BEING WHO WE WANT OUR CHILDREN TO BECOME

Well, here we are again in February, headed to March, Women’s History Month. On come the obligatory reports about all the usual and deserving heroes and heroines to be sure. Even my Grade 4/5 students already know the predictability and though they don’t yet roll their eyes, they sense the inevitable conversations. But what if we shake things up this year? What if we begin to look at the reasons we HAVE an African American History Month? Given Howard Zinn’s recent death, it is almost as if he left us ahead of the months for which he provided the stories we needed.What if we study the people in his books this month  in addition to those made more famous by their acts? A recent book about an alternative figure to Rosa Parks study or in addition to her, is the title :“Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice” by Phillip Hoose. I strongly recommend this study along side of or if students have studied Rosa Parks, instead of her life story again. To honor the many other folks would matter to students who could begin to see these icons as out of their reach.Another focus for the month could be on the issue of racism itself in a study of its origins and the role of perception in how people form their views of one another. There are two great ways to look at both of these areas that I will share in coming blog posts.In the meantime, pursue other individuals this month and pursue the important question Howard Zinn answered for us: what did the people of this country say and do during the important social justice movements of our times?