January 30, 2022 · book review
We wrote about this last spring, but wanted to share that Anti-Oppressive Education in Elite Schools: Promising Practices and Cautionary Tales From the Field is out (Nina received her copy!). We co-authored a chapter and it’s very exciting to see our words in print. You can read more about the book and enjoy some excerpts (including our chapter and an interview with us) here . We’ve been lucky enough to work with Katy Swalwell in the past and Gabby knows Ayo Magwood who we hope to collaborate with in the future. They are both doing really important work and are definitely worth following, but really the whole book has so much to offer. Please let us know what you
bookspublished piecesSocial Studiessimulations
January 4, 2018 · simulations
In conjunction with the National Council for Social Studies Annual Conference, Nina's piece on teaching perspective and Economics through simulations was published here . Please read and let us know what you
simulationscurriculumEconomics
July 26, 2017 · simulations
As part of our Social Studies curriculum, Gabby and I teach Economics to 5th graders (although next year, we are moving to 3rd grade and are developing a brand new geography curriculum this summer - stay tuned!). We are often asked how we do this and how we expect 10 years olds to understand something so complicated that many adults don’t understand fully. Our response: laying a groundwork in elementary school will help our students understand more as adults. Also, challenging and countering previously held beliefs only gets more difficult as students get older so it is essential that we explore the realities of money, poverty, and class while our students are still in elementary school and remain somewhat open-minded. Many of the activities we use in this unit sprang from our students’ misconceptions or desires to learn more. When we start this unit, we often hear variations of “people
Economicsanti-biassimulationsmoney
February 13, 2017 · curriculum
The cards we used for "life twists" that different students received throughout the simulation. “I don't understand why other companies treat their factory workers inhumanely if you can still be successful if you treat people like people.” Economics 101 is in full swing in 5th grade! We tried out a BRAND new simulation today and were reminded how difficult it is to check all of the details for experiential learning activities. Whew! That being said-- we are pleased with what our students experienced and how they are now thinking about different types of work, wages, and the many levels and layers of circumstances that can alter people's financial stability. SET UP: This one is complicated to set up. We have three groups, and each group had different tasks and varying working environments: Office workers (5 students) Task: read news articles and created a presentation Could takes breaks
simulationsEconomicsSocial Studiessocial justice educationsocial class
January 18, 2017 · curriculum
"I learned that the small population of the upper class have more money than the huge population of the middle class. I do not think it is fair because a small amount people get a huge advantage over the massive amount of people in the middle/lower class." That's right, today in class we talked about the very agreeable subject of…. Money! We started our Economics unit yesterday with a simulation. In our activity we had the students do IR (independent reading) in spaces that simulated how wealth is distributed in the US. For example: 1 student has 11 chairs (wealthiest 1% has 42% of US wealth) 3 students have 9 chairs (next 9% has 36% of US wealth) 22 students have 6 chairs (bottom 90% has 22% of US wealth) This part of the simulation was all fun and games for us. We squealed and giggled and playfully whined about our legs being squished trying to cram onto those 6 chairs. But then… We
curriculumEconomicssimulationsactive learning
May 8, 2016 · Uncategorized
Background: Following the Responsive Classroom model, the norms and expectations in our classroom are called our 'covenant'. In our classroom, we spend the first month and a half (!) trying to sort out what we value individually and as a class, so that we can create a covenant that feels true to us. We have three dynamic simulations in which students 'experience' Anarchy, Totalitarianism, and Republicanism. After each class period, we reflect on each government model to decide what we like best about it. We take these positive aspects and try to figure out how we want our classroom to run and which pieces we would like to incorporate into our community. The covenant is a labor of love and becomes all their own. This year, our class created a written covenant, a song (they are an incredibly musical bunch), and a logo which was "reproduced" (AKA copied and laminated) for everyone to put
simulationsexperiential learningIndigenous American StudiesSocial Studiescurriculum