Re: [cel-talk] Leadership in These Times

[DSIPST@aol.com]

These are challenging times for teachers and I appreciate the fact that we
have this forum so we can support each other. In terms of leadership, I
felt it was important to bring up the tragedy of Sept. 11 in all my
classes. Of course, I teach college students and they are worrying about
the draft among other things. In fact, not so far from the Pentagon
itself..at the University of Maryland, I taught my four classes on Sept. 11
beginning at 9:30am. When I realized what a huge event it was becoming, I
got a radio and turned it on for a few minutes before and after class so
students had some sense of the outside world as we read "The Rime of the
Ancient Mariner" (about love and respect for all life), slave narratives
about the destructiveness of racism of all kinds, and methods of teaching
secondary school where I asked them how they might, as future teachers,
deal with these events in their classrooms. I for one think it is
important to encourage our students to think about what is going on and
realize its connections to what we do together in the classroom. After
all, we want to foster reason and critical thinking and cooperation. All
of you take care of yourselves and our students. Stay strong. 

Sincerely,
Diane Isaacs