As the elections come upon us, I wonder the best ways to help students think about the role they can play, not only someday but also right now, in electing people to office who understand and will address issues important to them. The challenge is not finding material. It is everywhere around. If anything, it is narrowing down the field and taking care not to introduce so much that it overwhelms. An overloaded mind shuts down.
I try, as often as possible, to keep my political thoughts to myself. I don't really care to influence the way my students think about issues. I just want them to be interested, to have their minds open to other points of views, to think critically. I want them to compare their thoughts and listen thoughtfully to each other. But let's face it. Most writing writing and even television about politics is pretty boring for the average adolescent. It's not like Alex P. Keaton is normally sitting in my middle school classroom.
This is an interesting resource for teachers using political cartoons. I'm not sure where I'll plug it in, but as we move into elections, I will be keeping my eye open for good political cartoons, both left and right.
