Jumping Into Human Rights (and happiness!)

I have wanted to blog ALL week about the wonderful discussions I've had with my kids so far, but it has been crazy!  I don't know why I am always shocked by the amount of busy work, on top of real planning and problem solving, that comes up in these first few weeks.  But I have finally put it all aside for the meantime, and want to get back to real gems of the week!

First, we started off by reading an inspiring article in Scholastic's Scope magazine about a young girl battling cancer.  What made this story so powerful was this young girl's message.  She wrote that having cancer helped teach her to be grateful for what she has, even if it wasn't what she had dreamed of.  This is an important lesson for everyone, but especially for teenagers.  We all need to take time to recognize the good fortune in our own lives, and appreciate the little things that make each day special.

I have been working on this in my own life, and I know that it can be challenging.  During the summer, I was dealing with a lot of changes in my life.  So, I decided to focus on the positive aspects of those changes, as well as all of the many blessings in my life, rather than the disappointments. I began the 100 Happy Days Challenge: http://100happydays.com/   I'm not posting my daily thoughts - I'm just keeping a running list for myself.  After reading the Scope article, and taking part in the 100 Happy Days Challenge for a few weeks, I decided I wanted to start off the school year doing this with my kids!  So, we began this week and will continue this challenge for the next 100 days of school.

The next day, I introduced the topic of social justice by reading one of my favorite books, 14 Cows for America ("You say that about all of your books." - one child retorted).  If you haven't read it, you MUST!  I won't give anything away, but the last line sums it up pretty nicely: 

          “Because there is no nation so powerful it cannot be wounded, nor a people so small they cannot offer mighty comfort.” 

If that doesn't draw you in, I don't know what will!

And finally, today we introduced the Declaration of Human Rights by using another one of my favorite books (ok, maybe I do say that a lot), Every Human Has Rights and the outstanding Youth For Human Rights website http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/.  We started with The Story of Human Rights documentary, which I would strongly recommend for anyone who is interested in getting some background information about human rights. 

As I have done in the past, we took each of the rights outlined in the book, which are basically a more kid-friendly version of each of the 30 rights from the United Nations declaration, posted them around the room, and the kids did a gallery walk.  As they walked and read, each student added post-its with questions, comments, or connections to the rights.  I can't even begin to tell you how amazing this first day of discussion was for me! Watching their faces as they watched the video, reading every single right, asking questions, making connections to their own lives - it was pretty cool, to say the least.  

I'm going to leave you here, dying of anticipating, since this post has gotten way too long.  But I will be back soon with more details from our journey through human rights.