Monday, October 15, 2012

The Great Debates

Politics can certainly be a touchy topic, and I try not to get into it too much at school or on my blog. I’ve got to tell you, though, I’ve been fascinated by the debates that have been taking place over the last couple of weeks as the nation prepares to elect our next President. Regardless of your political persuasion, its been a couple of nights of good entertainment with zingers flying in the VP debate, moderators trying their best to get straight answers about any topic, and even Big Bird entering the mix. I can’t wait to see what the next two will bring  and I encourage you to have your kids watch.

So what’s this got to do with Henley, you ask? I think it boils down to teachable moments and authentic learning. While all members of our staff make sure the lessons that we teach do not endorse any political candidate or philosophy, the opportunities to use a presidential election and the debates that go along with it in our classroom are tremendous. The civics and social studies connections are pretty straightforward, but I see opportunities in other classes as well. There could be opportunities for kids to crunch some of the seemingly contradictory tax and job numbers in math class, to discuss the importance of clear communication and the impacts of non-verbal cues in our English classes, to learn about polling data and how it is collected and interpreted in science or in a GPS class. Any of these activities can help to bring a sense of authenticity to a classroom and give us yet another answer to the age old “Why do we have to do this?” question: because you might be running for President one day. It seems funny, but you never really know where our kids may go.

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