"It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it." -- Eleanor Roosevelt. In my world, I talk about, believe in and work at peace as a violence and drug abuse prevention teacher in a K-4 setting. The posts in this blog are meant to spread "peace" by making lessons available to educators who want to change the world through peace.
One of my favorite topics to teach students is about long-term goals. I love hearing what students want to be when they grow up. It is such a sweet picture of their personality and interests. Occasionally I will even hear students who want to grow up to be a Peace Teacher!
This year, I began my lesson with the book Someday by Eileen Spinelli, which is a sweet and lovely book about a girl who alternately daydreams about her future and lives in the present, doing things that are similar to her dreams. The students have loved this book in every class where I have read it. The imagery is just lovely as the author describes the character's daydreams.
I also used the video version of the Dr. Seuss book Oh the Places You'll Go!
With each of these visuals, the students could see or hear something focused on the future -- a good future worth dreaming about and working toward.
After reading the story and watching the video, I have students tell me what they want to be when they grow up. Students aren't forced to express themselves, but most choose to share. We then talk about how they are already on their way to their future dreams, just like the boy in the Seuss story. We have to practice perseverance to reach our dreams and we have to make wise choices. One choice, of course, is to do our best in school. Another choice, one which is heavily emphasized in my program, is to protect our brain and body from harm caused by substance abuse. Achieving our dreams becomes nearly impossible if we are addicted to drugs or alcohol.
Prevention education is a big part of my role as the Peace Teacher. While most of the year focuses on how we treat others, we spend almost two months on alcohol and drug abuse prevention. This is such a critical thing for children who are already exposed to information about harmful substances and many who have been exposed to substances in their home. When I teach on this topic, even kindergarteners know some who smokes cigarettes or drinks alcohol. Some would argue that kindergarten is too young to introduce this topic, but I would argue that children aren't as naïve as we think on this topic.
One of my favorite ways to begin the conversation about cigarettes, e-cigarettes, alcohol and drugs is to talk about the science of the brain. Once kids understand their own brain controls (that would be everything) it makes it easier to talk about making choices to protect their brain from harmful substances.
This year, I introduced the topic of brain science with the following fantastic video called "Everything's Controlled by the Brain" by The Body Rocks. This video has a very catchy tune and is very engaging to children of all ages.
After talking about all the things in the video, I usually talk about the topic a little deeper by showing a (non-gross) illustration of the brain and an illustration of a nerve cell. To demonstrate the way that the brain communicates to the parts of the body through the nerve cells, I have 4-5 students join me in front of the class. I (the brain) communicates to a body part like the hand by passing a message through each nerve cell. I pass the message by high fiving the student next to me who high fives the student next to him and so on until it makes it to the final student (the hand). I usually tell students the message I'm sending is for the hand to wave at the rest of the class.
It is an easy jump from there to demonstrate how the process gets messed up through an injury by choosing one student to be the "break" in the nerve. I attempt to send the high five message again, but it can't pass any further than the point of the break in nerves. The students then theorize what happens to the cells beyond the break (the message doesn't get through, which can lead to injuries).
Similarly, I demonstrate what happens to this communication process when an unhealthy substance, like alcohol, enters the brain. Because alcohol is a depressant, it slows the brain's ability to process information and to communicate it through the nervous system. I make this demonstration very dramatic with students by moving in extreme slow motion to high five the student next to me. I instruct them to move in slow motion, too. After seeing how slow the communication moved I usually ask what would happen if the message were about something important, such as telling the foot to push the brake petal in a car or telling the hand to move away from a hot stove. Generally, the students make comments like "So, that's why you aren't supposed to drive a car if you're drinking!" It is a very powerful and engaging lesson.
With older students I go much deeper in the lesson on what the brain controls. I talk about the different lobes of the brain and what they are in charge of. I talk about the spinal cord and how it is protected by the bones of the spine (which I instruct students to run their fingers along their own spine). I also talk about how serious it can be to get repeated head injuries in sports and the importance of wearing helmets. The school district where I work is very enthusiastic about sports, so most of my students either play sports or are avid fans. This also makes the brain science lesson more applicable to their every day life -- and not just a choice they will make someday to say "no" to drugs or alcohol.
