Remembering with Emotion

Today was just one of those days that you sigh and say to yourself, "Yes! I can do this!"

Being September 11th, I decided to start out the class period with a little memorial video and music. I talked to my kids about my experiences during Sept 11, 2001 and how it impacted my life. I then gave them some time to write in their writer's notebook about a time/experience they might have had that has changed their outlook on life.

(Basically I wanted them to think of something emotional that changed their lives)...This was all in anticipation for our lesson on The Great Depression. And boy, did it work!

One of the hard things about teaching is finding a way to make your kids care about what they are learning. Whether it is history or grammar, I truly believe that lessons will be more enjoyable and stick better if kids feel invested in some way.

So this prewriting stuff was to help them imagine how people during the Great Depression felt when all of a sudden things went terribly wrong. We then had a gallery walk. I had photos from the Great Depression on all my walls and music from the time period playing in the background. My students went around looking at the pictures and reading the little informational clips. They then filled out a worksheet and wrote about which 3 pictures they liked the most and why. It was a really good lesson (if i do say so myself).

Ok, but every lesson has to have something that goes wrong. In my last class, as I was having them write about their life changing experiences, I had some more emotion than I had seen all day. One girl was crying (I had anticipated her getting emotional because her dad died about a year ago. I was pretty sure this writing prompt would lead her to write about that). What I was unprepared for, however, were 2 other girls bursting into tears as they shared with the class what experiences they had written about (PS: I didn't force anyone to share. I knew this was very personal, so I allowed people the opportunity to share without feeling obligated). At the end of class I felt so bad. Had I emotionally manipulated my kids? Did I do something bad/wrong by making them think of these hard things. Honestly, I just wanted to help them feel a connection to history, but I wondered if I had gone to far.

But....thinking about it.... I think I'm ok. :) So all in all, it was a pretty good day.