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Learning: Problems and Solutions
This year, students in Marie Ambrose's high school English class have studied writings on the Nazi Holocaust and the U.S. internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. They've also tackled material on more recent human rights abuses, from "ethnic cleansing" campaigns to the plight of political prisoners around the world. Ambrose, who teaches at Wyoming Valley West High School in Plymouth, Pennsylvania, believes a knowledge of contemporary world culture is essential to students' understanding of historical literature. So she decided to participate in the Human Rights Education Program developed by Amnesty International, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning nonprofit organization dedicated to ending human rights abuses around the world. "The Holocaust and the internment will always retain their tragic enormity," says Ambrose. "But they become more vivid to today's students when they're removed from the vacuum of the past and placed in the context of a continuing world history in which basic rights are still denied." Formally launched three years ago, the Human Rights Education Program supports the belief that students learn culture-related subjects better if they have a broader view of the world and its people. The program??which more than 4,000 K-12 and college educators have signed up for??offers training seminars for teachers in human rights and develops teaching materials geared to different age groups. "Amnesty International doesn't try to politicize any teacher's curriculum," says Karen Robinson, director of the Human Rights Education Program. We provide education about the state of human rights in the world today." Robinson points out that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which the United Nations adopted in 1948, already is required public school reading in some parts of the United States. Jennifer Bishop, a program participant and social studies teacher at Hinsdale South High School in Darien, Illinois, believes that contemporary human rights issues are an essential component of her curriculum. "Look how quickly the questions came from students after the tragedy of September 11," says Bishop. "If we were teaching American history or government with blinders on, it stopped there. The dialogue had to expand to include the world around us, and indeed, it has promoted an amazing dialogue in my classes about terrorism and human rights." Bishop says teaching human rights is a particularly valuable tool in social studies. "First of all, you're teaching historical fact. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a historical document, as appropriate to teach as the Magna Carta. Second, human rights is a tremendous organizing theme. You can't teach American history without teaching slavery, the plight of Native Americans, or women's rights. And those can't be treated as footnotes. "If you organize your teaching around the theme of human rights, all of history begins to resonate for students," Bishop notes. "You can make unlimited historical connections when human rights is used as a common thread." Ambrose and Bishop also serve as faculty sponsors of Amnesty International clubs at their respective schools. Ambrose's students are learning about Jose Francisco Gallardo, a Mexican general imprisoned for advocating a military ombudsman to oversee reported human rights violations by the Mexican armed forces. The students have been invited to help teach Gallardo's story to the Spanish class, Ambrose says. Bishop says teaching human rights has fulfilled her dreams of what she wanted to achieve as a teacher. "It fills my well," says Bishop. "I love it when I see kids' minds opening up, asking questions. Students have a strong sense of social justice, and I think they react more strongly to injustice. By doing what I'm doing, I'm able to see individual students becoming citizens of the world." --Matt Simon For more: E-mail Karen Robinson at krobinson@aiusa.org or phone Amnesty International at 212/807-8400. Dilemma I use my "Morning Movements" to wake up the sleepy heads. As my students enter the room, they are greeted to some jazzed up "Hokey Pokey" and other old favorites played softly in the background. Once they have settled and the announcements are over, I crank up the volume and we "jive to the music." For 15 minutes we listen and follow directions on various CDs and tapes. If I notice someone not involved, I take his or her hands and we jive together. This activity gets the blood flowing and some of the wiggles out as well. Afterward, I read our daily book and I involve the students in the story through role-playing. Donna Welch Rankin My classes often depend on how energetic I am. If I come in beat and dead to the world, so will my students. My morning classes are really charged up, because I am charged up and ready to go to work. Students will follow their leader. If you do this from class day one and continue to show the same energy every day, your students will expect it every time and would even demand it. My classes have become very interesting because everyone in the class, including myself, is highly charged and ready to tackle the day's work. Try it! Keeping a highly charged and motivated classroom is infectious. Victor Garcia To get my Spanish classes going in the morning we usually begin with oral conversation. We go around the room asking questions and practicing appropriate responses. After I model questions, students ask their own and call on different classmates. When we are doing grammar and students begin nodding off, we take a break and sing, do the chicken dance, play "Simon Says," do relay races, or have a scavenger hunt (all in the target language). Marjorie Rios I have extremely sleepy first- and second-period language arts classes. I have tried many tactics, but one of the students' favorites is to play a quick game of "Simon Says." I go through the motions at double time so students have to engage their minds to follow the commands. Also, with the speedy commands, multiple motions take only a few short seconds. I am extremely strict with the rules, so even if students flinch, they could be out of the game. The competition motivates students to participate while they focus on hearing and carrying out the correct command. After the game the students seem more alert. This is a fun wake-up activity for both students and teacher and it steals only a few minutes from the class time. Elizabeth Petroelje Stolle To begin the morning we start the day by doing our calendar routine. This time period includes the 100 chart and several other activities. The helper of the day chooses two different ways to count using the 100 chart and a pointer stick. They can count by ones, twos, fives, tens, or whatever they like. The students and myself all count together while jogging, jumping, skipping, hopping, squatting, or doing any other quick exercises. This seems to get the blood flowing and warm all of us up in the morning. Tara D. Reed Got an Answer? Idea Exchange Make-Up Work Solution Gretchen Rohrs To challenge my advanced students without frustrating the students who are struggling, I developed a challenge board. Every day I post at least one math/logic problem and a one-word riddle. I collect these from books and also allow the students to develop their own challenge problems. I always review the problems and make sure they are appropriate for fourth graders. If the problem isn't solved within a week, I post the answer with an explanation. It not only encourages higher-level thinking, but also helps out with classroom management. Brian Stevens When working with groups, I keep the noise level under control by using colored circles. If a group is on task and using quiet voices, I give them a green circle. If I need to remind them about the noise level, I give them a yellow circle. If a group is way off task, I give them a red circle and step in to give them assistance. This is a great way to model appropriate behavior when I am just beginning to establish groups and ground rules. It also saves time because I don't have to interrupt the entire class to get one group back on track. Elaine Wargo Have a great idea? You can pass along your tip to NEA Today's 2.7 million readers in one of five ways:
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