Christensen Chapter 3

I love Christensen's "Acting for Social Justice" unit. I think that having students write about their own personal experiences with injustices, and then having them act out one of the scenes can really open their eyes to the hurtfulness of discrimination. I love the idea of bringing up these issues in the classroom through writing and acting, but I was also glad that Christensen gave examples to the class of how she would stand up for someone. I think that sometimes students don't know how to defend a classmate. They feel that if they help the classmate, then they will be targeted.

I also really liked that Christensen brought in a panel of college students to talk to the class. I came from a school where the question was, "Are you going to college," and not, "Where are you going to college." The more exposure to college high school students get, the better. I think the college student panel is a fantastic idea, because it can help students see that in college, you learn more than just what's in the textbook. The college students bring their firsthand experiences that make college seem cool and generate excitement among the high school students.