Grand Conversations

This doesn't happen too often but I already knew last Monday what I wanted to write about this weekend. Since I was writing about the same thing in the weekly newsletter that I send to the parents in my classroom I thought I'd just paste it here. I hope that's not cheating. But then, why should it be? There are no rules to blogging. I hope.

*************************************************************

“The first time you do something it might be a mistake. But the second and third time it’s a choice. It’s not a mistake anymore because you chose to do it.”
-Kayla

This bit of wisdom came after reading a book, Cheyenne Again, about a young Cheyenne boy who is taken from his family to attend a boarding school that strips him of his culture and his language in hopes of “civilizing” him. Somehow the discussion that followed the book led us to discuss how we sometimes don’t learn from previous mistakes and that those who fail to learn and understand history often risk repeating it.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Dear Families,

Do you remember the show Kids Say the Darndest Things? It was hosted by Bill Cosby and highlighted the funny things kids often say in response to questions about the world around them. While cute, the kids often came off as naïve. That was part of the fun. They saw the world so differently. So innocently.

The innocence of our kids is so refreshing. However, we shouldn’t pretend for a moment that they are not deep thinkers and that they don’t notice what goes on in the world around them. I couldn’t help but think of this very point when discussing the election with the kids this past Monday. They were so point-on with many of their comments and observations. It was yet another example of how kids should never be underestimated. We shouldn’t talk down to them. We shouldn’t teach down to them either.

Below you can read a transcript of our discussion together. It was so powerful. I knew you’d want to read it. You’ll notice that names (other than mine) have been deleted. I did this in case any families did not want their political beliefs being shared in such a public place. (You did know that when the kids get to school they make your whole life public, right?) The kids’ dialogue is in bold and italics.

 Enjoy.




Chris: So on Friday we were talking a bit about the elections that are taking place tomorrow. A number of you shared what you knew about the various races including who was running for office. So since there are going to be more than a million voters turning out to vote tomorrow I’m wondering what you guys think a voter should do to learn more about the candidates before casting their vote at the polls. Think for a moment and then I’m going to ask you to turn and share a couple of thoughts with a partner.

Chris: So what were you thinking? What should voters do before casting their
votes?

They shouldn’t vote based on whether the person running is a boy or a girl or is black or white – but how they will treat the country.


The state.


Yeah, the state. Because that’s more important than what kind of person they are.

Chris: Any other ideas?

They should listen to what they’re saying real good so they will know if they’re lying. You should vote for the person you think is not lying.


Yeah, like Rob Miller has said in commercials that the other guy is…

Chris: Joe Wilson?

Yeah, Joe Wilson. He said Joe Wilson used tax money to pay for vacations for his family but he was really visiting combat zones and that’s different.

Chris: I remember you saying on Friday that your dad told you that sometimes people use the truth to tell lies. That’s a lot like our study earlier in the year of whether zoos are good or bad for animals. We read one resource that said elephants live to be far older in the wild than they do in captivity. That might be true but there were a lot of other animals that actually live longer in the zoo, in captivity, than they do in the wild. That article was carefully selecting which truths to tell and which to leave out. Maybe that’s what your dad meant by using the truth to tell lies.

Yeah, like he really did go places but it wasn’t on vacation.

Chris: Well, I think a lot of people out there see that issue in different ways and that’s something that some voters will think about when deciding who to vote for. But you’re right, we have to pay close attention to what the commercials are saying. Anyone else? What should voters do to learn more about the candidates they’re deciding between?

You should know about their pasts. Like what other jobs they’ve had. Like if they said they’re honest or they work hard we should know what other jobs they’ve had so we can see if they were honest at that job too. You should know their past so you can figure out their future.

Chris: That’s an interesting idea.

And voters should ask questions. They should ask the people running what they think or what they want to do.


Yeah, and listen to their speeches and listen closely to promises. Like if they say they’re going to lower money on Silly Bandz and make it more expensive on cigarettes. Some people think some things are more important and other things are less important so they’ll want to lower the rate on one or raise it on another.


But if they raise the price of cigarettes people will still keep smoking them anyway because they’re addictive.

Chris: So are you saying we should listen to their promises and decide whether those promises are fair and whether they are true?

Yeah.


I have a connection to what [someone else] was saying. If a guy says he’s never raised taxes but he has then people should know that. Kind of like knowing their past…their old jobs. So I would pay more attention to their past than their future.


I’d pay attention to their commercials.

Chris: How interesting you should say that because we’re getting ready to look at two commercials here in just a bit – one from Nikki Haley and one from Vincent Sheheen. As you guys all know, they are both running for governor. Are there any other ideas before we see that?

I think people should look into what both people believe in and think about both of them and then vote for who they think is right.

Chris: Wow, if more voters turned out and thought the way you do our election process would be even stronger than what it is (she smiles).

I think in commercials they tell lies on each other so you won’t want to vote for the other person. You have to decide who you believe.

Chris: Yeah, that’s the hard part sometimes – deciding who to believe when you’re hearing two different stories. So look back at all you guys have shared. You think voters should vote not on gender or race but on how candidates will help the country, listen carefully to what candidates say and decide whether or not you believe them, get to know something about the candidates pasts, ask questions of the candidates, listen carefully to their speeches and pay attention to their promises, be wary of them bad-talking each other or telling lies, watch their commercials, and consider what they believe in and compare that to your own beliefs. That’s a lot of really good stuff!

Unfortunately a lot of voters never do all this stuff. In fact, often times the majority of the people never even bother to vote. Isn’t that sad? There are some countries in the world where the people have no say in their government, laws, and quality of life. Yet, here in America we have this wonderful right – to vote for our leaders – and many of us don’t even bother to do so.

Some other people do vote but don’t necessarily know all that much about the candidates. With everything that’s out there they mainly rely on what they hear from the candidates’ commercials. So I thought we might watch a couple of these commercials to see what it is that we learn about the candidates from them. I’m going to start with Nikki Haley – in alphabetical order – and I want you to see what this commercial tells you about her as a candidate for governor of South Carolina.

Can we get out a notebook?

Chris: No, it’s only about twenty seconds long so I doubt you’ll need one. You can probably hold your ideas in your head and then turn and discuss them. So here it is. (Plays commercial with Sarah Palin endorsement from You Tube)

Turn and talk with someone about some things that you learned about Nikki Haley. (Kids turn and talk)

So what did you learn? What did you notice?

She said that South Carolina needs fresh faces and a fresh focus but what? What fresh focus is she going to do? She didn’t say.


And she said she works through God.

Chris: Is that important to know?

Many Kids: Yes!

Chris: Okay, so a number of voters might really want to know whether she is religious or not. Anything else?

Well I saw one of the debates with my parents and in the debate she said she wanted to lift education up and build more schools for kids but that wasn’t in the commercial.

Chris: Ah, so your family watched one of the debates and she had more time to share information there?

Yeah. The commercial was just too fast.

Chris: Well, TV advertisements are awfully expensive so I would imagine that candidates try to fit as much as they can into a small amount of time.

Yeah, it was too quick to hear everything.

Chris: Do you want to watch it again?

Class: Yes. (Plays again) Anything new you noticed? (No hands)

Chris: Okay, let’s look at Vincent Sheheen’s.

Is his real fast too?

Chris: I don’t know. I don’t know which one we’ll see. I didn’t pick and choose which to show because I wanted to avoid the possibility that I might pick a better commercial for one candidate than the other. This way it’s random. (Shows Sheheen video) What did you notice? Turn and talk with someone. (Kids turn and talk) Who wants to share something out?

He says he worries about jobs. That South Carolina needs more jobs.

Yeah, I went to a Tea Party meeting with my family and Nikki Haley was there. She said that she was worried that so many people in South Carolina don’t have jobs and have to live on the street. She wants for everyone to have a job and earn money.

Chris: What else did you all notice?

Well, he said that he doesn’t want South Carolina to move backwards anymore. He wants it to move forward. But he didn’t tell how. How’s South Carolina going to move forward? We don’t know.

Chris: That’s a very good question. I think that’s a big problem with these commercials. They’re so short and so fast that we often don’t get a chance to hear about the things we might want to. I’m glad, though, to hear that many of your families are reading the newspaper, watching the news, attending events in our community, watching debates, and looking on the internet. It probably takes more than just one of any of these things to really get a good sense of what a candidate believes and what he or she hopes to do.

************************************

This conversation is but one example of why teaching is the greatest of all professions. I guess the trick is noticing these moments - the ones when the kids really "think up" and blow you away or even inspire you.

Later in the week we read a really powerful book called Terrible Things. It's an allegory of the Holocaust. In the story, a mysterious "Terrible Thing" visits the forest again and again capturing animals to take away. "I've come for for those animals with a bushy tail!" it screams. Or "I've come for those animals with feathers on their back." The other animals pretend not to care. They look the other way and are thankful it is not them being taken away. In the end, though, they all are. All the animals are captured and carried off in their terrible nets. All but one small rabbit who never understood why this was happening and had the courage to ask. Noone would answer him.They either didn't know how or were afraid to speak about it. Finally the little rabbit set off to warn the animals of other forests. Hoping that they would listen.

The kids had some really cool conversations around this as well. There was talk of "having the Terrible Thing try living in the animals' shoes to see what it feels like" and even "getting even with the Terrible Things." One perspective suggests building empathy, the other seeking retribution. How often do we see these perspectives shared in the real world - where it's not animals but people at stake?

Wonderful thoughts. Wonderful conversations.

And I get paid to sit and listen.