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Taught my first US History class of the day. We spent about half of the time on the Insurrection (what I'm calling it for now) and about half on the Great Depression and New Deal. A few takeaways on how I treated it:
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After reading the helpful advice of @samwineburg and @SamMandeville and the #sschat and #worldgeochat crews, this is what I did:
We've been talking about the election (of course) and the things that would be happening this week, with the Georgia Senate runoff and the Congress Certification. They had some context about what was happening.
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We started with three videos:
Now This on the Peaceful Transition of Power, comparing his 2016 statements about transition of power during the debate to what he said in September 2020.
With him more than anyone, I think we take him at his word. 4/
Now This on the Peaceful Transition of Power, comparing his 2016 statements about transition of power during the debate to what he said in September 2020.
With him more than anyone, I think we take him at his word. 4/
Second video is BBC -- I like the international perspective. It does a good job of laying out the progression of events from Trump's rally speech with phrases like "we need to fight," it also includes Pence and McConnell finally "turning on" the Pres. 5/
Third video CBS Evening News -- more and different footage than BBC, but a more personal take. I try not to use much from MSNBC, CNN, or Fox in the classroom, CBS is usually less partisan. 6/
After the videos and some discussion, we go to a Google Form https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfRqLr1GJ-J2tZs9hP7WX663gaVa_YOrws_mFvi7JrBHbh69g/viewform (hope that works)(I say that phrase like 6x/day in class) and use it to analyze photos from https://www.vox.com/2021/1/6/22217445/protesters-storm-us-capitol-trump-congress ...simple notice/feel/wonder questions followed by opinion 7/
I use the Google Form to give them a measure of anonymity in things that could get heated...I took a similar approach with BLM discussions earlier in the year. They get the chance to process their thoughts, voice them if they'd like. Many of them want to "talk" but not...talk 8/
We also look at @Dictionarycom definitions for Insurrection, Protest, and Riot, and @FBI's definition of terrorism through the course of the discussion.
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I need to (again) thank @SamMandeville and her school for these Qs:
"What do you think an ethical leader should say or do in a situation like this?"
"Why is this moment historically important? What do you hope/think historians will say about this moment in the future?" 10/
"What do you think an ethical leader should say or do in a situation like this?"
"Why is this moment historically important? What do you hope/think historians will say about this moment in the future?" 10/
It's just been the one class so far (in my prep period now) but so far what I'm seeing from my kids across the political spectrum is that they're worried. They're anxious. They're uncertain. JUST LIKE US.
They don't just play games on their phone all the time. 11/
They don't just play games on their phone all the time. 11/
They have questions, they have concerns, they wonder about their future and how much of a say they'll have in it.
They notice things like the disparity in response to civil unrest based on skin color. I didn't bring that into the conversation, they sure AF did. 12/
They notice things like the disparity in response to civil unrest based on skin color. I didn't bring that into the conversation, they sure AF did. 12/
My right-leaning kids were as anxious and worried and disappointed and angry as my other students; they recognize that this isn't right.
As a friend pointed out yesterday, we need to quit saying "this isn't America, we're better than this." It very much IS America. 13/
As a friend pointed out yesterday, we need to quit saying "this isn't America, we're better than this." It very much IS America. 13/
We should be better than this.
At our best, we've accomplished the impossible. At our worst, we're as bad as everyone else. We're human.
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At our best, we've accomplished the impossible. At our worst, we're as bad as everyone else. We're human.
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If you're a teacher/parent/coworker and you have students/offspring/friends who are processing this, hopefully this gave you some ideas.
If you're still processing it and aren't sure what to say yet, you don't need to know either.
We'll get through it. 15/end I guess?
If you're still processing it and aren't sure what to say yet, you don't need to know either.
We'll get through it. 15/end I guess?
16 haha got you
As with all lessons, each time I teach it I'll be tweaking it, so if you have additions or criticism or WTF or Hey What's Your Venmo I'm always willing to listen.
As with all lessons, each time I teach it I'll be tweaking it, so if you have additions or criticism or WTF or Hey What's Your Venmo I'm always willing to listen.
