Ana Orozco’s Lynwood High School students had been feeling simultaneously overwhelmed and bored in the midst of quarantine and distance learning. She knows this because she has been checking in with them about their social, emotional, and mental health through regular class assignments that she designed to promote self-awareness
114 years ago, at 5:12 a.m., a catastrophe that would end up reshaping an entire cityscape, rattled awake San Franciscans. The 7.9 magnitude earthquake, and the massive fires engulfing the city that followed, decimated the city, killed thousands, and forced hundreds of thousands more people to upend their lives and relocate elsewhere.
First year history teacher Lauren Piraro never imagined that her first year in the classroom would be cut short because of a global pandemic. Thrilled to have landed her “dream job because Gilroy is where [she] completed [her] K-12 education,” Piraro started her year with enthusiasm and a goal of making learning relevant for her Gilroy High School students.
I’m just going to say what we’ve all been thinking – 2020, you’re the worst, and no one likes you. We didn’t have high expectations for you as a year – but really, did you have to sink so low? It’s bad enough that you are an election year – we knew to expect the name-calling that comes with political campaigns. But then you decided to reignite our fears of a drought (and fire season) by preventing rain from falling for much of the winter.
Kathy Drewry makes TikTok videos – there’s one where she lip syncs a snippet from King George’s “What Comes Next” song in Hamilton and another where she dances to Move Dat by Nahzzy & Legend.
I quit Facebook last year. I did it because it seemed like every time I opened the app, I saw post after post about politics, and it wore me out. Don’t get me wrong – I have always followed political news, but I like to get that news from more 20th Century sources – the newspaper, the radio, and TV. (I know, that’s so analog). I like these more traditional sources because I can get them when I want them – and not sandwiched between posts from my cousin about her dog.
COVID-19 has rapidly captured our attention and altered our everyday lives. It can be difficult to dwell for long on a current event that is not related to this global pandemic. This blog post is meant for the teachers who are working to connect with students during school closures, parents looking to enrich student learning at home, and for middle school and high school students spending time online.
In addition to seeking to establish that the federal government is liable for the climate change effects experienced by the plaintiffs’, plaintiffs in the Juliana v. United States case also seek to establish that the federal government is responsible for establishing a livable climate.
Students across California this week may very well be experiencing first-hand the effects of fire, or at least smoke, in their local environment. The recently updated Current Context “Our Complicated Relationship with Fire,” provides students with a short history about people and fire, and the complicated relationship between the two.
There are many ways in which climate change is impacting agriculture here in California and around the world. In order to help students identify the various factors that impact productivity in the face of a changing climate, and to help them understand the opportunities ahead, using this chart may prove helpful as students read through the Current Context issue.
This post is meant to accompany the recent Current Contextissue on auto emissions standards, “Who’s Driving Air Quality?” There are a number of Education and the Environment Initiative lessons that will deepen student learning on the relationship between the environment and transportation, pollution, and government policy and regulations.
by Jennifer Elemen, Stephanie Enriquez, Olivia Santillan, and Beth Slutsky
Editor's note: this guest blog post is one in a series focused on our new HSS Framework Conference series, which opens September 10 at UC Irvine. For more information about this workshop and to register for the conference, visit: https://chssp.ucdavis.edu/programs/framework
