Just a quick story about today, before my mind purges the information in its on-going quest to save space for my mailing address and phone number.
We've been learning about the industrial revolution and the labor movement in the United States in the late 19th century for about three weeks now. It culminated today with a guest lecturer talking about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire and the Uprising of the 20,000. She spoke at length about the conditions in the garment factory, about the age and wages of the women, about the 78 hour work week and the fact that two strikes failed to change conditions at the Triangle Factory. Finally, the revelation that the courts failed to indict the co-owners of the factory was too much for one young man in my class.
"God, everything about this sucks!" he blurted out, then looked back to find me smiling.
"Couldn't have said it better myself."
Next on the syllabus, immigration and city life with such stupendous topics as tenement life, the Chinese Exclusion Act, the rise of the Klan, the nadir of race relations, and race riots. A fronte praecipitium a tergo lupi.
2 comments:
it is almost a law for at least one of my mun students to describe a world situation with such vigor and poetry. there is no doubt that such situations abound around the world. it is good to know that an eighth grader has the metal grace to understand the 'suck' factor of the issue. sounds like a great lesson, if not uplifting.
I always figure it is a spectacular day if one of my kids has an appropriate reaction to something important...congratulations on making an impact - those are the minutes that teachers live for!
Love you:-)
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