and again

I had a good day at school today. Good discussions. A story that I didn't anticipate would spark a 45 minute animated (there was yelling and gesturing, but in a good way) discussion, ended up doing so. I just went with it--life is more fun when you throw away the lesson plan sometimes. They learned more, too. The story in question? "The Friday that Everything Changed" by Ann Hart. It's set in a one-room schoolhouse where they have to haul their water from the well in town. Typically, two boys are chosen on Friday afternoon to carry the water for the following week. And then one Friday, one of the girls wonders out loud why the girls can't carry the water? The point of the story is fairly obvious, but it's well written and fun to read. And the boys were incensed! (Which I did no anticipate AT ALL.) Why wondered, very loudly, why the girls always have to take their jobs away from them. I think that the following discussion helped the females in the room understand a little bit about where the guys were coming from, and the guys understand how being told that if a female does a "guy" job, it degrades the job, makes them feel (like second class citizens.) And there was much talk of firefighters and policemen/women.

A good day at school.