Friday, January 14, 2011

Martin Luther King Jr.

Man, I am not doing well at the whole "updating this more often" thing. I will try better in 2011! :)

I was reminded of both the innocence and compassion of my students as we have been discussing the reason for celebrating martin luther king jr. day on Monday. Today we talked about how boys and girls in the past had to go to different schools based on the color of their skin. They looked absolutely shocked. My class is very diverse and half of my students are ESL (english is their second language). I asked them how they would feel if our class could not be together and if I could not teach all of them. Everyone said they would be very sad. It was a very somber moment. We talked about how happy we were to be in a class together and how each one of us is different and special. We even said it would be SO boring if we were all the same! :)

One little boy asked me, "Well, why did those other people not want everyone to be together?" I wasn't sure how to answer this one - but I honestly replied, "I don't really know. I don't understand why it was that way." I reminded them that we celebrate MLK day to remember how things have changed and honor those who fought for fair laws.

My students amaze me at their ability to love others. I hope to follow in their footsteps. I am so proud to be their teacher.

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