Community Service

Philanthropy: a deliberate affection for mankind, shown in contributions of money, property, or work for the benefit of others

First of all, I’d like to say that I love Facebook.  I move around a lot, and it has been a great way to keep up with all of my friends and family who live far away.  For many people, sites like Facebook and Twitter are simply places to network socially.  They provide a simple way to share with the world the answer to “What’s on your mind?”.

With all of the news coverage of the recent tsunami and its aftermath in Japan, many teachers are looking for ways to explain the phenomenon to their students. Students are seeing videos and pictures of the devastation in Japan, and many of them don’t completely understand the science behind this type of weather disaster. This lack of understanding can lead to fear in students (and teachers) of all ages. Joann has been collecting resources for The Gateway to help teach students about tsunamis. The resources she is featuring in her column and social media posts this week look at tsunamis from many different angles. She has found a really nice variety of resources, and I really like the way they integrate the study of tsunamis into subjects ranging from art to science.

Developing responsible and productive members of society is one of the main goals of education. Teachers work very hard to engage their students and make them experts in each particular subject area, but it is important for us all to step back and look at the big picture of our students’ development from time to time. We are subject area teachers, but we are also in charge of working with other teachers and parents to instill values and motivation in our students that will carry them through the rest of their lives.