Hidden Figures

Now retired Mr. Reischer would offer an optional project to his fifth graders. "Immersions" were opportunities for kids to show off talents, traditions, hobbies and interests.  Dancers performed.  New foods tasted. Facts about sports shared. Shy kids donned their tap shoes.  Extroverts taught me more than I ever wanted to know about Star Trek.  Irish dancers impressed. And boy was that flan delicious.

Who really are our learners? Aspiring poets? The next Michael Phelps? An angel in the Nutcracker? Budding tennis star? We spend a lot of time getting to know our students while at school but what happens to them after 2:30 PM?

This year our building has implemented a new caring school community mental health curriculum.  Every morning, classrooms circle up and share. Word in the hallways is that this is helping all classes  connect with one another. It's like a mini-immersion every day and we all like that.

My 13 year old son, Zack, is one of these hidden figures.  Over a year ago, he and his best friend, John, started a YouTube channel, "Random Things with John and Zack." They vlog together and on their own.  Zack has written and performed a couple of original songs, both boys wrote and performed a skit called, "Homework is Meant for Home" and most recently, they recorded or received 200 "woahs" (watch the video to see what I'm talking about). Zack spent hours editing them into one video. I was impressed (how does he throw that woah to himself?) and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom. But it got me thinking, how many of his teachers know what this studious student does in his spare time?

Can you identify the hidden figures in your school? What makes them tick? What gives them pleasure?  How do they fill the second half of their day? The next Spielberg could be in your midst; he may even be living in my house. 😎 Whoever and wherever they may be, let's all make sure to have fun seeking, showing and telling.

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This post would not be complete without a link to "Random Things with John and Zack"  and a plea for you to subscribe. Maybe the 300 subscriber special is just around the corner!

Two Thumbs Up for The Promise of Change

The Promise of Change: One Girl's Story in the Fight for School Equality
By Jo Ann Allen Boyce and Debbie Levy

Fifth grader Olivia whizzed through her first book for our Mock Newbery project.  She came in first thing Tuesday morning to tell me all about it and we made a date for lunch this afternoon to blog about it. If you ask Olivia, it's a winner.  Multiple stickers perhaps? Newbery? Sibert? CSK? Here are her thoughts:

This was a perfect book for me. It's a nonfiction story, mostly made of poems.  Since I like history (so much that when I'm older I want to be an archaeologist), I loved this book. 

The year is 1956 in Clinton, Tennessee.  High school student Jo Ann and her fellow African American family and friends were separated from the whites.  The whites had better schools, better homes, better places to drink water and relax. It seemed they had a better life in their hands. Jo Ann had a dream to go to the whites-only Clinton High School. But it was all white.  Since she lived in the south, obviously she couldn't go. Then one day, Jo Ann, her best friend, Gail-Ann and ten other African Americans had a chance to go to Clinton High School.  But it didn't go well.  People had signs at the entrance and threatened them.

This might have scared or stopped some people from going to the school, but not Jo Ann. She wouldn't let this stuff get under her skin. Each day she came back to the school and the crowd of people with the signs got bigger and bigger.  Some of the African Americans left to go some place else, but not Jo Ann. Some of them just couldn't take the violence. At this point, I got emotional. I felt bad for all the kids who dreamed of getting a good education but couldn't. I also felt guilty. Even though I didn't do it, I still feel horrible that it happened. 

I recommend this book because I couldn't put it down for so many reasons! It was interesting to me and lots of books just aren't.  All the books I enjoy bring feelings to my head or mind and this one did. The lessons are so important in this book, too.  Just because someone is different from you doesn't mean that you can hurt their feelings.  Because we are all human and we're not all perfect.

***FIVE STARS!***