Teaching when Life Happens...thinking about Inauguration Day '17
Sunday morning, May 18, 1980. Why was it snowing when
I woke? As a 6th grader I remember being confused and immediately
scared as the ash fell in the grass surrounding my childhood home, covering it
like a blanket of snow. My school year ended that day. Our class, week-long
trip to Cispus didn’t happen, but I did begin to learn about how life events
shape what we know, learn and remember.
January 28, 1986 I arrived at school early. Jazz
Ensemble started at 6:45am. I’m sure we had an amazing rehearsal. 11:39EDT
(8:39am Chehalis, WA time) we gathered in the library at W.F. West High School
to watch the space shuttle blast into space. I recall our teachers being
excited because “one of them,” a teacher, Christa McAuliffe, was flying on this
mission. We watched and cried together, when 73 seconds into flight, the
Challenger exploded ending the lives of all seven astronauts on board and
changing the trajectory of space travel and our instruction for the foreseeable
future. I remember being struck by the difficult balancing act that my talented
teachers displayed that day...being open and honest with their feelings and
impressions without trying to shape or suppress our feelings as teenagers.
September, 11, 2001, driving to work early, headed to
Clover Park High School where I served as principal. 5:30am, enjoying my
morning NPR (National Public Radio), coffee, and thinking about my day at work.
5:45am, program shifted-An American Airlines 767 crashed into the World Trade
Center in New York. For the next fifteen minutes, I continued my drive to work
thinking about the students in my school and the teachers who would teach them
that day. By the time I pulled into the parking lot, multiple plane crashes,
terrorists, and almost all our kids were somehow connected to Ft. Lewis or
McChord Airforce Base. I couldn’t imagine how we could possibly hold class,
engage kids in a caring way, knowing that emotions would be running extremely
high for students and adults alike. We talked that morning as adults about our
strategy and I will forever remember one of the most talented teachers on our
campus, Judi Orr, engaging her class in a writing assignment to express, honor,
and process their thoughts and understanding of the world events that we were
smack in the middle. I remember being thankful, as I left her class that day,
for skilled teachers who in times of significant life events put their lives in
the balance to support and challenge their kids.
Friday, January 20, 2017-Inauguration Day for our 45th
President, Donald J. Trump. All presidential inaugurations are important but
this one may be predictably different for many reasons. By all typical
measures, Mr. Trump is the least qualified presidential candidate of all-time.
He has no military record, no formal government experience and no policy record
one can reference. He is the oldest person to be elected President, and nearly
the tallest at 6’3” (Only Abraham Lincoln was taller.) Donald is the first
President to enter the White House on his third marriage and also the richest.
In fact, some experts believe he is personally wealthier than all other
presidents combined. (Although no one can know for sure because his wealth
hasn’t been disclosed.)
The people who love Donald Trump, love him with an
unbridled passion that we’ve never observed. The people who hate Donald Trump,
despise him with an unmeasured intensity we have would be hard-pressed to
exceed. Citizens either see Mr. Trump as “the great savior” of the United
States or a sexual deviant/racist who will set our nation back fifty years and
regressively destroy systems and structures that support the “least of these”
across our country.
Teachers, students, parents and communities all have
opinions about Donald Trump, and those opinions and feelings, as strong and
complex as they are will create a challenging opportunity for educators this
coming Friday. My hope is that our skilled educators in my district, Lyle #406,
our state and our nation look to 1.20.17 as an opportunity to help our students
process an important and complex life event - Inauguration Day, 2017.
Some thoughts-
Ø Don’t
ignore the day or pretend it isn’t happening and don’t create an
“Armageddon-vibe” because it is.
Ø How
you feel and what you believe isn’t the “most” important thing…but it is
important. It’s OK for your kids to “know” you. It’s equally important for each
of your kids, regardless of their views, to be known and “safe” in your
classroom.
Ø No
matter how you feel or what you think, there will be kids with opposing
view-points—that’s a good thing J
Ø Plan
a “kick ass” lesson—this isn’t 9/11. The volcano didn’t erupt. You have some
time to plan and think and collaborate.
o
What is it that you want all kids to know
and be able to do? What is the learning target?
o
How is the inauguration connected to your
curriculum? (If it isn’t consider allowing the teachers who can make a connection
to facilitate the learning. Kids will not want to be bathed all day in
inauguration bubbles.)
o
What are the questions and discussion that
might be held that would allow your kids to engage in the learning?
o
What are the best things that could occur
during the inauguration? What could go wrong? (Can you plan for both so that
you can create the best learning experience for the kids?)
o
Do your kids even understand how we got
here? Do they understand presidential elections, the electoral college, popular
vote, etc. (As in any good lesson, pre-teaching the vocabulary and concepts
allow the kids to learn more deeply)
o
If you decide to partner with media…choose
wisely.
o
Sometimes “less is more.”
o
When the lesson is done….check for
understanding. How do the kids show what they know/learned as the result of
your teaching? The measure of our success as teachers isn’t how “we feel” but
rather, did the kids learn?
I’m thankful for my early morning email from Lyle’s
terrific 6th grade teacher, who inquired, “can I
show my 6th graders the inauguration on Friday?”
Ah….yes, my friend….I have some thoughts J
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