Developing Empathy

Elisabeth von Thurn und Taxis, the editor of Vogue magazine, posted the photo above to her Instagram account. She captioned the photo, “Paris is full of surprises....and @voguemagazine readers even in unexpected corners!” This photo was deemed “tasteless” and “cruel” by many people online.

I personally found the photo dehumanizing, both for the homeless woman and as a spectator. People need to think twice before they post something on social media. Moreover, we should think before we take such a photo of a woman without her permission. It seems as if people today lack empathy for others.

What do you think about this photo and caption? Do you find it in poor taste? Do you think it is appropriate to take a photo of a homeless person and share it with everyone on social media without her knowledge? Do you think people are too “politically correct” today?

Fortunately,  Ms. von Thurn und Taxis deleted the photo and issued an apology; however, it is impossible to remove all traces of this post from the internet. We should all remember this story when posting online and proceed with caution. 

After the jump, I have included an activity from the Southern Poverity Law Center for developing empathy in Middle School students. It would also be a good idea to review the dangers of social media with students.

Quote for This Week

Stop Multitasking

Many of us seem to always “multitasking” - claiming to accomplish more than one task at a time. In fact, one recent study claims that we are not actually doing more than one thing at a time. Rather, we are “task switching.” I am guilty of task switching myself; however, after reading this study, I have decided to make a serious effort to stop. It may seem like we are saving time, but research shows that the more we switch between tasks, the greater amount of time we actually lose during the switch. Moreover, if the tasks are complex like instant messaging while driving, task switching can be deadly.

As you read this right now, what else are you doing? Are you answering texts or some other distracting task? Try to take 30 minutes out of the day and focus on one thing. For example, try reading a good book without any other distractions. Try to shut out everything other than what you are reading. This is the only way to fully immerse yourself in the book and benefit from what you are reading. Read something that you want to read too!

Read more about task switching here.

Reading Dogs

I saw a news story today about Maureen Ward, a dog trainer, who teaches dogs to “read.” Although the dogs are only recognizing simple words from memory, I felt it was an impressive accomplishment. The word cards are shuffled to prove that the dog can recognize the words and is not simply memorizing the order of them. The trainer claims she can teach your dog to read within four weeks. Click the link below to read the story and watch the video.

Reading Dog Is For Real

Diversity Activity: Frederick Douglass

Earlier this week I participated in a group project based around Frederick Douglass’ Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave. My group presented a brief history of Douglass’ life and a fun vocabulary game. The game was a very successful and fun activity that captivated all of the students’ interest. Students are divided into two teams and line up on opposite sides of the room. The vocabulary words are presented to the students who try to use context from the book to define the words. Each team has one team member compete against a team member from the opposing team per word. Despite the fact that we ran out of time, students still wanted to continue this game. It is a very useful and fun activity to increase student motivation to learn their vocabulary words. I have included a list of some vocabulary words from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave after the jump.

Celebrate Dr. Seuss' Birthday

Monday, March 2, would have been the 111th birthday for Theodore Seuss Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. He published more than 40 children's books, and another one was recently discovered. What Pet Should I Get? will be released on July 28.

Pinterest has so many wonderful Dr. Seuss activities. Check them out here.

Shel Silverstein: A Boy Named Sue and The Giving Tree

I did not realize that poet Shel Silverstein wrote Johnny Cash's classic tune "A Boy Named Sue."  Watch this clip from The Johnny Cash Show in the late 1960's:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7e5ZVIpB4sw.

Some animations of his poems can be found here:  http://www.shelsilverstein.com/books/#animations
In addition, his site has some excellent resources for educators.

One of his most famous poems is called "The Giving Tree."  You can hear him read his poem from a 1973 film:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TZCP6OqRlE.  There are many opinions about how to interpret the relationship between the tree and the boy.  Some believe it represents a parent-child relationship while others see religious significance to the relationship.  What do you think?