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 Helen Keller 
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I knew the samething that everyone else knew about Helen Keller, the things about her growing up as a child. So that was nothing new to me. But the accomplishments she made once she was an adult i didnt know about. It makes me think that this little girl made it through the worst part of her life, and nothing else is important. Once i was out of elementary school i never heard another word about Helen Keller. It's weird that at one point in your life shes very important to learn about and then the next its no big deal.

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Stephanie Spaulding


Wed Apr 14, 2004 7:05 pm
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That is very good point. It seems like the only 'hero' that you hear about after elementary school is Martin luther king. Just this year i have read something by him or about him in 3 classes. but we don't talk about other great american leaders, only the ones that our history books allow us to talk about.
I think that local heros are good starting points for social studies discussions.

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Amy Strother


Wed Apr 14, 2004 9:30 pm
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I accknowlege both of your points. I think it is important for students to learn about all of heros. There is just so many of them that it is hard for a teacher to cover all of them. I think this is why projects are a good idea. This enables the students to find out how to find information on who or heros are and what they did. Once they find one they like they can go into further detail on their accomplishments. Most teachers only do one major project a year for the class. I think that once you do a project it is easier to do that same type of project again. You could have students do this at least three times a year and restrict them to not using any of the major figures as there subject for those will be covered in plenty of classes to come.


Thu Apr 15, 2004 10:33 am
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I think the problem we are reading about is that the "heroes" we learn about in school, their lives and accomplishments, are being minimalized and distorted. Helen Keller, Rosa Parks, Thoreau, Dr. King, Harriet Tubman, and Gandhi are examples. I agree that students should learn about a lot of different people- but really, we must understand why these people are considered heroes. Was it one event, one circumstance that made them famous? Or was it because they were involved in movements greater than themselves?

I really like the idea of teaching students about famous people by having students read the works, the letters, the diaries, the books by those people.

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Deborah Souleyrette


Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:23 am
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i think Mark has a good point. We need to encourage students to search out this kind of info. Inspire them to go beyond what everybody knows about Helen Keller and Rosa Parks. We should also get them to really look at individuals like Teddy Roosevelt so that they can see truths, and decide if these people are heroes or assbags. But I do believe it's so important for them to seek this knowledge. If we just say "Look what else Helen Keller did!" We're still avoiding the fact that truths must be discovered rather that delivered.


Thu Apr 15, 2004 11:31 am
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