Time

For four years I've struggled to teach 2nd graders to tell time. It struck me yesterday that

1) time is all about movement - sun, moon and hands of a clock and

2) the idea that the clock is moving is very abstract to 2nd graders - I mean, do you know any seven-year old who will sit still long enough to notice that the hands on a clock actually move=)

So, I thought about showing a time lapse of a clock that I found here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQqX1GHr0nw&NR=1

(Thanks also to my colleague who then referred me to the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71RSVSyIyfI&feature=related )

And I did the following:

1. I have my kids watch it all the way through twice and say what they notice

2. I play it again but stop it every 15 minutes, and ask them each time “Where is the hour hand?” and they use the following words

a. Right at

b. Just past

c. Almost_____ but not yet. So it’s still _____ 3. I play it again and stop it to quiz them on some times, like this:

a. Where’s the minute hand?

i. Is it easy or hard? (hard if the minute hand is past 30)

b. Where’s the hour hand?

i. Right at

ii. Just past

iii. Almost_____ but not yet. So it’s still _____

c. What time is it?

4. I tell them a time and they have to tell me when to stop.

silence

I suggested a book called "White Teacher" by a Genius Award winner for the Gentleman's Book Club at the school where I work. 100% of our students are children of color. Nearly 90% of the teachers, and 100% of the male teachers are white. 3 gentleman showed up. 10 showed up for "The Fight" last year. 12 showed up for "The Watchmen."

My thoughts cycle back to many "liberal" people I overheard this summer during the World Cup saying they "just couldn't root for Germany" because of its recent history. Meanwhile, a German friend visited me and told me about attending a reading by female Holocaust survivors hosted in the equivalent of the Pentagon. Where is the U.S. in this process?