Erica Jacobs is the Education columnist for the DC Examiner, and has taught high school and college for 33 years. She has been around the education block! Email her at ejacob1@gmu.edu.

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Showing entries for Category: class

Why Don't Schools Address Racism?

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May 21, 7:09 PM

by Erica Jacobs, Education Examiner

    In my classroom today, a former student took the lead. Anna Laura came back to the classroom she had left two years ago to attend James Madison University, but the model of writing, respectful discussion, and reflection remained with her. When she took a course at JMU on racism, she realized she could develop a lesson plan to introduce high school students to the concepts that most teachers save until college. And her former teachers were the ones who benefited from her wisdom!
    The course I teach at Oakton High School allows students to discuss controversial issues, but we have always avoided affirmative action and racism. We figured we just didn't want to go there. But today proved we should have gone there a long time ago. Students understand that the rules are not the same for all of us and are very sympathetic to those who enter the fray without the same rulebook. Anna Laura's lesson illustrated all of this as she asked students to play by different rules, then reflect on what it felt like to be in a group where the standards were unclear.
   Tune into my column in 10 days (the one next Monday will be on a student's Memorial Day) for a look at Anna Laura's lesson, and what we (as teachers and parents) can do to be sure the future of America includes understanding and tolerance. It's a great moment when a student carries on the ideas teachers have presented---and takes them one step further! Hooray for students like Anna Laura!

Topics: class , race

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Shakespearean Quote of the Day

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May 18, 10:06 AM

Today I will going to the Shakespeare Theatre's performance of Julius Caesar with a few students and several other teachers, so it's fitting that the quote below comes from that play. My column for Monday calls my current students my best ever... Read More
Topics: day , class , shakespeare , quote , julius caesar

Endings

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April 30, 8:22 AM

Last night I taught my last Advanced Composition class of George Mason University's semester. I end the class with a paper on endings--a fitting conclusion that is always ironically juxtaposed with the reality of the last night, when half the class shows... Read More
Topics: student , endings , GMU , class , papers