Conclusion
The conclusion of this whole unit should bring students back to the central idea that resistance doesn’t always have to be negative. If they chose to resist, they need to have the deepest understanding of what it means to be resistant in that situation, and they should be able to reflect on their choices. They should be able to see the progression of their mentality, where they originally resisted on impulse to actually having a logical reasoning to resist at that moment.
At the beginning, your students will likely have the same viewpoint that resistance is only used as a sign of rebellion. With examples where they say they refuse to do school work, or maybe even come to school, maybe they refuse to follow the state law of the cell phone ban. As this entire unit develops, they begin to see more complex and real-world problems other than just being lazy.
I think it is perfectly fine to call students out during this unit. Obviously with respect, because I think it’s a fair assumption that they need to be able to see the different point of view on it. And at the end they should be able to see that some resistance is quiet, but it’s still powerful and has a deeper meaning.
The personal narrative gives students the opportunity to put it all into words. Our job as teachers is not to change their mind, it’s to get them to understand the value of resistance, and to make them develop a deeper level of critical thinking when they face a moment where they should decide which level of resistance they should use in that moment. I think the biggest take back that students should also realize, is that these two books were written by CHILDREN. Kids their own age. Freshman age kids, who have written what was a simple diary entry and changed the world through the lens of resistance. 16
Comments: