Wow it sounds like you are doing some great work with promoting acceptance and information about LGBT students, Bill. How have the staff responded to this work?

One thing I learned at the White Privilege Conference is the idea that racism is breed and cultivated in the backstage of our lives - a relative who loves to tell offensive jokes, a friend who makes dismissive comments, and so on. As people study the situation, four archetypes emerge: the leader (1/6 people), the cheerleaders (2/6 people), the silently disapproving (2/6 people) and the active resisters (1/6 people).

My advisory group was doing a role-play today on this concept, and to my mind jumped very quickly from problem to solution. Listening to them explain themselves, though, it began to make sense. Their main point was that, when you truly trust the people around you, it becomes easier to speak up for what you think is right. One of them added that she's never really cared what people thought of her anyway, she has just sort of always stuck up for people when they've needed someone on their side.

So it should follow that, in fighting racism (and other isms - reminds me of Ferris Bueller, who said "Isms in my opinion are not good."), building trust and believing in yourself is key to developing your voice as a resister, as someone who will stand up for others. I guess the next step may be to ask my advisees how you build that trust and that belief in yourself, and also to think back on what's worked in the past.

Some times the absence of student voice can also make a statement. Like many other schools, we are observing the National Day of Silence today (www.dayofsilence.org). Half our middle school is participating, and with one exception it's the more vocal half. I think the effect in classes will be profound, and make a greater statement about the effect of silencing voices of LGBT people than any presentation/workshop/etc. could ever accomplish.

I'm also doing a "morning reading" today with half the words removed, to represent the effect of removing half the voices from our school. We'll see how that goes! :-)

We wanted to promote awareness of LGBT issues in our middle school, and so invited the GSA from our upper school to meet with all the kids for the first in a series of two workshops. The high school students designed and led the workshop. Topics:
1. introductions, explanation of purpose of meeting and what GSA is, invitation to stop by GSA meetings
2. small group exercise in vocabulary - matching terminology to definitions (with GSA members distributed one per group to aid with questions)
3. recounting first experiences (positive or negative) with openly LGBT people and taking questions as they came up.

They did a fantastic job, especially thinking on their feet to answer spontaneous questions. I think only one of the adults present spoke only once, and that right at the end of the session. Next week, they will focus on media portrayals of LGBT people, and how to be an effective ally. I'm looking forward to it!

Here is a link to a page with some good examples of how students are helping with tech policies in their schools:
http://isenet.ning.com/forum/topic/show?id...706%3ATopic%3A27819
I don't have any personal examples to add, unfortunately (at least not yet!); do any of you?
Take care,
Bill

MOCA had a good meeting today. It's the second week under the new Constitution, so we had a new pair of student leaders. In 25 minutes, they coordinated the following:
1. brainstorming ideas for what we could do during a 15-minute middle school meeting on Admissions Revisit Day next Monday (a fairly major initiative to give kids we've admitted a chance to take one more look before deciding whether or not to attend)
2. deciding on the necessary next steps for the Penny Drive to benefit "Save the Children"
3. brainstorming ideas for our annual Founders' Day - a day off from classes to celebrate the founding of our middle school program
It's kind of cool to see all they can accomplish when given the chance. What kinds of events do students plan in your schools?
Take care!

Astute observation, Angela :-) Respect and student voice are pretty much at the core of how our school sees itself, and it's nice to see that matters so much to the students as well as the adults.

As to next steps... this Constitution is for MOCA ("Middle school Office Caring for All," their student government, which includes all middle school students). We have posted a signed hard copy in the classroom where we meet, and an electronic version to the "MOCA" folder on our email system. It will be used to govern rules of conduct during MOCA meetings (twice a week for 25 minutes).

They had their first meeting yesterday under the new Constitution, and the hit five agenda items in 25 minutes, and accomplished a great deal. Yay kids.

Many classrooms wrote their own class rules at the beginning of the year. In my Humanities classroom, I ask my students to reduce them down to no more than six, to start them down the path to learning to work well together and compromise, and to get them thinking at the "synthesis" level on Bloom's taxonomy.

Take care,
Bill

Very nice! It is interesting to see the theme throughout what your students wrote, which basically to be heard and respected overall. It's important for us to give our students the opportunities they so want to tell us what they are interested in and needing.

Now, what will you do with this constitution? Will all teachers receive a copy, or was this just for the classroom?

Just as an update, our Constitution is finished. Not what I would have written, but then that isn't the point, is it?! They came up with a mission statement, a list of rights, a paragraph on responsibilities, and a list of rules for selecting leaders. You can read it here if you want:
http://mail.sbschool.org/~bivey/MOCA_Constitution.doc

Sounds great, Angela. What a wonderful way to model lifelong learning!

This makes me think - I know in the "Soundings" program at Radnor Middle School, students design their entire report card format from scratch each year. Is anyone out there in New England doing this?

Take care!

Last year when I taught a career prep class to 7th and 8th graders, I asked them to "Grade Ms. Fiandaca." They filled out answers to about five questions of what they liked in my class, what they hoped I would change, suggestions, etc. Then on the back they graded me based on traits they had already told me they liked to see in a teacher: helpful, fair, respectful, etc.

It was a great way to show them that their opinions matter, and that just like them I, too, was learning as I went and could always stand to make improvements.

I attended an excellent conference with Rick Wormeli today (and another day tomorrow!). One thing he said that made me think of this group - the recommendation that students design their teacher evaluations. I sort of do that, in that I copy-paste the "What a good teacher does" list they generate at the beginning of the school year, and have them rate me on each attribute (e.g., "Teacher is caring: strongly agree." or "Teacher has a good sense of humour: diasgree." and yes, these are actual results). I could see my students being skilled at writing open-ended questions, too. I'd be interested in knowing what other ideas might be out there.
Take care,
Bill

This is actually for our student government organization, "MOCA" (Middle school Office Caring for All), which includes all 22 students in the middle school. We got sidetracked planning a party with another school, and are back working on the Constitution now. They've brainstormed elements of what they think MOCA's mission should be, and what rights and responsibilities MOCA members should have - they came up with some really good ideas. Next step is this coming Tuesday, where they'll figure out how to get a mission statement written and approved, and how the list of rights and responsibilities should be written into the Constituion. Then, they'll review leadership models they proposed back in December, and see which one would best support the group's mission, and best guarantee the maintenance of rights and responsibilities.
Take care,
Bill

I love this idea! Is this for a social studies class?

Is the goal for you to step back and watch as your students figure out the plan, leadership roles, organization and end result of the constitution? I think those types of activities for middle age students are just what they need! Giving them the power and ownership to make change, even just as an exercise, is so meaningful to them.

I would love to hear how this turns out.

I'm in the process of guiding our student government (all 22 kids in our program) through the writing of a constitution. They've brainstormed what has been working well and what has not been working so well. They've brainstormed various ways for students to take increasing responsibility for meetings (and me decreasing responsibility). I plan to have them brainstorm ideas for rights and responsibilities students have which pertain to our student government, settle on a leadership system, and write a constitution. I'm thinking of making this an annual part of the curriculum.

I'm wondering what you all think of this idea, how it could be improved, whether you think it might work at your school.

Take care,
Bill

Hi!

This article in the Washington Post is entitled "Why is it hard for adults to say 'no'?"
http://tinyurl.com/23h2to

What particularly caught my eye is this quote:
"In early to mid-adolescence, reflective thinking sets in, allowing children to go one step further and separate their feelings of the moment from what kind of person they are. (...) Most parents will say they want children who stand up for themselves. The problem comes when that means standing up to Mom and Dad, Ury explains. If kids are mostly rewarded for compliance by parents, teachers or both, when they grow up and have to say the less familiar no, it "can come across as an attack. Then they feel guilty and so the next time avoid the situation altogether."

My school believes deeply in teaching students their voices are powerful and should be heard. The subtext is, of course, to use your voice appropriately. So... if kids *should* feel comfortable saying "no" to adults (and I do think they should), how does one tell what is appropriate? How are these issues handled in your schools?

Take care,
Bill