Peace and Revolution Cont.

I feel like I've learned so much in the past few days; more than I've learned in undergrad and graduate school combined.  The information that I've learned so far this week culminates a lot of the philosophies that are important to me as an educator.   As I've said before, I like to look and think about words.  I believe that a word or words can either uplift or destroy an individual or a group.  I now realize that when I talk about peace and revolution I should think about and choose my words wisely, so that I can have a positive impact on my students' lives and so that I can challenge their thinking.  The following are some quotes from some of the presenters/articles that I took away in the past two days.  I hope to keep these phrases in mind as I teach and learn from my students this coming school year.

"We as teachers can be that empowering force that gives students the tools to feel empowered" (Sue Gelbert Cannon-Think, Care Act)

"Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart" (Anne Frank)

"what keeps me together is my faith"(Ayuen Ajok-Panel member)

"...break down the victim and perpetrator mentality..."(Jamal Alsarraj-panel member)

"Get children to thinking and asking 'why did this end up being'?" (Jamal Alsarraj-panel member)

 "...use a strength-based approach to teaching...see the resilience in people..." (Jessica E. Lee-panel member)
 "...they may be poor, but they have morals..." (Chelkh Anta Babou-UPenn professor)

"...words are living entities and should be treated with the same tenderness as human beings." (Theatre of the Oppressed reading)

"...the arts explain something about humanity...the student becomes a model for what that family can embody..." (Stanford Thompson-Play on Philly)

" A community without its records is a community under siege, defending itself, its identity and its version of history without a firm foundation of which to stand." (Jeannette Bastian)

Bernie:)