Before I became an art teacher I taught 1st and 2nd grades for 14 years. My favorite was 2nd grade. The things I miss most about teaching at that level are the after lunch chapter book reading (that's where the kids gathered round my feet and I'd read a chapter or two from a children's novel) and teaching social studies. Martin Luther King was one of my favorite topics to cover with 2nd graders. They'd get so upset and utterly appalled at the things I'd tell them about like seperate drinking fountains, restaurants, swimming pools, and even schools. I'd show them the TV movie that was made about Ruby Bridges and we'd learn about Rosa Parks and the church bombings in Birmingham. I miss revisiting those history lessons and answering the profound sorts of questions that 2nd graders can ask when learning of those atrocities for the very first time. I've actually been considering going back into the regular classroom lately, IF I could get a 2nd grade spot. We'll see.
grace
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2 comments:
Separate but equal reminiscing reminds me of my first job out of law school. Ron, the manager of the office, was a soft-spoken man of mixed ethnicities. One day in a private conversation he talked to me about the dangers of mixing races and that it was not part of God's plan for that to happen.
I look fondly back at Ron, and he was definitely a kind person in spite of the ironic statement he made to me. It reminded me that there was a time when many people of all races in this country believed that each race had to remain separate and "pure."
That really IS ironic considering he was a product of mixed races. I can understand that thinking ONLY from the cultural aspect, as in, there would be less to overcome as far as differences which might ultimately make the marriage run more smoothly. But to make it a hard and fast rule? I just don't get it. The furthest I could get with that thinking is to MAYBE see it as a preference based on the reason I stated above. But even that, I don't think should matter if you are committed to each other and the marriage.
grace
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