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(written 12/28/04)
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| You First: As teachers, we must be
prepared to help students process the tragedy of Sunday's earthquake in the
Indian Ocean and the resulting tsunamis. At the same time, we may be
struggling with our own feelings of sadness and fear. First of all, don't
hesitate to seek whatever help you need. In particular, if your family has
been directly or indirectly affected, recognize that you may or may not be ready
to go to work on January 3rd. Fortunately, unions and school districts
often have services available to help teachers deal with trauma. For
example, NYC public school teachers can seek help through the UFT Health and
Cancer Helpline at (212) 420-9640. Here's a link with suggestions for
adults:
http://www.nmha.org/reassurance/naturalDisaster.cfm .
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| Helping Kids: Naturally, we
will all be keeping a close eye on our Indian- and Asian-American students
and offering condolences to their families as necessary. Also, don't
forget about students and families from East Africa as they may have
been directly affected. It just occurred to me that in addition to
watching the news this week, many of our students saw "The Day After
Tomorrow" last summer. Thus, our New York City students may already
have vivid images of a wall of water engulfing their neighborhood.
More immediately, our students may be particularly affected because the
disaster killed so many children. Here are two websites with
information on helping kids cope:
http://www.fema.gov/kids/index.htm This FEMA site has lots of
information and activities for children. I printed out pages and used
them with my third-graders after 9/11/01. There are also activities
that students can do on the internet.
http://www.nasponline.org/NEAT/naturaldisaster_ho.html This is a
5-page handout with information for parents and teachers that looks very
helpful. You may want to send home copies of the "Immediately
Following a Natural Disaster" information.
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Helping
Out: After 9/11, it was very healing when the children and I
did something to help in the recovery effort. My class recited a poem
at the local firehouse. Other classes made pictures or quilts
for local service providers. And it's common to collect canned goods
when there are natural disasters here in the States. However,
especially in this case, relief agencies have little use for poems, happy
pictures, quilts, or cans. Instead, consider getting together with
other teachers and hosting a penny drive or bake sale and contributing the
proceeds to the Red Cross, Save the Children, Doctors without Borders, or
some other international charity.
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September 11 - 8/31/04
I just realized that
September 11th falls before school begins for
our NYC kids this year. I'm
relieved. It's very hard for me to talk about tragedy with children I've
just met. Well, it's hard for me to talk with anyone about tragedy.
I guess what makes it hardest is that I can't help but wonder whether the
people who died in the Twin Towers would want us to still be at war, three
years later. For talking with kids about September 11th, I've gotten
help from the National Association of School Psychologists at
http://www.nasponline.org/NEAT/911memorial.html .
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You_First:
Helping_Kids:
Helping_Out:
September_11th
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