Joann's blog

It’s mid-October, which means that little ghosts and goblins everywhere are gearing up for a fun, sugar-fueled night of trick-or-treating on Halloween. The kids’ growing excitement is palpable, and teachers often tap into their students’ interest by offering Halloween-related crafts and projects. Students of all ages respond well to ghost stories and Gothic fiction lessons, with many middle and high school classes delving into spooky classics such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein or Washington Irving’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. Still looking for something different? How about exploring the “how” and “why” behind superstitions?

Over the next few months, many classrooms will be discussing the upcoming U.S. presidential election. While some teachers will focus on the art of the campaign, others will examine the candidates’ political platforms, their speeches, and the all-important debates. For many citizens, the debates between Mitt Romney and President Obama may well determine how they will cast their votes in November. Presidential debates are critical to the election process because they allow voters to see how well-versed the candidates are in the areas of domestic and foreign policy, the national economy, social issues, the national debt, and a host of other matters.

Last spring, a high school teacher from Massachusetts made international headlines when he told the graduating seniors that they were “not special.” In his address, David McCullough, Jr. told the graduating class that despite their “pampered, cosseted, [and] bubble-wrapped” lives, “You are not special. You are not exceptional.” Taken out of context, some excerpts of McCullough’s speech raised eyebrows.

Every year, a new crop of students begins to learn about the continents. In the U.S. and Canada, students learn that there are seven continents, while students in some other countries may learn that there are as few as five or six continents (with North and South America combined into a single continent, called “the Americas”, and/or Asia and Europe combined into “Eurasia”). They learn about the distinguishing features of continents, such as the topography, geology, native plants and animals, and so forth. They also learn that, despite their massive size, the continents are constantly in flux.

In 2004, a report entitled Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma That Counts was released by the American Diploma Project. The report was the culmination of several years’ work, with data collected from hundreds of high school teachers, college professors, and managers from U.S. corporations. The report concluded that American high school graduates are falling far short of the expectations placed on them by the workplace, and by colleges and universities.

One of my absolute favorite units as a middle school student was mythology. Since we were learning about ancient civilizations in Social Studies, my Social Studies teacher and English teacher developed the unit together. Although we focused primarily on Greek mythology, we also touched briefly on mythological allusions in books such as The Lord of the Rings and in films such as Star Wars, and the role of the archetypal hero.

Voluntary giving isn’t necessarily a natural action. From a young age, children need to be taught to share, and to learn that the act of giving has its own rewards. For many years, kids still find it much more pleasurable to receive money and gifts rather than to give them away, but eventually, most learn that doing a good turn for others can feel pretty amazing.

From time to time, I like to check out various education-related Twitter feeds to see what’s trending. One topic that seems to generate a lot of chatter is the use of cell phones in the classroom. To date, teachers’ experiences of using mobile phones in the classroom are mixed: some report great success in using them to sustain student interest and to teach content in a new way, while other teachers experience problems with students focusing not on classroom content, but on texting their BFFs instead. What to do?

Everything has its beauty, but not everyone sees it.
-- Andy Warhol

In the 1950s, a group of British artists met regularly to discuss the influence of popular culture on their artworks. Led by artist Eduardo Paolozzi, the group discussed ways to incorporate components of comic strips, advertisements, current films, and packaging design into art. The movement spread to the United States and other countries a few years later, and the artistic genre known as pop art was born. The movement flourished well into the 1960s, launching the careers of artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Robert Rauschenberg, and Jasper Johns.

When my older sister was in elementary school, each student was given a starter rock collection. The rocks were stored in plastic boxes, where each little compartment housed a rock specimen nestled in some cotton batting. I most liked the samples that contained quartz, which caught the light and sparkled. Unfortunately, by the time I started elementary school, the starter rock collection program had been discontinued. Bummer!