Vote Buttons
So, we're two days from an election here in our fair province of Ontario. The circus is almost over.
Find myself still thinking a lot about the LJ entries I did a week or two back about people's voting habits and I thought the responses were very interesting. I find Cat's comments about the lack of power in school elections have stayed with me and helped shape my present election unit in class. I was also interested in assorted American responses where people who hadn't voted in the last Presidential election were sobered by the results of that election since. It really brought home how every vote really can count.
Last Friday I noticed little buttons starting to pop up on people's labels at school. They were blue with bright yellow lettering and they simply said "Vote". I quite liked them and wanted one for myself. I liked that they didn't say "Not This Time, Ernie" or "Dalton McGuinty: He's Still Not Up to The Job" or "Vote New Democrat" or "Vote Change" or any of the other slogans we've had shoved at us for weeks. It just said "Vote". I was able to track down the teacher who had them so I'm wearing one now, too.
We're having a Premier election in class here this Thursday with the students voting for who they would like as the leader of Ontario. I don't expect them to vote wisely or know the issues or anything, but it does walk them through the procedure of how to vote (part of the Gr. 5 curriculum) and it is getting them caught up in the excitement of something that will always be part of the fabric of their lives.
Of course, one boy told me yesterday that he was voting for Howard Hampton and when I asked him why he told me because all the New Democrat signs are orange and orange is his favorite colour. Sigh. Reminds me of the episode of "Cheers" where Diane picked winning baseball teams based on the colour of their jerseys.
But we gotta take these things one step at a time, right? At least in Gr. 5 he knows the names of the candidates and their parties. One boy told me he had to correct his father on that information last week :).
Find myself still thinking a lot about the LJ entries I did a week or two back about people's voting habits and I thought the responses were very interesting. I find Cat's comments about the lack of power in school elections have stayed with me and helped shape my present election unit in class. I was also interested in assorted American responses where people who hadn't voted in the last Presidential election were sobered by the results of that election since. It really brought home how every vote really can count.
Last Friday I noticed little buttons starting to pop up on people's labels at school. They were blue with bright yellow lettering and they simply said "Vote". I quite liked them and wanted one for myself. I liked that they didn't say "Not This Time, Ernie" or "Dalton McGuinty: He's Still Not Up to The Job" or "Vote New Democrat" or "Vote Change" or any of the other slogans we've had shoved at us for weeks. It just said "Vote". I was able to track down the teacher who had them so I'm wearing one now, too.
We're having a Premier election in class here this Thursday with the students voting for who they would like as the leader of Ontario. I don't expect them to vote wisely or know the issues or anything, but it does walk them through the procedure of how to vote (part of the Gr. 5 curriculum) and it is getting them caught up in the excitement of something that will always be part of the fabric of their lives.
Of course, one boy told me yesterday that he was voting for Howard Hampton and when I asked him why he told me because all the New Democrat signs are orange and orange is his favorite colour. Sigh. Reminds me of the episode of "Cheers" where Diane picked winning baseball teams based on the colour of their jerseys.
But we gotta take these things one step at a time, right? At least in Gr. 5 he knows the names of the candidates and their parties. One boy told me he had to correct his father on that information last week :).