Sunday, September 22, 2013
Intern Year- Post #4 9/9- 9/13
Something very interesting that disturbed me a bit last week happened on 9-11. When I went into school on Tuesday I had anticipated that 9-11 or at least patriotism would be talked about on the morning announcements and throughout the class day. To my surprise, the topic did not come up once and was never mentioned on the morning announcements. At the end of the day I felt a bit disappointed and confused by my mentor teachers approach to the subject. Even though the students were not alive when this event happened, I felt as though they should be reminded of the tragic event that so greatly affected our country.
After a few days of thinking, I finally decided to confront my teacher on my curiousness. Without any hesitation my teacher explained due to the large population of middle eastern student, it would be inappropriate to discuss the subject. She further explained that the school did not want to make those children feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. As I listened to my mentor teachers' explanation I began to understand a bit more. Although I do agree it would be completely inappropriate to make students uncomfortable, I do believe the topic should be discussed in some way.
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I keep it in discussion as a general unit topic on citizenship and patriotism in September, culminating with Constitution Day in on the 17th. I don't discuss 9/11 because I think my students are too young for such a somber subject. Instead, I focus on the general topic during the weeks before and after. We always color a flag on the 11th for morning work, and while I talk about the reason for it in my weekly newsletter to my parents, I don't share it with my kids.
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