A few words before I go

Tomorrow will be a big day. Today was a big day. I am lucky and grateful. 

Before I embark on my journey, I wanted to share a few thoughts about why I am going.

When I applied for this adventure, I wrote four essays and created one video. I know it sounds crazy, but my initial reason for applying was that I liked the questions so much. They were great writing prompts about digital media, oral testimony, Holocaust education and our impact as educators. I can't resist a good essay topic! And then, the challenge of explaining why the trip was important to me seemed to spark poetry about the railroads in Poland and in my mind. So... I went for it. I never expected in a million years that I would be selected. 

(Here is the link to my video submission:

http://youtu.be/UAe0QzxxRGc )

When I found out I would be going to Poland, I was startled beyond belief. I mean...I was in shock! I went to visit my wild and beloved end of the day class (you know who you are) and I could think of no group more equipped to handle me in that state of shock. Folks-- just know I felt the love. I don't remember what I said to you; I just remember you helping shoo me out and telling me to call my mother. (In fact, I called Dad first to tell him to make my mother not worry!)

In the past three months, though, the shock has left. I have watched so many videos, read so many books, letters, and articles, practiced learning so much Polish, and written so many blogs. I know why my trip is important. I know it so deeply in my heart now. 

I am about individualism and creativity. I believe in self-determination and the treasures of diversity. I aim to celebrate the journey we each must take to celebrate who we are and what we believe in.

My seventh graders and I had beautiful conversations this week about who we are and who has helped us learn who we are. It was amazing to me to hear students' honest responses. From Ally who spoke about her core beliefs to Will who identified himself as a male multicellular organism, from Karina who defined herself by her love for baseball to the brave students who admitted they don't know who they are ... I listened to students and tried to support their self definition. It was hard! When one of my most intense scholars didn't know how to answer "who are you?", I wanted to point out his humor and intellect and questioning way of looking at the world...but he has to figure this out for himself. (Loophole! I might be pointing it out through this blog post, but you have to decide if I'm writing about you!)

We spoke about how many forces tell us who we are. Some are helpful forces: parents, teachers, friends. Some are more mixed, though. The media are filled with "Shoulds" and "Can'ts".  And sometimes the authority figures don't "get us" or have different motivations for putting us into boxes that don't match  our needs or self-images.  

I spoke with the students about how the Hilocaust was a time when people were define by the government, forced to wear armbands and move into tight quarters,  forbidden to go to school or doctors and eventually sent to work camps or death... all because of racism and its way of defining and limiting humanity.

I am Jewish, it is true, but my interest in this is as a humanitarian. War is about power and there have been other instances where people's humanity has been endangered. I want to celebrate humanity, not squash it.

So, I told my students my plan:

ask questions

ask more questions

bear witness

learn from the past

And I told them my focus:

I don't want to focus on how people died, but on how they lived.

So... Tomorrow I will fly to Poland by way of Munich. I will arrive on Friday at 12:35 Warsaw Time.

Future blog posts will have more pictures, I promise, but for now, here are some happy ones from today!

(My dear 7th graders and Terri Miller, my 7th grade partner in crime, the Ma Miller to my Auntie Em...)