Working in a community

Just a quick note here. Yesterday, Irma, who is from Columbia, came into meet with Aaron's class at Cavell (a block from my house) who have been doing a novel study of Yeny and the Children for Peace. This really makes me really think about community in a large city. I wandered into Once Upon a Huckleberry during the Christmas holidays when I couldn't get my car out of my street so that I was walking alot. Portia told me about the book. I read it and thought it would be a great project to do with Aaron and her class. Portia already had an idea about hosting a peace carnival with the author, Michelle Mulder on February 21.
Sometime in early January I went to my fitness class at nearby Douglas Park Community Centre. I realized that one of the people who has started coming to the class was from Columbia. I gave Irma a copy of the book to read which she thinks is excellent. Yesterday she visited the class and it was an event that I doubt anyone will forget as she showed us pictures of beautiful Columbia and explained so much more to us about the society and what the children's Day of Peace meant in this country.
That afternoon Aaron and the class were off to walk to the conservatory at Queen Elizabeth Park to sketch tropical vegetation. They will be making decorations for the big event at the store on Feburary 21 (1:00-3:00) and Irma is planning to be there as well. The class is also planning their own fundraiser at school just before then. We learned that Columbia is the country with the second most land mines and many people including children have been injured by them. Irma told us about an organization that assists these children and we want to help.
Even in a large city we find community and community to help right across the world.

On teaching...

I find this blog is such a combination of things-book reviews(trade and professional), reflections, hopefully a source of information. Currently I am reading about three professional books on teaching and literacy as well as spending a fair amount of time in classrooms. And last night I spent two hours (a school year) in a Parisien middle school mainly in the French class of one teacher, François Bégaudeau, with a challenging mix of kids when I watched the movie, The Class. This is based on a book by the main character, the teacher, and the students are played by students at the school. I totally recommend looking at the press kit which you can access on the website. I also would be fascinated to see what our students would think of this class.
I am reading Never Work Harder than Your Students & Other Principles of Great Teaching
the latest ASCD book club selection. The first advice is to start where your class is. Excellent advice. This book deals with how to become a master teacher. Always an interesting term. Occasionally I have been called a master teacher but if I am (which is extremely doubtful and definitely not always) it has only come from hard work not from natural ability. As I observe in classrooms, I see many teachers achieving so much and notice how much we can all learn from each other.
In my other blog, I commented on an evening with master teacher, Donald Leu, and I referred to tap dancing to work. Today my next step is making mango milkshakes for Aaron's class at Cavell. We have finished the novel,Yeny and the Children for Peace and the class is about to meet Irma, who is from Columbia, where the novel based on true events takes place. They are ready with questions and are already planning their own peace carnival to fund raise for UNICEF and some yet to be decided endangered animal. I think tap dancing with a jug of mango milkshakes may be risky but...

This I believe

If you were to write an essay about what you believe what would you write? I picked up a fascinating book of essays when I was at the NCTE conference. In 1951, Edward Morrow invited well known and unknown people to submit essays to be read on the radio on what they believed. Millions listened to these. Fifty years later the National Public Radio decided to do this again and still does, to encourage people to develop respect for different points of view. This first book of essays, This I Believe (there is now a second) is a collection of essays from the 50's and now. In the links I have given you, you can find guides to working with students to develop their own essays etc. At a recent workshop at Moberly, I used an essay by Bill Gates (it was really quite inspirational) to do a guided listening activity. The possibilities for this book with high school students are endless.
And before I forget, CBC has a This I Believe project as well where you can submit essays that may be read on air by Preston Manning on a program produced in Vancouver.