To help her students understand each other’s stories, backgrounds and experiences—and to improve their writing—this teacher added blogging to her curriculum.
Like many, if not most, I had a rough first year as a teacher. I was 21 years old and full of passion and desire but little else. I had survived student teaching on the Navajo Reservation for six months, but arrived on the other side of that experience with much to learn. I was teaching two-hour blocks of seventh-grade history and English. I was struggling on almost every level in almost every area.
The four lessons in this unit explore different aspects of gender for today’s girls and women. Each lesson identifies barriers that limit girls’ and women’s opportunities and asks students to explore how those barriers can be dismantled.
Students examine the history of political art. They then create their own murals, political cartoons or posters, demonstrating an understanding of social justice issues.