Deciding how, as an educator, to best respond to the current political moment in the US has felt overwhelming. At times this year my students shared and created in powerful ways in response to current issues. At other times, I could sense their fatigue and need to not spend time talking about the latest horrific headline.

With all of this in mind, my colleague Amal Giknis and I designed a culminating project for our 12th Grade English students that gives students choice as they explore Citizenship and Identity. We planned a process for students to write Field Notes, sharing their work with their peers and a wider audience.

The full project description is here.

The evolving website, Our Philadelphia, Our America is here.

Some stand-out Field Notes include:

Assimilation Note by TK
Street Note by Fatoumata
Work Note by Destiny
Sneaker Note by Mekhi
Name Note by Tamir
Glass Note by Tom

You can see many more creative and insightful Notes on the site.