On International Women's Day
On March 8th, as I opened the doors of my forensic science class, students streamed in, talking about International Women's Day. As we talked through their questions and the silly banter between the usual culprits, I veered them back to what I had planned for the day and carried on with the rest of my day. Later that evening, I thought about how little time we allow for such dialogue and provide them opportunity to talk about how they feel about what is happening in the world around them.
Next morning, I decided to let them go out and have some conversations. I grouped them in three sets of 4-5 each, gave them ten minutes to set up the cameras and mics, whip up an open ended question and seek one adult and one student to get a rapid response, a reaction about the international women's day.
Here is their cumulative reflection on this activity.
"I was shocked when you told us that we would be interviewing people about international women's day. It was a pleasant surprise though. Our question was “Do you think that international women’s day is just an excuse for radical feminists to voice their opinions?” We wanted people who would give a thorough answer and would feel strongly about the subject. It was hard because everybody was busy and we had very little time.
As a woman myself, I really liked this project. It was really cool and refreshing to hear teachers' perspective on such a current matter. We interviewed for both a male and female's perspective. We got a variety of answers on how women play a role in our life. This made me realize how important women are in our society. I also realized that a lot of stuff would be different without the help of women.
This activity was fun and educational. I got to learn how to use the camera as well. Interviewing different people about women’s international day made me get different points of view. I learned that not everyone thinks the same way and that women should be appreciated every day not just one day in a year. Women are strong fighting warriors .
After interviewing one female teacher and a male teacher, I was surprised to know that their views were very similar. Both men and women felt that being a women in society is one of the most important jobs there is. What worked about this activity was working in a group, collaborating for ideas, and interviewing people. What didn’t work was working with so little time to get everything done. It really was a sight to see. I took a lot away from this project. I hope we do something like this again."
https://goo.gl/photos/
I felt energy and sense of purpose around me. I saw them engaged and involved. I heard laughter, interaction and discussion. This is my first of many steps which look spontaneous but took a while to happen. I am slowly learning to release the learning to the students. They owned this lesson.
I felt energy and sense of purpose around me. I saw them engaged and involved. I heard laughter, interaction and discussion. This is my first of many steps which look spontaneous but took a while to happen. I am slowly learning to release the learning to the students. They owned this lesson.
My novice freshmen are going to work on these video clips and critique and process them and create a package that will tell a coherent story.
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