Fresh Start

Here goes the blog...

I teach social studies to middle schoolers in Washington, DC. It's wild and I love it.

I plan to share insights on teaching in the city, keeping my kids engaged, community organizing, and politics in general.

Today I had an excellent field trip to four museums downtown - a whirlwind tour:

1) National Museum of African Art

2) Lunch at the Air & Space Museum

3) National Museum of the American Indian

4) National Gallery of Art

5) Back to the Air and Space Museum because that's my students' favorite.

I had ten 8th graders on the grip. I bought these mini-clipboards (1.39 at Staples) and had a little worksheet packet for them to do (I used "landscape" format, two columns, and then cut the pages in half so the pages would fit on the mini-clipboard). For each exhibit we went to, they just had to find one thing they were interested in and and answer some subjective questions. I just wanted to have something to get them to think about, but mostly I wanted them to just enjoy looking at things.

And they loved it. They thanked me many times throughout the day and let me know they were having a great time. I had brought 10 students that had done very well for me this year and the other 8th grade social studies teacher took my students that did not come along. Anyhow, it made for a great day for all that went.