Global Teaching

On my left ear, I wore the Americas and on my right ear Europe, Africa and Asia. Most maps show the world differently, in accordance with that notion that our hemisphere is to the west of the other. But of course it all depends on where you split the globe to lay it flat on paper.

We're beginning our 3rd grade Family History Project in which each of my students tries to learn about their ancestry. I ask, "Who brought your name to America?" and "Who was your earliest immigrant ancestor?" What fun it is to point out that even those of us with Cherokee or Lakota or Tlingit ancestors are the descendants of immigrants, since "Native Americans" emigrated from Asia! And we all could trace our ancestry to Africa, if only families kept better records...

Most years, I wear this pair of earrings several times. But this year, only once. The stress of matching each pair of earrings with the right day is mounting!