The Simplifying

The link above supplies a great article about how Rosa Parks' story has been simplified, that she was a long time civil rights activist before her arrest on the bus that led to the bus boycott. We're watching the Teaching Tolerance video "Mighty Times" later this week, so we read about Rosa Parks' story today. A few sixers made ridiculous comments about the article, but most were into it. Though some of the nonsense smartypants stuff in sixth grade gets on my penultimate nerve, I like that so many of the kids seem to have little interest in pleasing me with their responses. With the thirdies, I always worried about coercion, but with sixers, ticking off the teacher seems to be part of the game. I just keep plugging along with my little ideas and lessons. The day went surprisingly well for teaching on Halloween, amidst bags of costumes and plates of treats for the big party this afternoon. I urged the kiddos to save the kitkats and twixes for me. Let's see who'll be getting extra credit tomorrow.
Credit for this cool foto of Gypsy: Lewison. (I bought the hat.)