And The Students Wrote: Pandemic Journals as Primary Sources
Help me give my students notebooks where they can record their emotions and observations and pencils featuring inspirational quotes with which they can inscribe how they feel as they witness history so that they may create pandemic journals.
This project is a part of the Hispanic & Latinx Heritage Month celebration because
it supports a Latino teacher or a school where the majority of students are Latino.
My Students
Because my students reside in one of the poorest congressional districts in the United States, school is more than simply a collection of classrooms to them.
School is the place where their bellies are nourished in addition to their minds; where they feel a sense of safety they might not always feel in their neighborhood or in their homes; and where the rhythm of the bell schedule provides predictability in an unpredictable world.
Now that their school is closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, my students are attempting to assemble the creature comforts of school in their own homes so that they continue their education as best they can.
My Project
Imagine having picked out the perfect dress only to have your senior prom cancelled. Or feeling like you finally met your best friend in freshman English only to have the class suddenly exist via Google Classroom. These scenarios--and more--are impacting students across the globe in a world they only ever imagined while learning about plagues and epidemics in their social studies classes. Yet now the vignettes previously situated in history books have become their reality.
Adults understand that the world will heal in time, but teenagers have a harder time accepting that prognosis.
Neuroscience suggests that the human brain is not fully formed until the age of 25, and before that age, it can be difficult to anticipate and plan for the future. Current circumstances make this task all the more challenging for teens, and providing students with materials to record their feelings and observations will ease the process--while facilitating the creation of a pandemic journal. And who knows? Maybe my students' children and grandchildren will read excerpts from these journals in their history classes one day!
Nearly all students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Clendenny and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
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