We did this really cool privilege line up activity where we read a list of statements that consisted of things we as middle class Americans take for granted because we wanted the kids to see just how fortunate they are and how fortunate others might not be. They blew me away with their insights about the activity and rights and values they had themselves not only as individuals but also as a community.
To follow up that mini-lesson on values, Shauna and I began our week-long unit today with a close reading of a speech given by Aung San Suu Kyi. She is a political figure in the South-East Asian country of Myanmar that was held under house arrest for 15 years because of her political views. We had the kids work in groups to annotate her speech and perform a close reading to extract what values she portrays in her lecture and then relate them to their own lives. Our lesson was cut short at the end because we ran out of time, but I am excited to hear what the kids have to say tomorrow at the start of class! They are much smarter than I ever gave them credit for and they have so many brilliant ideas to share.
I look forward to working with these kids more closely this week and realy trying to teach them something of value (no pun intended!) and be able to leave them at the end of the week knowing I gave them something to think about in their lives outside of Feinstein Middle School.
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