When You See Student Development

I (Heather) was lucky enough to get a glimpse of my students’ empathy with our first activity related to our Refugee unit.

I was introduced to one of the founders of The Syrian Emergency Task Force by a parent, and found out that this organization has an office right here in Little Rock! While speaking with Natalie Larrison of the SETF to see if she would come and speak to our students about the crisis in Syria and what they are doing to help, she made me aware of a program that they have started, called “Letters of Hope.”  To participate in this program, all one must do is write a letter of inspiration, write a poem, or send an uplifting picture to a Syrian refugee. The SETF travels to Turkey every three months or so, and distributes them. We asked our junior high students to write letters for the upcoming trip that was going to take place the following week, and also asked those who were willing to meet at the SETF office to help package the letters for travel. In an effort to ensure that all the letters were respectful and appropriate before turning them over to Natalie, I read all 118 letters our kids wrote. I was overwhelmed with two things. The first was the difference in the writing between the kids I had taught for two years and the kids I have only had for one. I was impressed with the writing skills that most of the 8th graders showed in their letters, but not only that; they had depth. They had empathy.  They contained all of the things that I hoped that they would and more. In fact, I was so touched by the things they wrote that I felt compelled to send the following parent e-mail when I finished reading them (and finished wiping my eyes from tearing up - okay crying):

Good Morning All,

I have been proof-reading the letters the kids wrote yesterday before I take them to drop them off this afternoon, and I want to share with you how proud I am of these kids.  I can tell from what they wrote that they not only paid attention to what we taught them about the issues in Syria, but that they were truly empathizing with these people that they do not know, and will never meet.  I was amazed at the depth of some of their letters, and most of them were so heartfelt I knew I had to share this with you. As not only a teacher but as a parent of one of the members of this "talkie, rowdy class," reading the letters reminded me that despite the many issues this class went through this year,  and the many difficult teenage moments we as parents share with them in our homes, these are great kids. I am honored that I was able to get a rare glimpse into their hearts through this project. I will miss them all next year when they move on to high school.

Thank you for sharing your sons and daughters with me.  It has been a privilege.

I received several responses back from the parents thanking me for sending this e-mail because I took the time to share something good about their kids. Sometimes, a simple e-mail that goes out to parents when an individual or an entire group does something well means so much to a parent, especially if you write it in that moment when you are overwhelmed by something a student has done. Take the time to share these thoughts with your parents. Please share these stories or you will be the only one that knows them.

i2 Innovation - Springdale

It’s been a whirlwind spring. We were busy blogging and planning in April and then May hit us hard. With all the end of year events, final exam preparation, grades due, etc. we got a little behind. We ended the year looking forward to our presentation at i2 Innovation Conference in Springdale, Arkansas.

We’ve just wrapped up our presentation. Thanks to all who attended!  We hope it was a highlight of your conference. If you were unable to attend, here’s a link to all our presentation materials and a complete lesson plan http://bit.ly/studentshoes We hope you’ll take a look.

We’ll be back next week to share details of our cross-curricular unit on Refugee.

When the Interest is Real It Spreads

Every year our WWII unit catches the attention of the 7th graders. They ask questions, most of which we tell them they’ll have to wait to have answered, but their interest is piqued and they remember this as they enter our classes the following year.

This year, we actually had students ask us to create something like this unit for them! They asked us to give them more work, work that will be challenging, require research and analysis. They asked us! For me, this may be the greatest compliment as a teacher, when students are so excited for something that is being done they cannot wait to be included. Heather and I also realized we would be remiss if we did not seize the opportunity.

Once again, we jumped in with two feet. We decided to base a cross-curricular unit for our 7th grade around Refugee by Alan Gratz.

The 7th-grade social studies course is world geography. This opened doors in terms of content, but then the decision becomes where to stop the content. I didn’t want to delve too far into the history since some of it will overlap in 8th grade, but in order to understand the story the history is necessary.

From a social studies standpoint, the unit addressed basic geography - location, culture, history, and politics. I used this unit to build student’s research and writing skills, and discuss the theme of continuity and change over time.

The English component of the unit enabled students to not only read a book and examine the elements we always address: plot, characters, literary devices, themes, and setting, but the very content of this novel opened the door wide for us to delve into issues of social justice. My (Heather) hope for these students (and I know Terri is in agreement here) was that they begin to not only understand the issues of political unrest that have throughout history (and even present day) caused people to flee their countries in fear, but to begin to empathize with people in this unfortunate situation.