Punctuating Plastic Pollution

Looking forward to next year...should I be fortunate enough to facilitate again, I've been reflecting on the teaching process and learning process of this summer's GALACTIC class. Here are some things that I've learned: One thing that I think I need to keep in mind is the speed of time. With good planning and reason, I do tend to "over plan" without realizing it. I guess that's the teacher in me. Nobody wants to be facilitating or teaching and be out of plans with a half hour to go. If I would almost prioritize more next year, I could choose what is essentially the most crucial to include in the class sessions and stick to that plan. There can always be a ten minute "journal reflection" activity to wrap up a class if there is extra time. But I think that this year, in including local and global issues, there was too much "content to introduce. This week and the sessions go by so quickly, there is no way to cram in an entire unit of content li

The banquet for the Balfour scholars at the Balfour Pre College Academy was so incredible. I was really excited to see what all of the other classes had worked on and what the students had produced in those classes (cultural identity and GALACTIC). Having facilitated last summer, I knew that I would be impressed by what the students worked on, but just as last  year, I was surprised and blown away by the creativity and powerful words that the students shared in this evening. Here are some pictures of the posters that the Poverty Near and Far group made:

Our final class went by so quickly. I was so in awe of all that the students had been working on. I found myself just quietly walking around the room, observing the students' posters and listening in on their conversations about the weekly topics. Our topic as an umbrella was "poverty near and far" where we explored how it is systemic and how it affects marginalized populations locally and globally. But that umbrella covers a wider range of subtopics- how it affects beyond just people. It even affects our environment! The students used their words and their creativity and poured all of their energy into posters that were used in a mock "march" for poverty. Seeing them practice their presentation, I felt very humbled to be in the same room as these scholars!

Today, the students took what they had been learning about in the first few days of GALACTIC and applied this to a poster-making project. Our students will be walking into the Balfour banquet dinner during their time to present by making a simulated peaceful protest march. While I already had high expectations for what the students would produce, I was still blown away by the insight, creativity, and ideas that these students possess. We asked for students to act as though they were going to a march for poverty. What they were to produce is some kind of poster/sign that would convey a message (in their voice) and illicit a response from an audience. And...did they ever do that. Students used pictures, drawings, cutouts, and more to portray strong visuals. They also used their words to construct phrases and slogans to speak for their cause. One student in particular wrote a message- in spoken word- that would share his message. He is brilliant with words. I am looking forward to see