classroom discussions

Now that I teach social studies, rather than math, I have much better discussions with my students - and they're even on topic most of the time! (last year we had a lot of twilight talks, but that was definitely off-topic)

Yesterday, in Global Studies, we talked about high income countries (1 billion people on earth, in places like the US & Europe), middle income countries (2.3 billion people on earth, in places like Mexico & china), and low income countries (3 billion + people on earth, in places like Haiti). We talked about how the few people in the high income countries use up about 75% of the world's resources how that leaves very little for the poor people in other countries. The students thought that we should live more evenly, but decided that would only happen in people in the US (and other rich countries) were willing to live like Mexicans: some would be rich, but most would have just enough - food to eat and clothes to wear and a place to sleep and a cell phone - but no extras. They did not think that Americans would be ok with this. So they are thinking that the world will implode soon.

Today, in Government, we discussed whether God has chosen all of the world leaders (this is what their Christian textbook says). A student asked if that means Jesus likes Obama! Another student, not even joking, replied that they thought Jesus did not like Obama, bc that's what they heard (where, I wonder?) So then I asked, what about really bad leaders? What about people like Sadam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden? Did God choose them? They just shrugged. Then I asked, "what about Kim Jun Il?" - he's the leader of North Korea.
One of my students said, quietly but firmly. "If God chose him to be leader of North Korea, then he has ignored those people and left them to die in Hell on earth." She asked another student for a translation of a Korean word to describe the situation there, and he said, "there is no English for that word."
The Koreans told the Americans that it is easy for them to think that God has chosen leaders, bc their gov't, even when it is bad, is not too bad. Everyone still has food and human rights. It is harder to believe in God when you are suffering.

A little child will lead us.