail all of the parents to ensure that they had no objection to their children being exposed to a speech that encouraged them to work hard, stay in school, and dare to succeed. Thankfully, no parent objected to their child being "indocrinated." As it turns out, it was a highly teachable moment, with Mr. M instructing the students beforehand to write down key words that they heard during the speech, and he also led a lively discussion after the speech, asking the kids what they thought about it, and talking to them honestly and giving them some sobering facts and figures about dropout rates and the importance of working hard. Real controversial stuff!
The rest of the day was the usual mix of math, social studies, reading and writing. I graded the student's first literature writing assignment, which gave me good insight into their writing abilities as well as glimpses into their personalities. Not surprisingly, some of the more vocally articulate students also displayed dexterity and imaginative vocabulary in their writing skills.
All in all, a very good day.
Posts
10 years ago
No comments:
Post a Comment