Proposition 4: Teachers Think Systematically about Their Practice and Learn from Experience
Rationale:
Educating the students of the twenty-first century is a task that requires knowledge of current events in society and the world, as well as, being up to date in new teaching trends and theories of education.Connecting youth to the world through the classroom experience, is a crucial element of educational leadership.With such a heavy focus on political issues in the news these days, it only seems natural that teachers spend some of the their curriculum focusing on government and community empowerment.Students can learn a variety of leadership skills, and community engagement from understanding their distinct role in society around them.The “Come and Get Your Cookies” curriculum was proposed to teach students exactly what it means to have rights in the world today. While history classes can teach the basics of daily political views and propositions, this hands –on curriculum challenges youth to consider the rights as they are written, and convert them into applicable rights for issues the country struggles with in 2010.
Reflection:
While this lesson offered many opportunities for youth to grasp the definition of the Bill of Rights, it would be a great opportunity to expand this idea to include all amendments.This workshop could definitely be at least six more lessons.It would also be interesting to include more than a few current event stories, but really look through the new stories to find those that reflect each amendment.Youth responded favorably to this workshop and felt confident enough to communicate with others the new concepts that they had learned.
My Rights, My Way; Understanding How to Use Your Rights to Get What You Want.
Presented by: Rebecca Villegas Urban Youth Educator- Montgomery County
This presentation has three main objectives.
Participants will:
·Become familiar with The Bill of Rights and the document’s origin
·Increase their understanding of how The Bill of Rights protects citizens in 2010
·Observe how The Bill of Rights specifically assists youth with getting what they desire
Many students today, are unfamiliar with the roots of the Bill of Rights, the reason that it exists, and how it relates to their everyday life.While history and civic classes briefly cover this topic, students rarely have the opportunity to participate in a meaningful discussion as to why this document is personally important to them as an American citizen. This session allows students to state their knowledge of the Bill of Rights, and then presents additional information that compliments their ideas.One activity during this session will be to present participants with a plate of cookies and tell them that the plate signifies something that they want.Because of what the Bill of Rights states and allows its citizens to do, students are able partake in eating cookies based on their rights.
For example:
You have the right to say they are stupid, gross and dumb because the First Amendment gives you the right of Freedom of Speech. Because of the Fourth Amendment, I can’t search your cookies for anything without viable cause.
Another activity in this workshop allows participants to have small group discussion as to whether any of the amendments are outdated, or not needed in 2010, as they were two hundred plus years ago. Students will rate each amendment of The Bill of Rights as per the student’s opinion of most important to least important.The final activity allows students to look at real cases of students in which they claimed they were protected by The Bill of Rights.During this time, students will form small groups and discuss why or why not they should win their case based on their rights.True case conclusions will be revealed at the end of the session.
At the end of the session, focus groups will be asked the following questions as a survey:
Three rights participants learned about- and won’t forget Two rights participants didn’t’ know about- that surprised them One right that probably doesn’t affect the United States in 2010
This presentation was done in November 2009 to an audience of 54 youth ages 13-17. As a result of this session;
85% of participants showed a positive change in their knowledge base of the Bill of Rights by 50%.
100% of the Participants were able to apply gained knowledge to current events and affairs surrounding their lives.
Come get your Cookies- understanding your rights for kids:
Objectives:
Become familiar with the bill of rights
Understand what each bill does to protect their rights
Familiarize the students with how the bill of rights helps them get what they want
What are the bill of rights?
Answer: During the Constitutional Convention and before the Constitution was ratified by the states, there were many concerns that the federal government would be too powerful under the Constitution. The two major sides of this arguement were the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. The Anti-Federalists believed that the Bill of Rights was necessary to protect people from a strong central government by specifically listing the rights of citizens.
Bill of Rights was added to the Constitution as a compromise between the Federalists and the Anti-Federalists. Through this compromise, ratification of the Constitution by the states was achieved.
In the United States, the Bill of Rights is the name by which the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution are known.[1] They were introduced by James Madison to the First United States Congress in 1789 as a series of articles, and came into effect on December 15, 1791, when they had been ratified by three-fourths of the States. Thomas Jefferson was a proponent of the Bill of Rights.[2] Madison proposed the Bill of Rights while ideological conflict between Federalists and anti-Federalists, dating from the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, threatened the overall ratification of the new national Constitution. It largely responded to the Constitution's influential opponents, including prominent Founding Fathers, who argued that the Constitution should not be ratified because it failed to protect the basic principles of human liberty.
Why the cookie theme?
Based on the bill of rights you will be earning cookies- what does that mean- lets discuss your rights and then we will start the cookies!!!
Playing for cookies as a team- keep the plate in the middle- your team can decide how, when to eat the cookies.
What do you think your rights are-
Break up and hand out sheets:
Correct of not correct
Lets see the bill of rights for real…..
Match up which is which witch???? Old school and new school
Select one person to put the board together- others may help him/her- race
Lets discuss
Now the cookies:
You have the right to say they are stupid gross and dumb
I can’t search you cookies for anything with out viable cause
I can't give you cruel and unusual punishment, and thing to earn the cookies
You could make a case to get cookies and present it to me….
What do you think is the most important lets map it out.
Lets get to the nitty gritty stuff- what do you think is fair?
Cases
What really happened?
1.In 1965 the US was fighting in the Vietnam War. A thirteen-year-old girl, Mary Beth Tinker, was part of a group of students and adults in Des Moines, Iowa, who were against the war. They decided to show how they felt by wearing a black armband for two weeks. When the school principals heard about the plan, they threatened that they would suspend anyone who wore the armband to school. The students did wear the armbands, and they refused to remove them. They were suspended. When Mary Beth and her friends were allowed to return to school, they believed that their constitutional right to free speech had been violated. What do you think?
2.In 1981 in Louisiana a law was passed that required all public schools to teach creationism as a science along with the theory of evolution. Evolution is the scientific theory that all life, including human beings, developed from simple cells into more complicated forms of life over a period of billions of years. Creationism is a religious belief. It says that God created the earth and all forms of life in six days--just the way they are now--about 10,000 years ago. People who were in favor of the law said that its purpose was to make sure that all students learned different theories about the beginnings of life. Those who were against the law said that creationism is not a science--it is a religious belief, and that violates the first Amendment. You cannot promote religious beliefs in school. What do you think?
3.In 1980 a man named Johnny Paul Penry committed a horrible murder. He was actually 22 years old, but he had suffered brain damage at birth. That caused him to have the mind of a seven-year-old. He went on trial in Texas and was found guilty. He was sentenced to death. His lawyers took the case to the Supreme Court. This was their argument. They said that two states did not allow the execution of mentally retarded people, Georgia and Maryland. They also said that the death penalty violated the eighth Amendment which protects people from cruel and unusual punishment. Finally, they said that the Texas law that prevented jurors from considering Penry's metal retardation when they decided the case was unfair. What do you think?
4.This case came up recently (December 2004) and was decided in the local courts. A mother was listening in to the conversation her 16-year-old daughter was having with her boyfriend on the phone. She heard the boyfriend say that he had stolen a woman's pocketbook. The mother reported this to the police and the boy was arrested and charged with the crime that he had admitted to privately. The boy said that his privacy rights had been violated. The mother said that she had the right to protect her child and needed to know what was going on in her life. What do you think?
Is there a bill of rights for youth?
Yes let’s review
Come up with one right that busy teens should be able to have. May be a repeat may be something not covered.