There's social studies, and then there's social studies

In the midst of kicking myself for not having gotten up to the Revolutionary War during the first quarter of Social Studies, I realized that I have been teaching my little butt off in civics and government. Before school started, I decided that since Anacostia is experiencing so much (re)-development, I really should engage the kids in studying the changes in their own neighborhood. So, being the good little academic I am, I looked around at local universities to see who was working on related issues. A sociology professor at Georgetown hooked me up with this very enthusiastic and knowledgeable undergraduate who, miraculously, agreed to come teach a little class every week. We've been co-planning and co-teaching some great lessons--his contribution being a working knowledge of DC politics and the time to make up readings and activities, and my contribution being the ability to help him translate his fancy Hoya politics and prose into something 10-year-olds can grasp. (This is also known as 'pedagogical knowledge,' a talent/skill/art that's completely overlooked by Teach for America or other programs designed to attract top-tier graduates to teaching, but that's a topic for another day.)

Between the two of us, we have accomplished some pretty amazing teaching, if I do say so myself. I think I've already mentioned that at the beginning of the year, almost all of my kids located themselves in Washington State when asked to find DC on a map. None knew that DC wasn't a state and they certainly couldn't wrap their minds around the implications of that. Ten weeks later, I have a group of fifth-graders who are debating the pros and cons of the City Council structure, complaining that Eleanor Holmes Norton doesn't have a vote in the House, and making a set of color-coded demographic maps that depict critical poverty indicators for all 8 wards.

I'm pleased with their progress and I love the fact that if someone would have walked into the last lesson and asked my kids what they were doing, they'd say, "Oh, we're making demographic maps of statistical poverty indicators for the 8 wards of DC. I colored Ward 8 Red because it has the highest rate of property crimes."

Or, "I'm coloring Ward 1 green because it has the highest percentage of foreign-born residents. I'm not sure I'd like to live over there. There's a lot of people from other countries and they talk other languages. I might not know what they're saying and they might act all crazy. Over on this side of the river it's 98% African American so I can relate to everyone." Rajanique actually said this as we discussed our maps. Talk about teachable moments!

Anyway, on the horizon we'll be creating a big wall map of Anacostia, locating historical landmarks such as Frederick Douglass' home, and sticking pins in the map to show recently sold property and new buildings, etc. This will involve sitting on the floor and coloring...which is the whole reason I do this job, after all...