TEACH
Students learn best when instruction helps prepare for real life beyond classroom walls, sheds light on relevant community problems, and fosters relationships with peers and adults who care about developing solutions to real world issues that students are passionate about.
My students civic engagement was highlighted in this Chalkbeat article on the future of Civic Education during the 2019-2020 school year, while my classes lobbied to improve authentic learning within New York State and address issues of social justice and equitable policing. Below, I will share some resources and artifacts related to our service learning, activism and personal finance pursuits within the context of my US Government & Economics instruction.
Action Civics
My students and I develop year long, action civics projects based upon specific issues students identify as most relevant to their communities. Each of my classes spend time interviewing classmates, family members and other community leaders to generate a comprehensive list of issues that students discuss and debate with the goal of consensus building and identifying one focus issue for a specific class project. Then students engage in deep research which involves contacting and collaborating with experts in their issue to helping develop their arguments, rallying support from community and business leaders through organizing using social media campaigns to target the public and lobbying elected officials by calling and emailing elected officials both in and outside of the classroom
Generation Citizen provides resources such as the advocacy hourglass model and a consensus building protocols, shown above, to help students conduct research, initiate proposals, debate the merits of student suggestions and ultimately come to consensus on a focus issue, goals, tactics and targets for their class’ action civics project
MY STUDENTS FOCUS ISSUES & POLICY PLATFORMS FROM THE 2018-2019 SCHOOL YEAR INCLUDE...
1.PUBLIC HEALTH & THE ECONOMY: To safeguard public health and improve the workforce NYS should require pharmacy tech certification and prioritize the most skilled candidates for employment.
2.PUBLIC HEALTH: USA HS should focus on improving the bathrooms and school sanitation to help foster a cleaner and more respectful school environment.
3.HOUSING: City Council should create a landlord report card that analyzes rent increases and infractions to improve housing equality in the city
4.SOCIAL JUSTICE: NY should remove the statute of limitations on sexual harassment claims and ban the use of non disclosure agreements to support victims of sexual harassment and assault
Working within project groups, students create policy plans, communication scripts, which are used to call elected officials and social media campaigns to rally support. These items are complied onto project boards and presented at numerous events.
Students present their work and collaborate with politicians, business leaders, educators and other city students at NYC Civics Day held at The NY Bar Association. In 2018, my students received the Open Mindedness Award for “thoughtfully reflecting on the GC process and connecting their experiences with future implications and possibilities” and in 2019 they received the Action Award for their project on reducing standardized testing to improve authentic learning
Additionally, individual students are honored. Students from my classes have received the GC Change Maker Award and given the opportunity to deliver a keynote speech to attendees at the end of Civics Day
Since Civics Day 2019, our pharmacy students have been invited by local government to write letters of support and collaborate with NYS Legislators on a bill that would require workplace ratio improvements and pharmacy tech lincensure or certification.
CVS has also agreed to improve the ratio of pharmacy techs to pharmacists in their NY stores. In 2020, NY lawmakers voted to repeal 50a making police disciplinary records public, NYPD agreed to stop policing Street Food Vendors & NY cancelled Regents Exams as a response to the pandemic.
In 2019-2020 Legislative Season
Senate Bill S6517 was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo into law in New York State
Senate Bill S6517 was signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo into law in New York State
Participatory Budgeting
in Schools
Students often know best how money should be spent to address the needs of their schools, yet students are often left out of this process. When students have a voice in budgetary decisions, they become positionally and mentally empowered. In 2018, I applied for a grant with the NYC Department of Education for my school to receive $2,000 with the stipulation that students play the lead role in delegating the funds based upon their classmates' proposals and participation in a school-wide vote. My students developed proposals on how to spend the funds and work with student council representatives who help facilitate a school-wide vote to identify the winning student crafted proposal. The proposal to buy and install 2 new water fountains with filters and bottle fillers ultimately received the most votes, was funded, installed and provide access to safe, filtered, environmentally friendly NYC tap water. Below, I will highlight some resources and interdisciplinary experiences that helped elevate this learning experience.
Participatory Budgeting in Schools empowers students and adults to work together to collaborate on developing real solutions and have a voice in how money is spent to address community needs. Additionally teachers are motivated and empowered to make interdisciplinary connections to proposal. Even after the election, teachers evaluate individuals’ access to clean drinking water around the world, the physical effects of lead on the human body and both modern and historical technology such as the underwater aqueduct that moves water from the Ashokan Reservoir in the Catskills to NYC faucets.
Given the prior success of the GC model in helping students generate action civics projects, my students adopt similar instructional tools for our participatory budgeting to help connect proposals to specific school environment issues and root causes. Students use a “because, but, so” model to practice developing a thesis, counterclaim and rebuttal related to proposals during our unit of fiscal policy unit: “How should individuals and governments generate revenue and spending responsibility?”
Similar to political caucusing, students present their proposals to their classmates and debate the merits and pitfalls using the sentence starters in the above picture. Students move to difference areas of the classroom based upon the ideas they most support. Since multiple proposals will exist on the ballot, each class does not need to come to consensus on a single proposal as up to seven are on the ballot for a schoolwide vote.
Students work with student council representatives to help facilitate town halls to discuss proposals and a schoolwide staff and student election. Several students work on creating a paper ballot, as other program create a google form that is emailed out to all students and staff to collect votes. Other students publicized the vote to their classmates via social media, make morning announcements or discuss the proposals to students in other classrooms. The week prior to our election, juniors who lead peer group connections facilitate lessons to freshman on the premise of participatory budgeting along with a discussion the various ballot initiatives. During professional development, our school staff has the opportunity to discuss the proposals, develop strategies to incorporate participatory budgeting into their classrooms and vote themselves. In 2022, we implemented a Ranked Choice Voting system for our school’s participatory budgeting election aligned to NYC primary elections
Sustainability
Our sustainability project to improve access to clean drinking water in our school was celebrated by the Goethe Institut as a winner of their International UN Sustainability Contest. During the 2019-2020 school year, we invited a group of students and teachers from the Heinrich Zille School in Radeburg, Germany to visit Union Square Academy and our classroom to learn more about civic engagement and participate in students’ classroom caucuses to discuss new proposals about how to best spend $2,000 to improve our school. The German students and teachers also helped us make the above video and write a report about our work in German, which highlights students’ research, activism, action planning and both the environmental and public health benefits related to the installation of the new fountains. Our students will be presenting and collaborating with schools around the world at the Goethe Institut's international sustainability symposium.
The new fountains reduce the time students spend outside of class attempting to get water from offices with water coolers and will ultimately pay for themselves now that are school no longer needs to purchase water cooler refills that are delivered via trucks with carbon footprints that also add to the congestion of our city streets.
Students and teachers have also been working together to advocate for universal access to safe drinking water by creating this google map using various data points made available to the public to track city schools with elevated lead levels in their water. Since NY enacted legislation mandating new public water tests for lead in 2016, there have been 3 rounds of testing and these data points are fully integrated into our map. Red indicates a school has water that’s been tested above 15 ppb, the EPA’s limit and requirement for remediation. If you click on a school’s post remediation status, you can see the number of faucets that are still elevated along with the school populations’ poverty and economic need index (as made available within the DOE’s data portal). We hope this map, along with our students activism, helps ensure all city residents have nothing but safe, clean, free, environmentally friendly, public drinking water.
NYC residents can order a free at home test kit to test for lead in your drinking water. Next school year, we are planning for our students and staff to test their water quality at home, analyze the results in class and use the findings as a potential springboard for continued political activism on this issue.
NYC residents can order a free at home test kit to test for lead in your drinking water. Next school year, we are planning for our students and staff to test their water quality at home, analyze the results in class and use the findings as a potential springboard for continued political activism on this issue.
Participatory Budgeting
in Neighborhoods
During the first week in April, City Council Districts across NYC hold their own participatory budgeting process to vote on improvements to specific neighborhoods and millions in city council funding is at stake.
Our staff and students propose, evaluate and vote on various proposals for city district in which students live and in District 2 which our school resides. Above a student crafts a proposal to renovate the staircase leading into our building to improve access and safety.
Local History
In the wake of NYC school closures during the 2019-2020 school year, my students in US History created a virtual walking tour of sites in NYC with connections to slavery. When schools reopen, students hope to lead in person walking tours with historian, educator and activist Dr. Alan Singer of Hofstra University to help advance the understanding of NYC's connections to slavery and achieve landmark recognition. Click the thumbtacks on the google map using a computer (custom google maps aren't mobile friendly) to watch student created screencasts about the historical significance of the site. The video by Dr. Alan Singer discussing this undertaking. Students work has since been published by the New York Almanac here
Civil Discourse
& Dialogue
| david_edelman_-_tgc_ubd_unit_plan_v3.pdf |
The debate over who should be granted the right to live and work in a country is an enduring issue and politically relevant worldwide. As educators, we have a responsibility to include such difficult and poignant topics into our classrooms to help students have productive dialogue and gain confidence expressing themselves when confronted with the possibility of conflict and emotion. A copy of a unit plan entitled “To what extent is the right to work a fundamental human right?” can be downloaded from the above linked file.
I have incorporated and modeled the use of the courageous conversations compass (above) and the Four Agreements (below) to help students and staff frame their comments and questions in a way that promotes active listening and a desire to seek understanding
I prioritize the inclusion of primary source documents that most educators leave out of the classroom such as the DS-160: Online Nonimmigrant Visa Application, the N400 Naturalization Form and the US Oath of Naturalization to ground our discussion of immigration and citizenship in the context of Participation in Government.
We also look outward to how countries’ governments around the world address issues of immigration and citizenship including looking at the Germany’s Dignity Clause in the German Constitution.
“Students will evaluate the concept of citizenship through research, discussion, debate and argumentative thematic writing related to...”
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. How should a country decide who is a citizen, their respective rights and responsibilities?
2. To what extent is migration a human right?
3.Are the US Bill of Rights human rights?
4.Should countries prioritize the needs of foreign nationals or put “citizens first?”
We also look outward to how countries’ governments around the world address issues of immigration and citizenship including looking at the Germany’s Dignity Clause in the German Constitution.
“Students will evaluate the concept of citizenship through research, discussion, debate and argumentative thematic writing related to...”
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:
1. How should a country decide who is a citizen, their respective rights and responsibilities?
2. To what extent is migration a human right?
3.Are the US Bill of Rights human rights?
4.Should countries prioritize the needs of foreign nationals or put “citizens first?”
GLOBAL COMPETENCIES ASSESSED:
2.Recognize perspectives, others’ and their own, articulating and explaining such perspectives thoughtfully and respectfully.
1.Investigate the world beyond their immediate environment,framing significant problems and conducting well-crafted and age-appropriate research.
GUIDING QUESTIONS:
1.What should be our government’s core operating values and principles?
2.How should a country determine citizenship?
3.Who should receive the right to vote (non citizens, felons, teens, etc)?
4.What should be the rights and responsibilities of citizens?
5.Do the rights of citizenship outweigh the responsibilities?
6.Should individuals be required to take a test in order to obtain citizenship?
7.To what extent is the visa and citizenship process fair or biased?
8.How should a country decide who has the right to vote?
9.To what extent do countries uphold the values inherent in their government’s constitutions?
10.Why do governments often alter their immigration policies?
11.Should countries require Selective Service?
12.How should we define refugee?
13.Should countries prioritize the needs of foreign nationals or put “citizens first?”
2.Recognize perspectives, others’ and their own, articulating and explaining such perspectives thoughtfully and respectfully.
1.Investigate the world beyond their immediate environment,framing significant problems and conducting well-crafted and age-appropriate research.
GUIDING QUESTIONS:
1.What should be our government’s core operating values and principles?
2.How should a country determine citizenship?
3.Who should receive the right to vote (non citizens, felons, teens, etc)?
4.What should be the rights and responsibilities of citizens?
5.Do the rights of citizenship outweigh the responsibilities?
6.Should individuals be required to take a test in order to obtain citizenship?
7.To what extent is the visa and citizenship process fair or biased?
8.How should a country decide who has the right to vote?
9.To what extent do countries uphold the values inherent in their government’s constitutions?
10.Why do governments often alter their immigration policies?
11.Should countries require Selective Service?
12.How should we define refugee?
13.Should countries prioritize the needs of foreign nationals or put “citizens first?”
Voter Registration
Throughout the year, my students and I analyze the strengths and weaknesses of US voting systems and voter participation which includes discussions related to felony disenfranchisement, gerrymandering, the electoral college, the effects of first past the post voting policies. I also facilitate a voter registration drive, help students to identify their political ideologies and understand the decision to join a political party on the voter registration form.
We also invite speakers from the community who are involved in activism to come and speak to our students about local, state and national issues that are important to them and our students and act as thought partners for their own action civics projects
During Civics Week 2019 we invited members from the community organizations such as the LGBT Community Center to discuss issues important to students as new voters. Guests share tools for change, including information about the lesser known elected offices in NYC government.
Internships!
Students are presented with various internship opportunities that support civic engagement. Students received support researching and applying for summer and part time jobs activities such as Election Day workers, Census takers and internships that support elected representatives, Community Boards, and government agencies like the Manhattan District Attorney’s office
Our students have received summer internships through Generation Citizen’s Community Change Fellowship program which pairs students with various government offices and departments to develop their leadership and civic engagement
Personal Finance
When I studied Economics in high school and college, my classes focused on theory and government policy. Those lessons did not prepare me for adulthood or real life challenges such as managing my money, filing a tax return or investing in the stock market. The shortcomings of my own formal financial education shaped my desire to provide my students with a hands on approach to learning about spending, saving, and investing money responsibly. Above and below, you can see various screencast videos that I recorded to support my students in mastering these financial tasks. Year after year, my students number one requested learning focus is personal finance. A combination of collaborative classroom based learning and technology based practice helps make this happen. Students are vocal about their desire to learn these skills and as a result our personal finance work together consistently produces the most overall engagement.
Through students participation in Budget Challenge, students learn to analyze the fine print of financial documents, a human resources employment memo, contracts for various bank accounts, credit cards, insurance and loan policies and make advantageous economic decisions. You can see some of these documents and tasks modeled in the screencast that I created during our transition to remote learning as response to covid19. Students deliver presentations to the class on all the various contract options, points of view on the plans and a thesis related to the specific plan that they believe is most advantageous. After presentations, each student must make his individual vendor selections online.
Once the simulation starts, students must pay bills, save to their 401k and respond to incidents such as damage to their apartment or a car accident using an app or computer to access their accounts. When the simulation first begins, I provide direct instruction and we analyze the bills and pay stubs together, providing time for students to log into their accounts and respond to them accordingly. Throughout the semester, there is a gradual release of support. I am able to measure students' success by monitoring their payments, saving and engagement online while fostering their financial independence. I love to hear from recent graduates about how they successfully invested in an IRA or filed their family member’s tax return after we practice these skills in conjunction with their personal finance simulation. Students learn how to complete a 1040 tax return using their W2s from Budget Challenge, or a W2 from a part time job or paid internship. Part of this activity can be seen above. You can learn more about my students experiences here
Students also use the SIFMA Stock Market Game platform to learn how to engage in responsible, long term, diversified investing in connection to our essential question “To What Extent is Investing Gambling?” and "To what extent do individuals have a responsibility to consume & invest ethically?" Students learn about the risk levels and rates of return associated with different types of investments, the premise of diversification, compounding, capital gains, investor confidence, and the behaviors associated with responsible investing. Additionally, students contemplate ethical investing, contemplate their responsibility to society as a potential investor in a company, government or municipality. Students create diversified portfolios of investments that includes stocks, mutual funds and municipal, corporate and treasury bonds, and track their performance against market indexes using various investment tools they have preinstalled on their beloved cell phones and laptops yet have been readily ignored.
I also invite a financial advisory to collaborate with my students through a free SIFMA subsidiary program called InvestItForward. Throughout this program, adults with real world expertise in finance will collaborate with students and help them research and discuss industries and discuss their professional journey with students helping to extend learning and relationships beyond the classroom. Additionally, teachers can apply to be a part of the Capitol Hill Challenge, which matches Members of Congress in their respective Congressional district with priority consideration given to underserved Title I public schools to engage in the stock market game simulation collaboratively with their elected officials.
Tea Club
Student created t-shirts for tea club
Tea Club came out of the need for students to have a safe space to congregate before school. Our school is collocated with five other schools as part of a campus with limited space and a shared cafeteria. When some of my students came into my room in the morning before first period and saw me drinking tea we got to about the history of tea the and benefits of drinking tea. When asked if they wanted a cup, their eyes opened. Students are rarely treated as equals. It was obviously greatly appreciated. This led to students coming back and the next morning, yada yada yada, we had an informal tea club.
Participating in Japanese Tea ceremony while visiting schools in Japan. The matcha set I bought is used to initiate students into Tea Club
Since then tea club has become more and less formal depending on the students. Some of my students continue to log in and drink tea with me during virtual learning during our covid school closure. Previous years students have has designated spaces their own mugs and we even created our own tea shirts, pun intended. Students have specific roles and responsibilities within tea club. There are unwritten norms. The first rule of Tea Club is that it is a safe space and whatever is discussed in Tea Club stays in Tea Club or is discussed with the other person privately.
This simple morning ritual has inspired other teachers and school leaders to think about the socio emotional support we provide to students and to reorganize clubs and advisory programs. Tea Club has also influenced instruction in my classroom as students in prior years of teaching global history read sections of the book The History Of The World In Six Glasses with tea for all to go along with the text. During 2016, I was invited to visit schools and corporations in Japan as a Keizai Koho Fellow. I participated in a tea ceremony and brought home a matcha tea set, which is used on special occasions, like to formally induct students into tea club. Members of Tea Club were also invited by the NY Tea Society to attend the annual NYC tea festival.
Brewing tea the traditional gongfu cha style during remote learning to discuss and demonstrate oxidation
Regardless of ever changing citywide initiatives and instructional focuses, I will always facilitate TeaForAll and maintain a large assortment of tea in my classroom, paper cups and facilitate Real, Rigorous, Relevant & Relationship oriented tea at my school. I cannot tell you how much students appreciate a cup of tea when they aren’t feeling well or having a bad day. Plus, who doesn’t wanna drink a gourd of Yerba mate Argentinian style while taking a final exam, see below :)
Drinking yerba mate, an Argentinian tea beverage from our mate gourds and bombillas
