Eloyda's New York Blog

It’s All About The Girls

Our very busy day began with a much needed but uncomfortable nap on the bus followed by one of my very favorite subjects, women’s rights.  I felt great to be standing at a place where so many strong “sisters” joined together to fight for what they knew was right.  It’s hard to imagine a time when women couldn’t speak their mind or go and do exactly what they wanted.  The museum serves as a good reminder that we need to continue fighting for equality especially equal pay for equal work.  It also serves as a reminder that I need to keep talking to not only my female and male students but my own daughters about how they are just as good and just as smart as anyone else.

One concern I have. the longer I teach is, that the roles of boys and girls is reversing.  Many times I hear boys saying that the girls are smarter and a lot of times the girls do outperform the boys in written assessments.  I think this has a great deal to do with the fact that we are encouraging students to sit still in order to learn.  State assessments are also requiring wiggly boys to stay sitting still far too long.  I am constantly looking for alternative ways to present material to students and boys seem to perform better when they are up moving around.  It should be a goal of every teacher to teach equality and respect to every student who steps foot in their classroom.

The Elizabeth Cady Stanton house was our next stop.  It had a very modest style.  The rooms were very small to be able to accommodate nine people.   Her house was not that impressive and that is what I found to be the most impressive.  Here was a woman who lived simply for someone who inherited her house from her father and had money.  She helped others and fought for what she believed. 

The ride down the Erie Canal was a fantastic use of our time.  Not only was it peaceful and the view beautiful but I learned a lot.  Being in a lock and seeing how it worked was great. 

     

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