Thoughts for the week

There's been a few things I've wanted to share this week, but it's been hard to find time to sit and write. So, how about some retro-writing instead?

March 30:
Aunt Della's birthday

Now Aunt Della taught me many things about life in the short time I knew her. But something on Tuesday this week made me think of this particular "bit" of knowledge/wisdom. Perhaps it's the student in class researching Teddy Roosevelt for his biography project. The student considers himself a "BIG hunter" and wanted to research a hunter of "great importance." Who else but Teddy Roosevelt, right? So we had a little conversation on Monday about responsible hunting vs poaching when we ran across a picture of Teddy and an elephant that he had shot while on safari in Africa. (No worries, we're getting back to Della soon!) We talked a bit about how people who are not hunters don't understand the concept of responsible hunting, but it's a big part of conservation, and Teddy's way of thinking. This man did more for the each and preserving land and habitats than any one person with the development of the National Parks System.

Each morning I have the students write for about 10 minutes-- first thing. Sometimes there is a topic, sometimes not. Sometimes we discuss it, sometimes not. Sometimes these ideas go on to become pieces, sometimes not. Part of being a writer is writing, right? It also gives me a chance to write a bit-- whatever's on my mind, or observations, or whatever. Tuesday, as always, we wrote. I wrote about Della (told you we'd get back to her!). It was her birthday, and I guess the thoughts of Monday's conversation about responsible hunting got me thinking about this particular conversation we had one day.

Della's thoughts: Everyone should hunt at some point in their lives; every child should be taken hunting by their parents. She didn't necessarily like going hunting with her father, but she did, and in doing so she learned a very important lesson:

When you kill something, it's dead.

She went on to explain her philosphy. She said that too many kids are wrapped up in movies and video games (and these were the 10+ year ago movies and video games-- not today's) and didn't understand that dead means dead. If a character gets killed in one movie, the actor comes back to act in another-- they are still seen-- still alive. The focus of so many games is to kill off characters, just to turn around and play as that character. The world doesn't work that way. When something or someone dies, they're gone forever from this world.

She told me about going hunting with her father-- and the first time she saw him kill a deer. Now, Moiless Fontenot was a responsible hunter-- when he killed an animal, that meat went to feed his family. Hwever, the animal had to be killed to do so. Watching her father kill the deer helped her truly understand the finality of death, and the effect of taking a life. In turn, she also learned how precious life is, and that it is not to be taken lightly. Her point? If people truly understood the meaning of death-- of watching something die to never exist again, perhaps a sensitivity to life may occur. She seemed to long for the violence in youth (as provided for by parents) to be turned around to an attitude that values life, rather than searching for ways to destroy it.

Something to think about...


April 1:
Current events

As I said above, sometimes I give the students a topic to write about. Wednesday's topic was as follows: (keep in mind we're all familiar with the terms and have discussed immigration in the class before)

Zeituni Onyango is from Kenya. She's been going back and forth between Kenya and the United States since 1975. She has lived in America for a number of years, but has not filed for citizenship. In 2004, she was ordered to return to Kenya due to her illegal status. She has recently been found living in public housing in Boston (public housing is funded by taxes). She is still not registered; she is still considered illegal. Should she have to go back to Kenya?

I let the kids write for about 5 minutes or so, and then said,

"Oh, yeah! Zeituni Onyango is President Obama's aunt."

This day, we shared our writing. Wow-- the response was quite interesting. (I took notes during sharing time to make sure I got things right)

"She's not paying taxes. Why should she be allowed to live in public housing that OUR parents help pay for? She should go back. She's had plenty of time to do things legally, and she didn't."

"She's still an illegal alien. The law says she has to go back."

"Back she goes! It's not fair for her to not pay taxes and live as an American- aunt or not."

"She should get to stay, because she's Obama's aunt." (this one sparked great revolt among the third graders)

"She should take the lead and go back because it's the law. Her example might influence others to follow the law."

"She should go to Kenya. It doesn't matter if she's Obama's aunt. She's still a person and has responsibilities."

"She should be an example BECAUSE she's Obama's aunt. She should be a good role model and do the right thing."

"She should go back and do things the right way. My step-mom came from Mexico illegally. She saw how wonderful America was, so she went back to Mexico, and filed all the paperwork, and went through citizenship classes. She's now a taxpaying citizen. Zeituni had plenty of time to do the same, and she didn't. She should go back."

"She's a grown woman and should know better. It doesn't matter if she's Obama's aunt. She can't just do what she wants."

"She should have to go back. She's living off of us--she should have to pay taxes, but she doesn't. It's not fair." (That was the "straight-line democrat" I've written about previously)

"She should fill out the paperwork, get a job so that she can pay for her own housing."

"If President Obama is going to be president, he needs to be. Tell her she needs to do things according to the law, not just say 'I'm Obama's aunt' so that she can break it."


The next day, I brought in an article about Zeituni's hearning on Wednesday. She was granted an extension until February 2010 to complete asylum paperwork.

The students had the same questions I did. Why? How? Did it have anything to do with her being related to the presidet?

However, the hearing was closed to the media, so chances are, those questions will go unanswered for the general public. Since the questions are unanswered, there is great doubt in the minds of the students. However, one student asked a question that I could answer:

"We get to start voting when we're 18, right?"

"Right."