Today was an amazing day! I went to the gym early to make sure that I was home in time to get ready by 7 am. I headed to the local voting booth to cast my vote. I truly felt nervous as I was turning in my ballot because there were so many important votes to cast. Who will be our next president? What will happen to marriage in California? What about teenage abortion, not to mention the farm animals? The list of changes could continue, but you get the gist. Although I thought that I was excited, I could have never imagined the buzz among the students in my class. They were all so excited about today's election too. Their conversations were too funny. They were debating (mind you they are second graders) about whether McCain or Obama will raise taxes, who will truly help us with the war, and who is old or young enough to do a good job.
We held an election with id's, voting booth, ballots and "I voted" stickers. The voting booth was a total hit. The kids loved voting in secret. To my surprise, the kids were quite nervous to "vote." One child even yelled, "I can't remember who I was supposed to vote for!" from the voting booth.
The kids could not wait to hear the outcome of our vote. After our chat about majority vote (which needed to be 10 of the 18), I began to tally the votes. It was hilarious to watch the kids responses. I had a few (2) grumpy faces after the first ten votes (10 Obama, 0 McCain) because the McCain supporters knew they were out numbered. At the end of the tally,Obama won 14 to 4.
Two of the McCain supporters were so upset they were giving everyone dirty looks. I had to explain to the whole class that we could all be friends no matter our political party. Unfortunately, this did not help. I tried to explain that we were the only ones in control of our own emotions, and we could make or break our day...still no luck.
Then I explained that we would all be able to all have snack no matter our political affiliation; this made things a little better.
Fortunately, we made it through the day with out anymore dirty looks or upset children.
As I look back on the day, I am quite impressed how my students handled the situation. No rude words or tears, just friendship through the thick and thin.
They also proved that food can solve most problems.
I hope the rest of the world is able to handle the outcome in a mature fashion too no matter who wins.
2 comments:
I love the story of the kid's voting. Too classic. Especially the one that forgot who to vote for.
How cute! My kids voted too (did you get the "I voted" stickers from scholastic too?) Isn't it funny how into it these kids get, it's amazing how much they hear from their parents at home :) My class was 16-4 Obama, the McCain supporters were not happy. Hope all is well!
Post a Comment