Thoughts on Independence Day 2020 | #4thOfJuly #IndependenceDay

Photo by Tyler Whitehead
on Unsplash

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

As I contemplate these words on this Independence Day 2020, I am drawn to this first sentence of the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence. In the list of our unalienable rights, Life comes first.

 

Before Liberty.

 

Before the pursuit of Happiness.

 

Life comes first.

 

I think this is instructive. Jefferson could have written those things in any order, but he chose this one.

 

So perhaps as we think about the grave concerns facing our country this Independence Day, we, too, should think of Life first.

 

Of the Lives we can save by staying home as much as possible and wearing masks when we cannot stay home. Though it may temporarily restrict our individual Liberty and pursuit of Happiness.

 

Of the minority Lives who for hundreds of years have not been valued equally with the Lives of the majority, so that their own Liberty and pursuit of Happiness has been diminished.

 

I hope you, too, will take time and consider these self-evident truths. And reflect on your role in bringing the ideals set forth in the Declaration of Independence closer to fruition as we enter our 245th year as a nation.

 

As we test whether this nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.

References:

• The Declaration of Independence
• The Gettysburg Address

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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Please see specifics on my re-use policy before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.

#COVID19 #Coronavirus School Closure Online Learning Resources

As COVID-19 spreads around the world, the discussion of how to keep teaching and learning going in the event of school closures has been ramping up on social media. It's wise to be ready in case school closures hit your community. As resources have been shared, I've been collecting them in a Wakelet, which I have embedded below so others might consult it as needed. I will continue to add quality resources as I find them.

My favorite resource so far has been a blog post from Kasey Bell of ShakeUpLearning. It is based on an interview with a teacher in China whose school has been conducting online learning for several weeks now. What I love about it is the emphasis on process and procedure over tools, including the fantastic tip that now is not the time to try all of the new tech tools! It is the first resource in my Wakelet, but I encourage you to read it now before you even start looking at the other resources I've collected: 

Coronavirus Closures? Online Learning Tips for Teachers and Schools [Interview with an American Teacher in China]


I hope the resources in this Wakelet are helpful for you. If you have additional resources to share, please do so in the blog comments!

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All original work in this post by Sandy Kendell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Please see specifics on my re-use policy before re-posting/re-using any of my blog content.