Wake up America! Which do you love more your guns or your children? Yesterday I received an e-mail from Teaching Tolerance an organization that provides wonderful materials for teachers to use in helping to create positive peaceful learning experiences for children. Here is the beginning of the letter: December 16, 2012 Dear Friend of Teaching Tolerance, When […]
Are You Stressed?
Activities for a Time of Stress This is the time of year when we often think about peace and yet many times find ourselves stressed from holiday preparations and rounds of visitors. Below are some activities that teachers can do with their students, and parents can do with their children, or that you can do on your own, in order […]
What’s wrong with this picture?
By Tim Wolcott “Help us stomp out domestic violence – join Waverly Cares.” The President of STANYS (Science Teachers Association of New York State), my professional association, rallies us to implement Common Cores (national teaching standards) and SLO’s (Student Learning Objectives), address STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math teaching objectives), adhere to RTTT (Race To […]
I want to be a good person
There was once a boy named Nikolai who sometimes felt uncertain about the right way to act. “I want to be a good person…but I don’t always know the best way to do that.” So writes Jon J. Muth in a retelling of a story by Leo Tolstoy: The Three Questions. When is the best time to do […]
Bully by Patricia Polacco
Patricia Polacco has a new picturebook out. If you are expecting a sweet-hearted book like Thunder Cake or Renchko’s Eggs or Bun Bun Button, be forewarned, Polacco has again gone to the nub of an issue and faced it square on. This is a picturebook for middle schoolers not elementary school children. The characters are […]
Be Strong, Be Mean, or Give In?
In the corner of the preschool, Tio is building a block tower. “I’ll put this block on.” Andy says picking up a big blue block. “No way,” Tio says. “This is my tower.” “Then you can’t use this block, ” Andy says clutching it to his chest. Tio stands up. “Give it back.” […]
Be an “Upstander”
October is Anti-Bullying Month The Dignity for All Students Act has sent school districts scurrying to buy the latest and greatest anti-bullying programs. At the Lehman Alternative Community School in Ithaca New York they are using a homegrown program initiated by the school’s social worker Celia Clement two years ago. Clement’s program called WAM “Welcoming […]
Celebrate – Create Sustainable Peace
Wouldn’t it be great if there was a day when people everywhere stopped fighting wars, and instead gave humanitarian aid? By Tim Wolcott Well, there is a day dedicated each year to the cessation of hostilities and to public awareness of issues related to peace. It’s the International Day of Peace, established by the United Nations […]
International Day of Democracy
September 15th is the International Day of Democracy. A good day to check out how democracy plays out in your own family, community, and school. When I was a child, I attended a “Democracy in Action” elementary school. In every class from kindergarten to sixth grade we voted – every day. We voted on which […]
International Literacy Day
Imagine not being able to read. You would not be able to text a message or send an e-mail. You would not be able to blog. You would not have access to the wonderful world of books. Reading is a human right. September 8th is International Literacy Day a day set aside by the United […]
CEASE
Does what we teach our children match what is happening in the world? In 1979 peace educator Peggy Schirmer and a friend walked into the preschool on Otis Air Force Base and told the teachers about the mock nuclear explosion to be set off at the Cape Cod base. The preschool teachers, like all teachers, […]
When Violence is the Answer
In light of the recent event in Aurora Colorado, it behooves us to re-examine the violent nature of our society where all too often the solution to one’s personal hurts seems to be go out and hurt someone else. Why? It’s on the TV, on the movie screen, in the video games: According to the […]
