In the Continuum
I don't know what you're allowed to take high school students to see, but if I taught a group of juniors and seniors (sorry, Chaz, it's not going to happen! LOL) I would seriously consider taking them to see In the Continuum. And I recommend it to anyone here in NYC. It's a play written and performed by two graduate theater students, Nikkole Salter and Danai Gurira, about black women and HIV. One character is a young woman in South Central LA, the other a mother and career-woman in Zimbabwe. Through the course of the play, each finds out she has HIV. From there, we see how the two societies respond to women who are infected, what their choices are for treatment, for telling/confronting the men in their lives, and so on. The play could be grim, but it's not; it raises really important issues but does so with a lot of warmth and humor. I think it would be a perfect part of a health, science, or social studies unit on HIV/AIDS, but the play has a lot of mature language and themes. Nothing high school students haven't heard/said before, but again, I don't know what you're allowed to take them to see...
*****
While I'm recommending, I finished reading Motherless Brooklyn (by Jonathan Lethem) last week. So great. How many books can make you laugh out loud on the subway? I think everyone else on earth has already read it (or at least everyone else in New York), but it's about a petty mobster who has Tourette's. He's doing a stake-out when his boss gets killed, and from there he turns detective...
*****
I also recommend attending the next teacher-blogger happy hour if you have a blog. On Friday, 11 of us went to Moe's, a bar in Brooklyn. Well, 8 were bloggers and 3 friends of bloggers. Anyway, lots of talk, beer, and, later, Mexican food. I don't know what will come out of this - some friendships, certainly - but perhaps more. We have all, for one reason or another, chosen to put our voices out there as NYC schoolteachers. And more and more people are starting to listen, which is both great and a little alarming. So the question becomes: can we maintain our diverse perspectives but also find ways to work together to do something positive for the kids and teachers of this city?
*****
While I'm recommending, I finished reading Motherless Brooklyn (by Jonathan Lethem) last week. So great. How many books can make you laugh out loud on the subway? I think everyone else on earth has already read it (or at least everyone else in New York), but it's about a petty mobster who has Tourette's. He's doing a stake-out when his boss gets killed, and from there he turns detective...
*****
I also recommend attending the next teacher-blogger happy hour if you have a blog. On Friday, 11 of us went to Moe's, a bar in Brooklyn. Well, 8 were bloggers and 3 friends of bloggers. Anyway, lots of talk, beer, and, later, Mexican food. I don't know what will come out of this - some friendships, certainly - but perhaps more. We have all, for one reason or another, chosen to put our voices out there as NYC schoolteachers. And more and more people are starting to listen, which is both great and a little alarming. So the question becomes: can we maintain our diverse perspectives but also find ways to work together to do something positive for the kids and teachers of this city?
posted by ms. v. at 10:08 AM
5 Comments:
Ms Frizzle;
I have juniors & seniors in my Advanced Placement Environmental Science class and I cannot take them to that play (which sounds appropriate for the class) because the DOE policy is anything beyond PG-13 is inappropriate and can get you fired!
In fact, if the PG-13 play or movie has brief nudity and is reported to the adminestrator, you better be ready for a possible trip to the "rubber room" or at least a LIF that will be with you until six years after you retire. Thanks Cleo eh Leo!
Ms Frizzle:
By the way, how do you and your class feel about Epiphanny Prince scoring 113 points and winning 137-32! See my article before you respond, if you choose to.
I wish I was there.
And yes, Motherless Brooklyn is awesome; his other work is good as well.
"can we maintain our diverse perspectives but also find ways to work together to do something positive for the kids and teachers of this city?"
In a nation where only an infidel would disagree with me, I don't know. I DO know we have no choice but to try, and a place like Moe's is as good as any to start.
Wow. I am jealous. Next time I'm planning to go to NYC, I want to schedule around your meeting.
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