Comments on: Tuesday’s Inauguration

By: Inauguration and the Classroom | Inner Education for Inward Educators

Inauguration and the Classroom | Inner Education for Inward Educators — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:49:54 +0000

[...] Seal of Throughts for Teaching has a good discussion going over whether to show the Presidential inauguration in the classroom Tuesday. It is a good discussion. Our principal may take the issue out of my hands as there are [...]

By: Todd

Todd — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 04:49:38 +0000

Nancy, I'm a charter member of the Dan Meyer fan club. I've got a patch, sticker, and everything. And for the record, I'm sure it's my autopsy that gets blank stares. I really just don't know where to go after showing a video that's any different than I would have gone otherwise, so the video feels superfluous. But I'm working on it. Crazy to say that after 11 years I can't logically and consistently incorporate a piece of video into a lesson, but there it is. K, that sounds awesome. Now that's commitment to the event. And just by it being a schoolwide effort, it's going to be memorable and work much better than it would otherwise. That's the kind of stuff I love to hear.

By: K

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 01:51:52 +0000

My school is having a modified schedule so that all classes are going to watch it live as it happens, and the rest of the day is devoted to community-building activities around the inauguration. (We have c-b days about 3 x a year anyway). We are linking it to MLK Day and I know for all the literacy and history teachers it is coming up in their curriculums (I developed a short nonfiction reading unit – I teach middle school – around social justice leaders to tie in). During the afternoon after the inauguration the kids are going to do some writing comparing the I Have a Dream speech and Obama’s “A More Perfect Union” speech (and presumably discussing whatever Obama says on Tuesday) and writing their own inaugural addresses.

If we weren’t showing the inauguration I imagine we’d have very low attendance on Tuesday…our kids wouldn’t and shouldn’t miss this!

By: Nancy

Nancy — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 00:58:01 +0000

Todd, Coming clean here–the assignment was not an original idea, I stole it from Mrs. Chili who teaches at a community college. I told her I was going to try it with my 6th graders. Here’s her assignment post and rubric to assess the assignment. I just c/p into a word doc and changed a few words. http://teacherseducation.wordpress.com/

Do you read Dan Meyer’s blog? He uses just that kind of video snippets in the math classroom to develop critical thinking. I wonder if it’s the video itself that’s wrong for the point you’re trying to make or it the lead-up or autopsy that gets the blank stares.

By: Todd

Todd — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 23:08:06 +0000

The justification of watching it in the class and what you plan to do with it afterward are the same thing, in my head. Good ideas. I’m wondering about actual plans to make those things happen. Are you going to replay it for every class on Tuesday or only show it live to that period?