Monthly Give and Take

To listen to this blog as a podcast, click here . "Whereas" There is nothing like a good “whereas” to get me going. This December is Human Rights Awareness Month and specifically, December 10th is Human Rights Day and has some pretty important “whereas” statements. First declared in 1948 by the United Nations, calling attention to the fact that each of us has basic human rights and is entitled to healthy human interactions and treatment from others. Conversely, I begin thinking about the need for a specific day because, throughout our country and the world, not everyone is treated well.  I love how Elenore Roosevelt put it: “Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home — so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. [...] Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world.

November - American Indian Heritage Month  ( To listen to this blog, click here ) National American Indian Heritage Month celebrates and recognizes the accomplishments of the peoples who were the original inhabitants, explorers, and settlers of the United States. For what is estimated to be about 10,000 years, the Takelma Indian Nation has lived in and around the Rogue River area, and in particular, right here in Grants Pass. 10,000 years! I am having a hard time comprehending that amount of time. Europeans settled the Rogue Valley in about the mid-1800s and it was not without bloodshed. Eventually, the predominantly white settlers took over the land and it is now what it is today. There is much to be sad about, but there is also much to admire and celebrate. As we focus on our original settlers to our region this month, I have a couple reflections and some, "did you know?" trivia that I thought was just remarkable. Many years ago, I received a most thoughtful gift from a

Click here to listen to this as a podcast . Rachel was diagnosed early on in life with a cognitive memory disability. Essentially, she did not have short-term memory and could not remember what was happening in the moment. Her family and everyone around her knew and tried to support her as best as they could. When she came to my high school English class, one of the projects was to recite a monologue from Romeo and Juliet . Everyone let me know that to accommodate Rachel, I needed to let her simply read a monologue. While my head knew that was probably what needed to happen, I just wondered if Rachel wouldn't rather try to memorize the text? So, I did a very strange thing: I asked her.  "Rachel, this next assignment requires that you recite something from memory. Do you want to try and do that?" Rachel looked deeply at me and I could tell she was really pondering what I was asking her to consider. Then, with a look of defiance, she replied, "I want to be able to do t

Each month, we will share out ideas and resources for that month's equity focus which is aligned with the national monthly designations. September 15 through October 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. I will include a few items that you may be able to use in your classroom, but there are so many great ideas and lessons that you all are doing. So, I have set this up as a "Give & Take" forum. I will get the conversation started, but if you have an activity or lesson that fits with the month's theme, please feel free to add it to this blog.  In each monthly celebration resource, I will include the background of the monthly national designation and some ideas for elementary, middle, and high school levels. Please feel free to use any of it, be inspired to create something better, and then share an idea for your colleagues to think about--even just sharing a link to a site that has some great ideas is really helpful. If we all do a little bit to teach our students about th