Tag: the school
Christmas, and Chanukah
by on Dec.09, 2009, under Uncategorized
This is always an exciting time during the school year because my students always got excited. Of course when they start putting up Christmas stuff in the stores before Halloween arrives, it really drags the excitement along (but that is another story that I won’t go into!). Usually all of my students are Christians because I live in an area that is considered the “Bible belt.” So, this makes me want to give my students to holidays that others may be celebrating. I make it quite clear that I’m not encouraging my students to change religions but instead I want to encourage tolerance of other cultures and religions.
It was actually very educational to me when I found a synagogue that opened their store in order for me to buy dreidels. According to Wikipedia,
“A dreidel is a four-sided spinning top, played with during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.”
When I bought this dreidel, the person even gave me lessons on how to play the game and was quite excited that I would teach my class about this game and about Chanukah. More from wikipedia,
“Hanukkah (also spelled Chanukah), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, and may occur from late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar. The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a special candelabrum, the nine-branched Menorah or Hanukiah, one light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. An extra light called a shamash (Hebrew: “guard” or “servant”) is also lit each night for the purpose of lighting the others, and is given a distinct location, usually above or below the rest.”
Wikipedia also says,
“Kwanzaa is a week-long celebration held in the United States honoring African heritage and culture, marked by participants lighting a kinara (candle holder). It is observed from December 26 to January 1 each year, primarily in the United States. Kwanzaa is considered one of the primary holidays within the U.S. Christmas and holiday season.”
I think it is important that students learn about other cultures and the holidays they celebrate. After studying these three celebrations, I like to have students find ways that all of them are alike. It is fascinating to watch them come up with similarities that they didn’t realize. For my students, all of these are so very different and they don’t think of ways they can be alike. Once we start discussing the similarities, they start to come up with more. In fact, I had one student who came up to me the next day after the lesson to tell me that they talked about this over dinner and they came up with a few more ways they were similar. The student wanted to bring up the discussion again so he could share his family’s ideas.
I really felt this was a successful lesson in teaching tolerance as well as learning about cultural diversity. What other holidays do you know that are being celebrated during this time? Do you do any special lessons on this topic? If so, please share because I would love to know.
Original image: ‘The Geflocktne Dreidl’
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53416300@N00/72151761 by: Philip Chapman-Bell
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A Little Push
by on Dec.08, 2009, under Uncategorized
One story in my Lutheran Hour Ministries Daily Devotion was this:
“Yesterday, while standing in line at the bank, I struck up a conversation with a soldier.
During our talk, he told me he was a paratrooper. Impressed because I have a deep respect for heights, I asked him how many times he had jumped.
With a smile, he responded, “Pastor, I’ve never jumped. Not even once. But I can tell you I’ve been pushed more than 40 times.”
It made me think about the times I needed a push in my teaching career. Sometimes I thought it was something awful that happened to me in my career, and later on, looking back, I realized that without that push, what I was experiencing currently would never have happened. When I was dissatisfied with my current school and moved to a different one, I felt refreshed and motivated but if I hadn’t moved, I would have been stagnant and disengaged along with my students.
Sometimes we would have a new program to follow in our school and all of the teachers would grumble and gripe. Yet, after we got used to the program and learned how to best implement it, we would see positive results with our students and realize that it was an effective program. Yet, for weeks and months, people were unhappy about trying something new. It took time and energy and patience. People wanted to do it the same old way. Then the administration had to push us into doing something new.
When new technology was introduced to the school, many teachers were anxious and didn’t want anything to do with it. I remember when the first smart boards came to our school. I think for the first year, they sat in classrooms and no one used it. Then new teachers came to the school and begged for them so they could use them. As the teachers began to use them, others could see how effective they were. The administration began to realize how this could be used in the classroom and wanted all of the teachers to use it but the teachers were not all on board. Then one year, the school district bought promethean boards (like smart boards) and put them in the entire classroom. Now all of the teachers are using them but they had to be pushed to use it. It became part of the teacher evaluations.
Just like those commercials where the siblings didn’t like what they were eating, they would give it to their little brother, saying, “Let Mikey eat it,” that is the way I was treated in my school. I loved to try new things and fiddle with it until I could figure out ways to make it work in my classroom. Where others complained about it sucking up their time, I saw it as a fun challenge. Soon, the administration noticed this, and I was usually the first one to get new technology which suited me fine. Others saw this as an inconvenience but I saw it as a way to get neat new stuff for my classroom. I began to look for new technology that no one else had and found a way for the school to get it for me to try. It might have involved writing grants or doing presentations to show how these things were effective in other schools. I was willing to do what I needed to get it so in a way, I was giving my school the push that they needed.
At times, my students needed that push too. Many of my students were unsuccessful in their school career until they got to my class. Soon they were making good grades and feeling good about themselves. In fact, they felt so good finally that they didn’t want to leave my class. I even had a couple of students start making failing grades near the end of school in hopes that they could stay in my class. I had to push them out of the nest which was as hard for me as it was for them. One year I had an 18 year old girl who had watched her mother get killed and she was so traumatized that she carried a stuffed animal and refused to talk or look at anyone. I got her an internship at the local animal shelter and eventually she started to talk and interact with others. She even gave up her stuffed animal. Then I had to move her to working in a nursing home because I wanted her to try new experiences while she had me as a support system. That was very hard for her but she was successful because of her nurturing spirit. Without my pushing, I think she would have become very isolated and depressed from withdrawing from the world.
Sometimes we all need a little push. Has someone’s push helped you, either personally or professionally? Has your push helped someone else? Please share your stories because I would love to hear them.
Original image: ‘Down you go!’
http://www.flickr.com/photos/96878569@N00/2205802458 by: Maureen K
