Over eight classrooms participated in The Eleanor Rigby Project. Here is the link to the student work:

http://www.masters.ab.ca/bdyck/Homeless/Studentwork/index.html

"In order to infer, readers must lift up the words and go beneath them."
~ from The Mosaic of Thought Keene and Zimmerman (1997)

The CLUE students and I had an interesting discussion today about the use of dialect in a novel we are reading orally in class.

We spent a period reading from "Money Hungry" by Sharon G. Flake.

http://tinyurl.com/yi3y


We have been reading this book for several weeks. It's about a girl name Raspberry who lives in a housing project for the poor in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Raspberry and her mother (a single parent) spent some time living on the street and the experience has caused Raspberry to be fixated on making and saving money. She is terrified that some day she will end up on the street again so she is always cooking up ways to make more money. She has $600.000 stashed away in her room at home. The students have been very taken with this story and they authentic way in which it is portrayed.

When I finished reading today, one of the students commented on how much she was enjoying the book and how she didn't think she'd enjoy it as much if she had to read it to herself, due to the dialect. There is a significant amount of dialect in this book. Raspberry's language is full of slang, southern dialect and colloquialisms. It is actually a bit of a challenge for me to read it out loud. The rest of the students agreed but added that it was the dialect that made the story so believable and intriguing. Someone said that the dialect is what makes Raspberry, Raspberry. This started a discussion about the use of dialect in novels and even the use of "thee" and "thou" in the King James version of the Bible. The students talked about how dialogue often stopped them from reading a book. I told them that in Grade 10 they will be reading "To Kill a Mockingbird", a novel set in the deep south and full of southern dialect. As I said this it occurred to me that Money Hungry is a good preparation for a book like "To Kill a Mockingbird" or even Shakespeare and that perhaps we don't "work up to" giving students reading containing dialect, slang or colloquialisms so that when we do, they are overwhelmed (my Grade 10 daughter found the southern dialect so tough to understand in To Kill a Mockingbird, that she rented the movie!).

Today I photocopied two chapters from "Money Hungry" for the students to read on their own. (note: photocopy law allows photocopying of 10% of a book...which in the case of "Money Hungry", is three chapters). I have posted some thought-provoking questions on the students' Blogs- they will respond to these questions on the Blogs as well. I think the students will find the dialect easier to read because now they are used to how Raspberry speaks. I periodically stop while reading aloud to the studnets, to clarify an unfamiliar word or slang phrase. In one of these chapters it will address how Raspberry's mother is trying to eliminate the slang from her talk so that she will fit into a higher class world. This will make for some interesting discussion about the assumptions we make about a person's intelligence or social position based on how they speak. It reminds me of the movie "Sweet Home Alabama" in which one of the main characters tells someone that "just because I speak slow, doesn't mean I am slow".

Listening to these students interact with each other is interesting. Yesterday they were doing some Internet research for our upcoming debate on the criminalization of the homeless. Talk about collaboration. They were hanging over each others' shoulders helping locate info and discussing the search terms that would get them the most useful sites. One girl ran off an extra copy of an article she found that asked the question "Is Panhandling Moral?". She thought one of her CLUE peers may be able to use it in their debate preparation.


Yesterday, one student asked what my opinion was about the criminalization of the homeless. When I told him that I had several seemingly opposing opinions (and shared why) the student said "so there's not a "right" answer to our debate question?" (the debate question is: should homeless people be fined for loitering or panhandling?). One of the students who was listening to our discussion said..." And that's likely why we are doing the debate- so we see there are valid parts to everyone's point of view."
That's exactly why...the students need to understand that solutions come from scanning (to borrow a Matt Taylor term), all aspects of an issue.

Two boys presented their Advocay Project last Friday. It wa san especially meaty Powerpoint. I was very impressed with their ability to not only include powerful data in their PowerPoint, but to communicate it in sucha moving manner. Their questions didn't allow the viewer to passively watch the data...it called for action. I often hear how "PowerPointlessness" is rampant in our classrooms...this was truly was Powerpoint...with a point! Here's a link to it (note:
use the full screen view icon at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen so the animation works).

http://www.masters.ab.ca/bdyck/Homeless/Studentwork/Calgary/Advocacy/James/What%20If..final%20copy_files/frame.htm

These students love to discuss. They frequently bemoan the fact that CLUE will be over for them at the end of January. Yesterday they talked about why they feel this way. They said they have felt their thinking challenged. They haven't necessarily felt they've had to work harder, but that they've had to "think" harder. Maybe that's why Tom March says that effective technology integration is actually thinking integration.
Interesting...

Student work and stories from classrooms participating in "The Eleanor Rigby Project" is starting to roll in- classes from Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi and Illinois. My students have begun to email the students from Mississippi and next week they will
have a bulletin board discussion about the "criminalization of the homeless".

Today I posted the student work from Inverness, Mississippi, a poor rural area populated predominantly by minorities (the response of my students to this statement was "If they are the majority, then why are they called minorities?). The teacher sent poetry and a few pictures. I can't tell you how it warmed my heart to see those kids working on mind maps and affinity diagrams, something they had never done before. After exchanging emails, the students from Mississippi are wondering what "tobogganing" is and my students are wondering what on earth, "catfish crops" are. One student received an email telling them that there is a "cotton gin" right smack in the middle of their town. My students had no clue what that was either. Discussion, discussion, discussion! The teacher from Inverness said
he gave his students clues and "soon had them discovering the world of tobogganing".

It snowed today in Calgary and my kids want me to take digital pictures of them making "snow angels" for their friends in the balmy south! Both sets of students are scurrying off to a temperature converter tool (found on the Internet) so they can convert Celsius to Fahrenheit or vice versa, so they know exactly how cold it is in Calgary or how hot it gets in Inverness in August. We were told that the students from Mississippi were surprised to learn that French was mostly spoken only in the province of Quebec and commented that it will be fun and challenging for them to learn why this is so.
Student interest is at an all time high! Their work went live today on the Eleanor Rigby web site. Here is the URL :

http://www.masters.ab.ca/bdyck/Homeless/Studentwork/Inverness/index.html

To top this off, I received an email from a 6th grade teacher who teaches 6th grade in Chelsea, Michigan (about an hour west of Detroit) who explained how she implemented The Eleanor Rigby Project with her students. I couldn't believe how she had taken this project and flown with it. Here is what they did:

- We spent one class period creating the affinity charts and discussing the results. The next day we created mind maps. Students were totally invested in both of these activities.

- Students took the Homeless Survey home over the weekend, and the following Tuesday we discussed the results, THEN we read the top 10 myths, from the Ann Arbor Shelter Association (linked from the Eleanor Rigby site).

-We read, discussed, and outlined the America's Homeless Children article.

- I shared statistics on rent payments in this area, and as a class we did the math on the income needed to provide for a family.

- We discussed the many and varied causes of homelessness, from manufacturing jobs going overseas to mental problems to other
causes.

- I shared the personal experience of my own family helping a Navajo family whose house had burned, and information from books about the homeless borrowed from the local libraries.

- I read selections from "Monkey Island" by Paula Fox.

- Students created and shared "I Am" poems, with piano music as background.

- I had sent home a note about the Homeless Unit, as well as an opportunity to serve a meal at Alpha House, an interfaith-based shelter for homeless families in Ann Arbor. On Tuesday, December 2, sixteen students with their parents and siblings provided a potluck
dinner for the guests at the shelter. After dinner the students read to young guests and played in the "game room."

- More than one family asked when we could do this again. Thank you for telling us about the Eleanor Rigby Project. I will do it again!

Funny how yesterday I felt somewhat wired and tired, because today I am definitely "wired and inspired"!

I've had two interesting conversations with one of the CLUE students this week.

One of the girls stayed back after class on Wednesday and told me about a conversation she had with her dad about the homeless people who are loitering in front of his office building downtown. Her dad did not disagree with the fines that the City of Calgary are levying against the homeless people who hang out in front of offices and stores. He told of a homeless person who regularly plays his guitar in front of an office building downtown and wondered why the person didn't just get a job. My student sat on top of the table and talked about how she didn't really agree. She talked about things that might prevent that man from getting job, reasons that demonstrated her depth of understanding concerning how homeless people aren't operating from the same frame of reference that we (who have grown up in a conventional environment) are.

I can tell that the reading and discussion done during this project is causing this girl to look at issues like this differently. It's like Kohlberg (Six Stages of Moral Development) says, when student thinking is challenged by new ideas there can be a disconnect that causes them to change their way of thinking about an issue. Her expanded understanding was causing her to reconsider pat answers to a complex problem. I am amazed at her independent thinking, her serious thinking and her compassion.

This same girl also returned a book I had asked her to read last week. Homeless Bird by Gloria Whelan tells a story about homelessness from an international perspective.

http://tinyurl.com/5v6p5

My student explained the story in detail, a story of Koly, a 13 year old girl from India who found herself married. Soon after her marriage she learns that the family only wanted the dowry that came with her and when her husband dies, she finds herself in the place of being a young widow, a social role that considered to bring with it "bad luck". No one (either her family or her husband's family) want to have anything to do with her and she eventually finds herself on the street in desperate circumstances. Homeless Bird describes how Koly rebounds from these events and goes onto success in her life. My student observed that she was almost 13 and couldn't imagine dealing with the circumstances that Koly had. We talked about how different cultures view widows and how this girl's future was very grim through really no fault of her own.

Here are some of the verses that the students collected for "The Word on the Streets: Performing the Scriptures on the Streets" assignment along with their interpretations regarding how we are called to act this verse in our world.

"If there is a poor man among your brothers in any of the towns of the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward your poor brother." ~ Deuteronomy 15:7
New International Version (NIV)

"If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother"
~ Deuteronomy 15:7
The Message (MSG)

This verse means that is there is ANY poor man in any city, you should help them and not be proud or ignoring. There are many ways of helping the poor poeple among us. You could support a local homeless shelter, or maybe even buy one of them a meal.

Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed
~ Psalm 82:3 NIV

"Defend the poor and fatherless: do justice to the afflicted and needy"
~ Psalm 82:3 King James Version (KJV)

This verse means that you should stand up for the weak, fatherless, and poor people. You should make sure that they are treated fairly.
To help "live this out" in our world, make sure that if is something is being done that is unfair to the homeless, stand up for them and try to prevent what is happening.

"He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God."
~ Proverbs 14:31 NIV

You insult your Maker when you exploit the powerless; when you're kind to the poor, you honor God
~ Proverbs 14:31 MSG

This means that if you treat the poor badly, you are basically insulting God. If you are kind and good to the poor, this pleases and honours Him.
To help live this out, you should make sure that you do not mock or treat the poor badly. Treat them as you would like to be treated.

"He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished."
~ Proverbs 17:5 NIV

"Whoever mocks poor people, insults their Creator; gloating over misfortune is a punishable crime."
~ Proverbs 17:5 MSG

This verse is very similar to the verse before it. The second part says that if you mock and gloat over the poor, you will be punished, and will not get away with it. God sees what you are doing!
If you do not want to be punished, try to catch yourself every time you might start making fun of or mocking the poor. How would you feel if you were homeless and people said those things about you?

"Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need."
~ 1 Timothy 5:3 NIV

"Take care of widows who are destitute."
~ 1 Timothy 5:3 MSG

This verse means that we need to acknowledge end recognize those who are in need, like widows. We need to take care of them because they might be very lonely.
To help live this out in our world, help the lonely people or any widows (if possible) that you know. Maybe just invite them over for dinner, or make them a card. These can make a big difference.

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world
~ James 1:27 NIV

"Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world."
~ James 1:27 MSG

This verse means that the kind of behaviour and actions that God is expecting must be helpful, and selfLESS. It says that we sould reach out and be kind to the homeless, and those who do not feel love.
To show these kind of actions that God is expecting, try to support the homeless as best as you can. You can donate money to a homeless shelter, or work as a volunteer. Stand up for them, and think of how they must feel. Support them in any way you can. For those who do not feel love, SHOW them love. Be there to encourage them when they feel down, buy them a little gift, or things like that. Make them feel loved the way you feel loved by your friends and family.

Leviticus 19:10
"Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger. I am the LORD your God."

Leviticus 19 :10
"Do not go over your vineyard a second time or pick up the grapes that have fallen. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God."

This verse would be a great reminder to remind people not to be selfish and give even a small amount to the homeless because they don't have anything. This verse also reminds me how selfish we can be.
Leviticus 25 Read This Chapter
25:39 ' If a countryman of yours becomes so poor with regard to you that he sells himself to you, you shall not subject him to a slave's service.

Leviticus 25: 39

"If one of your countrymen becomes poor among you and sells himself to you, do not make him work as a slave."

This would be a perfact reminder for people who fire people. Although though getting fired is a part of having a job I think the person who fires should give them a certain amount of money just to make sure the person will be able to support themselves for enough time to get another job.

1 Samuel 2:8

" He raises the poor from the dust, He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with nobles, And inherit a seat of honor; For the pillars of the earth are the LORD'S, And He set the world on them. "

1 Samuel 2: 8
"He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; He seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; upon them he has set the world."

This would be a good verse to give to homeless people to let them know that the most powerful greatest person loves them and thinks they're rich, ot with money but with strength. I would like to put this verse on a card to hand out to homeless people.

Next week I will be away in Albany, New York for the NYSCATE conference. While I'm gone the CLUE students will be doing an assignment called:

"The Word on the Streets: Performing the Scriptures on the Streets"

I saw this title while doing a search on books about homelessness. The idea of "performing" the Word of God on the streets is very intriguing to me I wonder what the students will come up with. It's quite an abstract concept...too abstract for Grade Seven students (I'm wondering)? I expect a few of them will be unfamiliar with using different Bible translations. Here is the assignment that I posted on the students Blog tonight:

Students:
Today you are going to work on a new assignment called "The Word on the Streets: Performing the Scriptures on the Streets"

Have you heard the saying "Talk is Cheap"? When someone says this they really are saying that unless you put action to your words, there really is no meaning or sincerity behind your words. It is important that we don't just give lip service to the things we say about how to help homelessness.

The Bible has some very clear instructions about our responsibility towards those who are hurt and struggling in our world. For this assignment you will find five scripture verses that talk about poverty, the poor, orphans, widows or those who are not as well off as we are. You will state the verse from two different translations (New American Standard, King James, The Message), you will explain your understanding of the meaning of the verse and finally you will share ideas how you can take the verse and live it out in your world.

Consider checking your scripture verse out in several translations (New American Standard, The Message etc). The title of this assignment, "The Word on the Streets: Performing the Scriptures on the Streets"
actually means...what does it say in the "Word" (God's Word) about poverty (and the homeless) and how can we, through our actions, "perform" the meaning of that verse on the street for those who are hurt, confused and needy. Use your Bible's concordance, or the Internet links below:

Bible Gateway:
http://bible.gospelcom.net/

Crosswalk.com
http://bible.crosswalk.com/

Strong's Concordance
http://www.eliyah.com/lexicon.html

This assignment is due Friday, November 28th.

Mrs B. Dyck

Today I received an email from two of our partnering project teachers, one from Inverness, Mississippi and the other from Boston, Massachusetts. The teacher from Boston is using this project with a class of Developmentally delayed Grade Seven learners, many who have a reading level of Grade 3. She has adusted a number of the activities so that these students can participate. Here is an email from Laurie Wasserman:

Brenda,

"Oh how I wish I had a digital camera and a way to show you what we did today! The kids loved the affinity diagram. I had them for 2 blocks which was so perfect! They were very unsure of their ideas, spelling of thoughts, etc. I just let them write what came to mind without worrying. Some of them were a little unsure how to put their brainstorming ideas into categories for “What is a Home?” But, once I passed out easel paper with markers, and had them put the sticky notes from the board in categories onto paper, it all seemed to have made sense. They then presented individually because it was really done as one group (a class of 10). They actually seemed disappointed when the bell rang and it was time to leave! You must understand the majority have a COMBINATION of ADD/ADHD, medical issues, severe reading and writing disabilities. It was so fantastic.
I wanted to send you some pictures of our projects when we are done (about 2 weeks). The kids stand and pose with their posters of their Mindmaps. They remind me “I want my picture taken for the teacher in Canada, don’t forget, Ms. W.!” They are so excited like you wouldn’t believe! I have a young man who spends every minute he is in school, coming up at lunch, etc. making power points of his project with sound and motion! Understand he decodes on a high first/low second grade reading level! Understand that he had undiagnosed ADHD/ADD (can you have both?!) His mom tells me he talks about this project at home! They can’t wait for Monday-we have a double block of LA for 92 minutes. Do you know how much you have inspired my students, Brenda? You rock, honey!" ~ Laurie


Bland Campbell, the teacher from Mississippi, is working in a school that has a high minority population. Here is his email:

Hi Brenda:

This week has been a busy week for us. We have worked through part one and part two of "Oh Give Me a Home". The children really got excited when they started the Afffinity Diagram, using the word home. They have never done an Affinity before. It was a wonderful experience for them. They divided into one group of 5 boys and another group of 6 girls. I wonder why that happened? Both groups worked hard and came up with a good infinity and were surprised at what words came to mind when they thought of home. They discovered that there was a lot of overlapping of words. When putting the words under agreed upon categories they discovered that some of the words could go under more than one category and since some words were repeated they divided some of them into more than one category. They did discuss breaking down into more or smaller categories but decided they liked the ones that had agreed upon. A discussion of what makes a home was lively. I took some pictures to document their work and will sent copies later.

A couple of days later the students did a mind map using the word "homeless". They worked hard on their maps and even came in after school to spent time working on their maps. I was really pleased with the final product. Their maps looked good. You could easily see what came to their minds when they thought about being homeless. They had lively discussions on the struggles of the homeless and the hardships they endure. We also explored where we got our mind pictures of homeless people. This challenged the students to think and explore their beliefs about the homeless. Again I took pictures and will sent them to you later.

I feel that we have gotten off to a great start. I haven't seen the students this excited before. They are now writing letters to your students. I am also having the students e-mail their mail to me and I will paste them in one long e-mail to you and you can copy, cut and give to your students. There will be 14 e-mails, one for each of your students. Three of my students have said they would write two letters. I will try to get them to you next week. We are off all next week for Thanksgiving. But I will try to set aside time to get the e-mails forwarded to you. When we get back from the holidays we will start on another part of the project. We are documenting every step of the project with pictures and writings. Our goal is to make a Power Point presentation of the project. When finished we hope to present it to the students in assembly. I also have hopes of going and presenting it with the students to different community and educational groups.

The students are interested in learning more about Canada and the Calgary, Alberta area. We will be researching and learning from you and your students.

When we get back from Thanksgiving maybe my students can write sharing their thoughts on an American Thanksgiving and maybe your students can share their thoughts on a Canadian Thanksgiving which I believe is celebrated on the 2nd Monday of October and had its beginning in 1879?
~ Bland

I think its exciting to have three so diverse classes doing the same project. My students and the students from Mississippi will be emailing each other next week. Both classes are really looking forward to that.

This morning I got to school and checked my emails. One email subject caught my eye...something about Homeless Resources. Upon opening the email I learned that this email was from a homeless person who had come across my Homelessness Blog while doing a search on "blogging + homeless". Morgan (his name) proceeded to share a number of homeless resources, his circumstance and his interest the Eleanor Rigby Project. He blew all my homeless assumptions out of the water as he proceeded to eloquently share bits and pieces of his experience on the street. When my students arrived later in the morning, we all sat there captivated as I read the email from a man who had spent the better part of the past thirty years on the street. Morgan quickly answered the question that was in all our minds:

"How on earth does a homeless person manage to, not only email, but help manage a Blogging space called the "Homeless Blogs Webring"?"

This is what Morgan said:


"...Just in case you might wonder how a person living homeless may have online access, especially late in the evening when I e-mailed you initially, all of my online access comes by way of public access computers or the online computers of friends and allies."

Morgan made homelessness almost sound "normal"...certainly after thirty years, it must seem normal to him:

"As you already know of course, there are many different versions of homelessness and it is definitely experienced differently depending on where and how one lives, especially for those in more rural regions. While I remain homeless (being that I do not have a place of my own which I very much want and am in dire need of) for the last three years while I've been homeless this time around (I have been homeless off and on for thirty years now), I have not had to sleep outside as I usually always have some place of last resort to be inside. It may be a couch or on a floor somewhere or otherwise by using most of my limited income for about 7 to 10 days per month in a motel when it can be afforded and is available. It means I am always going from place to place and sometimes on very short notice.

Anyway, one of the places I stay and sleep on a couch, has a public access computer and I use it in the evening, especially when I either have lots of online work to do or just cannot sleep. At least I am inside anyway. I do not stay at homeless shelters at all anymore (since

1991) and it is not because of drinking or drugging either, as I do neither. In fact I always behaved well. However homeless shelters are not a home and they are not safe or conducive to good health, etc. In my opinion homeless shelters are part of the problem, not the solution. Plus, except for being given a bed sometimes when one is available, they did little to help me move on from being homeless and some of those who either work or volunteer in such places seem to blame us for the circumstances we find ourselves in. Such attitudes and treatment does not help us one bit. Among other things, we need real housing that is safe, decent, accessible, available and affordable. Oops, sorry, do not mean to carry on like that, but those are some of my observations on the subject for what it is worth. Thank you for doing what you are. Good work Brenda."

My students and I sat there looking at each other, taken-a-back by the writing we had just heard. Right in the middle of our "study" of homelessness a voice from the field had emerged unexpectedly. The theory had suddenly turned into something starkly real. They asked me if they could send him some questions, questions about his statement on shelters, questions about why after thirty years he's still on the street and questions about how he learned about Blogging. Everyone marveled at his writing skills...he was obviously not a drop out. I told the students I'd ask him... and that for security reasons all correspondence would have to go through me.

Morgan was game to answer the students' questions. He provided links to other homeless people we could question as well (from his homeless Webring http://homelessblogs-webring.blogspot.com/ ). He had some other interesting suggestions:

"However as their experiences may have been different, along with their perspectives of them, you may want to have the students consider posing their questions in a different manner than they pose questions to me (as the questions to me pertain to a certain context), and using their own words and style of course: [this is not intended to coach the students either, but these are the usual questions and hopefully they are phrased in open enough ways to provoke open answers and not defensive reactions from someone who may be asked these such questions]
e.g: Have you ever been homeless? How long have you been homeless? How many times? Are you living homeless now? How did you become homeless and why? Have you ever stayed in homeless shelters? If so, what have your experiences of staying in shelters been? Has homeless shelters and other homeless service providers been helpful or harmful in your opinion? Why? Have you ever lived literally on the street? If so, for how long, where and what was the experience like for you? What do you believe needs to happen to end homelessness? ...

Of course it should also be clearly understood that none of us represent others who are homeless, just as very person is different, homelessness can be experienced very differently by different people, though there are generally common experiences shared by most if not all people who live or have lived homeless."

This week I've spent some time studying "Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development". I've wondered if a project like "The Eleanor Rigby Project" has the ability to advance my students' ability to understand moral/ethical issues. The activites found in this project were designed to challenge my students on issues of stereotyping, ethical challenge and moral action. I've learned some interesting things about moral development and even had a chance to watch my students rethinking take place!

According the Kohlberg, most adults never get past level three (of six) of the moral development chart and that individuals can only progress through these stages one stage at a time. That is, they can not "jump" stages. They can only come to a comprehension of a moral rationale one stage above their own. Kohlberg encouraged those who deal with children to present them with moral dilemmas for discussion, dilemmas which would help them to see the reasonableness of a "higher stage" morality. He believed that most moral development occurs through social interaction. In order for children to reorganize their thinking they must be active in the process, not just passive listeners...just listening to adults moral judgments will not promote moral development. I find that interesting because it is so easy for us to tell children what they should think. It takes time to let them work it out themselves. I am integregued to learn that all our telling doesn't achieve the results we are after, that the students will pick up our morals. Hpwever if the students' moral thinking is reorganized by being active in the process, we need to create activities and discussiona that allow them to get up close and interact with the content.

During my study on moral development I read about the Piaget's equilibration model where the child takes one view, becomes confused by discrepant information, and then resolves the confusion by forming a more advanced and comprehensive position. The students give a view, the teacher asks questions which get them to see the inadequacies of their views, and they are then motivated to formulate better positions.

I think I saw the reorganization of moral thought taking place in one of my students this week. Chris had asked me to go through his Advocacy Campaign PowerPoint presentation with him. As we flipped through the slides we'd pause and discuss his content. On one of the slides he had written:
"When a homeless person begs for money you shouldn't give it to them because it too often gets converted into drugs or alcohol. Instead, buy them a sandwich or give them yours and but yourself one. It gives the homeless person what he or she actually needs."

He suddenly stopped flipping and looked at me with a perplexed look on his face and said: "That's an assumption isn't it, Mrs. Dyck? I don't know why I wrote that."

Chris had just recognized his own generalization, one resulting from well-ingrained mental models we all have about the homeless. At that moment the old mental model did not line up with all that we had learned and discussed over the past month. We talked about whether his statement was an assumption and why he would have said it. In the end he decided to create some additional slides addressing the myths surrounding homelessness. Now that I reflect on this I realize that I had just watched Piaget's equilibration model in action- this is when the child takes one view, becomes confused by incompatible information, and then resolves the confusion by forming more complex and understandable thinking. Conversely, the same day I watched another child breeze past an assumption made in his PowerPoint. On his slide defining homelssness he had written "Many homeless people are lazy." We talked about this statement being a generalization but unlike my discussion with Chris, this student didn't appear to have a breakthrough moment...perhaps because I was telling him about it (as opposed to him seeing it himself) I'm not sure he really understood.
Pretty interesting stuff!
In terms of whether The Eleanor Rigby project contributes to my students' advancement in moral development, the following statement is key:
"Children develop not because they are shaped through external reinforcements but because their curiosity is aroused. They become interested in information that does not quite fit into their existing cognitive structures and are thereby motivated to revise their thinking."

Resources:


Kohlberg's Stages of Moral Development
http://faculty.plts.edu/gpence/html/kohlberg.htm

"Only about 10% of all people reach the last two stages of moral development. In our experience, though, most gifted children do achieve these upper levels unless their environment has prevented their growth. People in these upper levels are the leaders, creators and inventors who make major contributions to society and who help reformulate knowledge and philosophy, often changing major traditions in the process. While traditions form a continuum from the most insignificant matter of social custom to the principles formed into law, they may also go beyond law, to sweeping principles of universal order. Those who have reached the highest levels of moral development may go beyond the law as well, sometimes sacrificing themselves and often changing the world's perception of the law, and finally the law itself. Gifted children may set themselves on such a course early in life."

http://www.austega.com/gifted/moralKohlberg.htm

Today the students read a newspaper article about a man named Pete who would be homeless except for the generosity of a restaurant owner on 17th Ave who lets him have a room in the bcak of his restaurant. Pete has a TV and a microwave. the article eludes to a mental deficiency and explians that Pete has signifiacnt memory loss. Pete says:
"My world is small," he tells me. "It has to be or else I'd get lost in it."
pete teels how he spends most of his day looking for firewood and how he is happy as long as he has rice and coffee.

I asked the students to Blog their thoughts about Pete.

Andrea wrote:
"It seems like Pete had gone through some pretty harsh times. It would be terrible to forget half of his life. Hopefully he has some pictures of his earlier life so he can find out a little bit about his earlier life. I wonder if there is any medication that can help his mental problem? Although he has some problems he seems pretty intelligent. I like the brainteaser he thought of "if your knees bent backwards, what would chairs look like?". It is hard to believe that he couldn't confirm his condition to get government assistance until the 1980's. Before that it must have been really hard for Pete. Even now, it must be hard for him. I would have a hard time living in the back of a kitchen. What would happen if he didn't find any firewood during his morning search. He could get very cold. It seems like he is making a really good effort to improve his life. "

Blake had some suggestions:
"I think Pete is a good guy and we should let him live his own way. They should let him stay out in the woods but they should have someone to monitor him. They should help Pete get a job or build him a little cabin in the woods. Looks like Pete is trying to live a life, and we should support him. I think there should be someone that monitors the street to find and put people in the shelters. He may be doing better then other people on the street but the fact is that, he's still on the street plain and simple. Imagine if you were on the street could you get by, think about that deeply. How much do you rely on modern conveyance's? Would you give up the will to live? Or try to stay alive and move on?"

James H tried to make sense of Pete's situation:

"This article makes me very sad. Why does a guy with such great character have to live on the street? Mind you he has some friends and he does all sorts of different on his average day. I think he might enjoy where he is a little bit. I think it's good that people can get a taste of what being homeless is like. Also people can see that not every homeless guy is a drunk or takes drugs and is a bum. in fact alot of homeless people are normal just like you or me. I can't imagine not know anything of your family except for one sister, not having a sense of belonging would be devistating and could drive a person crazy. But he just keeps living life and I admire that. He doesn't diserve this at all. "

Melanie was obviously touched by this story:

"It's really sad that he can't remember anything about his childhood. I wish that we could do something to help him. I think that maybe when we are presenting we could invite parents and grandparents and ask them if they can give donations to help people like Pete. I hope that he figures out his life real soon. I think that he has a really good attitude towards the situation that he's in. He feels safe because he knows that people know him and if anything went wrong he would have them to help him. I wonder if him and his sister have a good relationship. It's good that she is trying as hard as she can to help his situation. I hope that this situation will get better and maybe he can even get better with his sickness. "

Stina voiced her concern:

"Poor Pete!! Having an entire childhood of memories gone out the window. And not knowing when your just going to black out. What would happen if he was just walking down the street and all of the sudden, he's out like a light. What if no one came to help him. He could freeze to death if he does have some shelter, It's not the same. I know I would die on the streets! In our society, we are so reliant on material things, we would be as helpless as babies with out them can we really empathize with this man if we can't fit in to his shoes and see the world through his eyes? Even if we could, if we had been in his situation, he has such low standards that he can make a terrible one look good. We should really try to think about how would live a life like that."

Joel addresses on of the most common myths about homelessness..."laziness":

"I think that it is very sad that nobody wanted to help saint Pete until the 1980s. It is very amazing how street people like Pete can work so hard to stay alive, also that proves that lots of homeless people like Pete are not lazy. I think that his sense of humor helps him sell so many newspapers because people would want to buy things from a cheerful vendor. I think that the owner of Nellie's Kitchen is very kind to let Pete live there for eight years. I cant believe that Pete stayed alive even though the government wasn't giving him the income for the severely handicapped before the 1980s. Another person who helped get Pete on his feet is his sister who tried to help him get government assistance. I really hope that Pete can get an apartment. If only a doctor could cure his illness, maybe he could be able to work harder and get a good job. It is also nice to know that if something happens to him, the people on 17th would take care of him."

Can homeless people be role models? Chris thought so:

"I think St. Pete is a role model for other homeless people. I think it is good that he is trying to get off the street. He shows that he wants so get off the street and he is not just a lazy person because he is trying to get an apartment. One of the ways he is getting this money for the apartment is he is writing the crossword in the monthly paper the homeless make called "Street Talk". I hope he gets enough money to afford the apartment he is trying to rent. I am also glad that he has a positive attitude about being homeless but not to the point that he doesn't care. I also think it is need that he survived on the street for 8 years. I also now know that not all homeless people have nothing. For example, St. Pete has a microwave and a T.V.. I think its good that the non-homeless people know him and help him. Its good of the bus driver to notice him and make him feel noticed."

Joel has created an online survey (using Zoomerang.com)as part of his Activist project. He will collect the data for a bout a week and then include his findings in his presnetation next week. He knew exactly what he wanted to include in the survey. I was amazed at how easily he used the Zoomerang survey tool. This group of students learn new technology skills so quickly! Here is his survey:

http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?A1X5XDV4832QSYGB5MSBLX8A

Today I read Bland Campbell's email to my students. I wish I had a picture of their faces...interest, concern, seriousness, thoughtfulness- all these words describe what they looked like as I told them about this school in the poor region of Mississippi. We talked about how schools like this get less funding and consequently have difficulty attracting teacers because even the salaries are less than in the richer parts of the USA. We discussed how it is difficult for areas like this to get ahead and how they can in effect become "locked' into poverty. I reminded them about the right of all children to a quality education and told them about President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" policy. I asked them to Blog about their thoughts concenring this new partnering school in Mississippi. Here are some of their thoughts:

Andrea wrote:

"I feel very bad for these kids because they live in such a poor place. I don't think it is very fair that the government gives only a little bit of money to them, but mostly gives it to larger cities. I think the money should be distributed equally to all of the villages, towns, and cities. These kids are very young and souldn't be experiencing poverty. Since the majority of them are black, it must also be a very hard life because in the past many blacks were slaves in Mississipi and also in other places of the USA.

It would be really neat if we could meet these kids in person and go down to Mississipi to see what it is like to live down there. It would be a really neat learning experiance and I think the other kids would also enjoy it. To make the money to go there we could do a fundraiser. We probably won't be able to go there, but it would be wonderful if we could."

Blake wondered:

"I would like to try to compare our community to theirs. I would like to learn if they want to get out of that community and if so how would they do it. I think it is being compromised by the fact that they get a lesser rate of education and they should have a chance to go to other schools."

Chase had some thoughts about the term "minority":

"After listening to that letter from the teacher in Mississippi, I was extremly suprised that 75% of the school is African American and suprisingly they are called the minority. When the teacher wrote that I was shocked that the black people who are exactly the same as the white are called the minotity. It makes them sound not as important as othr races. When that was read out to us I got an immeddate reaction that it was similar to when the African American people were treated poorly and unfairly. I don't uderstand those kids are poor and don't have as good a schooling as the other kids in the U.S.A. do. The President of the United States has a motto of "No Child Left Behind."
Personally I dont think the circumstance that these children live in supports that motto at all. It seems they are getting the 'left overs" of what the rest of the American children are getting. When I say this I mean the rest of the U.S.A are getting all of the tax money to add extra doodads to there class rooms and the southern classes get the left over money for the thing they need the most.

I would really like to learn why they are getting the left over money and not being completly satisfied with their school needs. I also want to know why the U.S.A. government is not doing anything about this problem.

I believe that everyones right to have good teachers and have a good education is being compromized in Mississippi. I want to do all that we can to help and I will really enjoy talking and socializing with these so called "minority kids".

Kristen pointed out some of the glitches found within the "No Child Left Behind" policy:

"After listening to the e-mail from the teacher in Mississippi, the thing that struck me was how the black people are called the Minority. In my opinion, I think this makes them sound lower and not as important as white people. Also, if the U.S. Constitution says that all children have the right to learn, and their motto is "No Child Left Behind," they are not living up to their rules in the Mississippi. These schools down in the Mississippi Delta in Inverness are not being properly funded, which means the teachers get paid less (meaning the teachers there are probably not as good), and the children loose out on better education, which means they are not successful like the U.S. government said they would be. It is totally unfair that other wealthy schools farther north have tons of money that they don't always need, and these schools and children down south are living in poverty. I am looking forward to corresponding with this gr.8 class in the Mississippi Delta, and I hope to learn many things about their culture. I hope that we will get to send many letters and e-mails to them, as well as pictures and possibly Christmas gifts. "

Quinton tried to make sense out of giving less governemnt funding to poorer areas of the USA:

"Why not more funding? As soon as they fix Mississippi they will gain more money from taxes by geting more people out of poverty and into jobs. Everyone should be educated thats there motto but they are letting it behind. They are not living up to their standard. They are leaving the teachers to do everything. Everything is compromised. They don't care about them. They care about the voting citizen. They think the minority does'nt matter. If they please the majority of people they figure "Hey my work is done as long as I get into office again."
They really need to take a look at someone elses shoes to see what's wrong. The teachers are minimaly paid so the good ones go to the high priced schools. Leaving these poorer schools with the left overs. Some of those teachers may be good but still they need better pay."

Today I received an eamil from a teacher in Mississippi who would like to join the Eleanor Rigby Project. I was very moved by his letter. I can't wait to share it with the students. I am sure they will be very excited about corresponding with students in Mississippi. Here is the email:


Brenda: 10/30/03

I received a message from our state rcu center telling us about The Eleanor Rigby Project and giving us the web site address. I went to the site and navagated the site. I found the site and project to be very interesting and started to wonder if a section of my eight grade Computer Discovery students would like to particpate in the project. I told them about the project and they became interested in particpating as they navagated their way through the site in an effort to see what was required of them. I am e-mailing you to let you know of our desire to particpate in the project. Am I correct in thinking that our next step is to start working on the projects and to share with you and your students our experiences? I am making plans to spend time each week on the projects during class and after class for those willing to go the extra mile.

We are a small rural school located in Southwest Central Mississippi in the heart of the Mississippi Delta. The school is in Inverness and our school has an enrollment of 181 students in grades K-8. We are in a proverty area and the vast majority of our students fall below the federal and state proverty guidelines. The tax base in our area is small and does not generate enough income to fully support the schools. The prospects for generating a larger more profitable tax base are almost non-existent inspite of the efforts of local, federal and state programs to increase it. We are a farming area and always will be. Our county according to the latest census is classified as being almost 75% minority (black). Our school has two students who are not classified as minority students. Money we receive from the state is lower than that for other well to do areas and the teacher pay is lower. Our students need to have the world opened to them through postive experiences that will increase their learning and knowledge.

Our students definition of a homeless person at this time more than likely would be, a person who sleeps on the streets in a large city. They probably do not believe we have any homeless people around us. To say we do have homeless people in our area you would have to redefine the definition of homeless. I am looking forward to observing our students reactions as they participate in the project. It is always good to take your eyes off of your self and see others.

Besides learning about the homeless people across this land of ours maybe our students can learn about the differences in the areas that we live. I hope that through this project my students can come to learn to more about life in Alberta Canada and that your students can come to learn about life here in the Mississippi Delta. I would like for our students to share stories about the areas in which they live.

I am looking forward to working on the project and staying in touch with you and your students.

Bland Campbell
Computer Discovery Teacher

Last day the students took part in a silent discussion, using an article called "To Be Young and Homeless". They read key parts of the article and responded in writing by walking around the room and writing their comments on chart paper. I asked them to respond to eachother's comments, not just the article - in a bounce catch-bouce fashion. It was quite neat to watch this silent discussion take place. Great thoughts appeared on the chart paper. I participated too.

Today they put feet to their thoughts and feelings from yesterday by becoming an "Advocacy Group" for the homeless. Small groups of students will create a community campaign using three media forms of their choice through which they will inform their peers of issues surrounding homelessness in their community, province or country.

Students were very excited about this assignment. We talked about the various media forms they could use (letters to the public, posters, magazine or newspaper advertisements, billboards, PowerPoint presentations and three-dimensional displays in public areas). In their Blogs they aswered the follow questions:

- Will your campaign focus on issues of homelessness on a community, state or national level?
--On what specific issue or issues related to homelessness do you wish to focus your campaign?
--What statistics are offered in your group's article excerpt that you can incorporate into your campaign? What other statistics should you locate in order to give your campaign factual support?
--This campaign's audience is an audience of your peers. How can your message be reflected in a voice to which your peers can relate?
--Look at the list on the board of possible media for your campaign. Which three methods do you think would be most effective to send your message to this audience, and why?
--What images and words do you want to incorporate into each of these three campaign pieces to best send your message?

I told them they may wish to investigate what some organizations are already doing about homelessness and other social issues before creating their campaigns. Suggested sites include http://www.worldadvocacy.com/human_rights.html, http://www.actupny.org. In addition, students might get ideas from advertisements that are anti-drug, anti-smoking or pro-communication between children and parents.

Students will have this week to work on the Advocacy Campaign and the classes of November 4- 14th. They will present their campaign in class November 19th and 21st. They can't wait to get strated!

Today we began work on the "I Am" assignment

("http://www.masters.ab.ca/bdyck/Homeless/Poetry/index.html"),

a poetry assignment where students will put themselves in the shoes of a homeless person and write a format-specific poem. I handed out the assignment sheet and rubric. They were encouraged to use a thesaurus to locate words that had "punch". The assignment is due Friday, October 17.
Students immediately got to work on the computers. I directed them to an online Thesaurus site that few had used before. ( www.dictionary.com)

Megan pointed out that a synonym for "lonely" is "homeless". Isn't that interesting!
As they wrote, the students and I discussed possible words and phrases that would communicate the "I Am" statements as effectively as possible. These students came up with some wonderful suggestions. Some examples were:

- I feel 1000 different wounds
- I am pointless and of no use
- I wonder if I will ever find a purpose in life
- I cry when I think about peoples thoughts about me
I anticipate some powerful poems from these students.

Yesterday I created an "Eleanor Rigby Project" bulletin board out in the middle school hall. Here we will post student work. At the top of the bulletin board I hung a worn pair of shoes that were peeking out of the bottom of a pink, tattered balanket. By the shoes there was a sign scribble don paper towle: "Homeless and Hungry. Please Help". A plastic bag of lose change hung by the shoes and sign. There was no face at the top of the blanketed figure, almost like the faceless people who stand on street corners asking for our help.

I went on Amazon.com and did a search on books that have been written on the homeless. As titles came up I copy/pasted pictures of the book covers into a Word document to print and use as a border for the bulletin board.

I read many very interesting tiiles...titles that really made me think. The one that grabbed my attention the most was:

"The Word on the Street: Performing the Scriptures in the Urban Context"

by Stanley Suanders and Charles Campbell.

What a heady thought...taking the scriptures and giving them feet in everyday life. on the following link to this book (on Amazon) there are 13 samples pages. I want to order this book to find out more. What an incredible assignment this could make. Perhaps we could call it "The Word on the Street: Performing the Scriptures With the Homeless".

http://tinyurl.com/6ws6x

I used the book jackets as a border aorund the bulletin board. Next week we will sit as a class around this bulletin board and discuss what these books might talk about as well as the effectivness of choosing titles that capture your attention and imagination. I hung the students "homeless" mindmaps under the bulletin board.

This week the students read a document called "Who is the Homeless? . This is a fairly complex professional article from the National coalition of the Homeless. Students were asked to locate specific demographic information (age, gender, ethnicity, veterans, mental illness)about those who live on the street. The purpose of reading this article was to give students insights into the homeless persona. I want them to learn that there are a variety of reasons people become homeless (mental illness, veterans etc). I was impressed at how well these Grade 7 students waded through this wordy document and how easily they dissected the answers to my questions.

"Blogs provide... the potential to reinvent how we work with journals in classrooms, challenging teachers and students to think about writing in authentic ways." ~ from "Writing With Web Logs by Glen and Gina Bull"

Today I set up a Blog for each student. I would like to them to debrief our class sessions using this interactive online tool. I will be able to go into their Blog and respond to their thoughts. I am excited experimenting with this emerging communciation tool with my students. As fellow bloggers, we will update our sites frequently and take our writing in a direction that matters to us. I plan to post questions but I will encourage students to explore their own questions about the cundrums surrounding the homeless.

"As bloggers, we're in the middle of, and enjoying, an evolution of communication." ~ Meg Harris, from "What we Are Doing When We Blog"

"To educate means to lead out. And we don't lead kids out. We kind of stop them. To educate is to expose kids to many possibilities until they find a connection between what's really important to them and the world out there. and then we must nurture and cultivate that connection."

~ Mikaly Csikszentmihalyi, author of "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" and "How Teenagers Prepare for the world of Work"


If that is true, I am leading these students into an place they've likely never been before...the world of the homeless. I am hoping vthta they will not only become more informed...I am hoping they will actually find a connection between that quiet voice inside them (that whispers that maybe, just maybe they can make a difference in their world) and the needs of the world the homeless out there.

September 22, 2003

The students and I met for the first time last week. All of us were excited to be part of this learning group and immediately showed an interest in the homeless topic.

Their first question was about whether they could spend a night on the street so they could "experience" what it is like to be homeless. They were disappointed to hear that they were too young to do this. Their question made me realize that these kids are desiring to get up close to this subject, not read read and write about it.

I wonder how I can provide an opportunity for them to experience homelessness in a safe way...

Project homepage:

http://www.masters.ab.ca/bdyck/Homeless/index.html

To do this we created an Affinity Diagram. Students met in groups of three and wrote words and phrases that came to mind when they think of home. They couldn't talk...just write the words/phrases on sticky notes. After about ten minutes the groups combined their words into categories and then posted their work on the white board at the front of the room.

It was interesting to watch the intensity in which they scrambled to list words/phrases about home...they wrote like mad. Even more interesting was the discussion that went on as they worked as a group to assign and reassign the words to categories. My white board is now covered with all things pertaining to "home".

Here is a picture of our Affinity Diagram:

http://www.masters.ab.ca/bdyck/Homeless/Home/Affinity%20Three/index.html

September 30, 2003
Today we met around the Affinity Diagram to discuss the words and phrases. I asked them to think about how the absence of these elements of home would shape a person. For example, I asked them to share a special food that brings "home" to their mind. They said:
- Tara Vista Burgers
- muffins
- Homemade Chicken Soup
- Toast
- Dumplings

I then asked them what a homeless person might answer this question. They agreed that food wouldn't pull up the same pleasant emotions that it does for us. For the homeless feelings of anxiety, effort and temporary relief might accompany the thought of food since they are always looking for it. They didn't think that any food in particular would conjure up fond memories and that the homeless would be grateful to have any food that would quieten their stomach. We agreed that "food" may have haunting memories for people who evenually get off the street.

Now they were ready to begin looking at "homeless" instead of "home". I gave each students a large piece of chart paper and instructed them to create a mindmap of "homeless" including five categories and words/phrases that a homeless person would think of in those categories. They students immediately went to work. I was surprised by the quiet that pervaded the room. No one spoke...they began work on the mindmap. After about 15 minutes they started to ask for suggestions for words to describe ______. One girl worke dextensively on emotion words that describing the feelings of a homeless person. She wanted to know if "vulnerable", "inferiority" would be good choice of words. Together we talked about what "vulnerable" meant to her. I was surprised at the level of understanding she had of that word.

The rest worked, almost like they were in another world and slowly their thinking started to take form on the chart paper. Some started with images and others began with the words. They begged for extra time so they could continue. I went and asked Miss Pumber if they could stay. Since the rest fo their class was doing silent reading, Miss Pumber agreed to let them continue work.

I talked to them about a class I had read about that spent the night in refridgerator boxes in their school parking lot so they could experience a "safe" night on the street. Their faces lit up at the thought and wondered how they too could do this. Their enthusiasm wasn't dampened in the slighest when I told them it rained that night and suggested that I might be too old for such an adventure! For the next 15 minutes they talked among themselves about what it might be like to spend the night in a refridgerator box and what they'd bring along.