I never thought that I would witness the kind of insanity that has taken place with the election of Donald Trump. Our elected officials from both the Democrat and Republican parties have basically failed to do their jobs. As a result, constituents on both sides of the fence are angry.
Donald Trump has been in office for little over a month and many Republican voters are experiencing the equivalent of buyer’s remorse. They voted for a candidate who ran on a platform that breathed life into people like David Duke. Before the election I found it very difficult to believe that educators voted for Trump. My confirmation came when one of my former colleagues told me that she thought that Trump was the lesser of the two evils. 
On a daily basis I’m baffled by the ignorance of our voter base. As an educator I want to do my part by teaching my 5th graders how important it is to educate themselves about candidates before they cast their votes. On Friday, I began my statistics unit with “When Will My Vote Count?”. We watched video clips from election night and talked about the anger that people are feeling because they feel betrayed by their elected officials.
My students are in 5th grade and they will be able to vote in 2024. It is my hope that I can teach them to be voters that:
- elect officials that protect the rights of ALL Americans
- vote their conscious regardless of political affiliation
- can dissect and interpret data
- recognize the misuse of statistics
I may not be around when my students are able to cast their first vote, but I hope that they will educate themselves when it’s their turn to vote.
Welcome to the 3 E’s Blogging Collaborative. On the last weekend of each month, my fellow educators and I will be telling our classroom stories about our explorations of empathy, empowerment, and equity with our students. It is our mission to explore these topics together, but also to provide FREE ideas and materials for others wishing to do the same. We hope to build a bank of materials and ideas to support these classroom endeavors. We also hope you’ll be stopping by again to engage in the conversation. Check out the other members of the collaborative below to continue this month’s conversation and benefit from even more resource
4 thoughts on “When It’s My Turn to Vote: Creating an Informed Voter Base”
I love that you’re talking about critical thinking and the importance of informed voting and citizenship with your students. If we are truly a part of our country’s culture, then that means we must claim our voices and give due diligence to our responsibilities of citizenship.
Thank you! This is my contribution to preservation of true democracy.
YES! Students need to learn the importance of making their voice heard with their vote and the skill of being an informed voter. I call these “time-release” lessons . . . lessons that will have an impact years down the road.
Time-realease lessons, I love it!