Reflection

Today while teaching my students about how passionate you should be about your opinions I realized how opinionated they really are. As I was modeling two opinion papers, with two points of view, on animal experimentation and if TV is bad for your health and academics it became clear to me that my 5th graders began to come "alive" with their thoughts. One student who was pro-animal experimentation stated, "Well, I believe that instead of experimenting for human needs why can't they experiment for animal needs like how to help cure some of their diseases." Meanwhile another student, who was anti-animal experimentation, began with, "We are supposed to be looking out for mankind and all living creatures, how does this align with morals and values." I was taken back! The student who was pro-animal experimentation is a student who does not speak up in class and hardly volunteers. The other student is one with extreme ADHD who is not medicated and has difficulty expressing his feelings. Wow! Words cannot express I was so proud and touched by these students that it made it clearer to me why I value teaching so much!