EDL 640: Module 5

February 19, 2025

Daily Peace Action: Journal Activity

My Peace Action for this class is finding a short video to spark a discussion with my class and use question prompts for our 5th-grade team. We share our planning responsibilities in 5th grade but keep a structure for each week. Something we have done consistently is Thoughtful Thursday. Despina introduced this, and we feel that it is one of the best parts of our week. Both teachers and students look forward to it. We had a snow day on Thursday, but I enjoyed looking at YouTube for videos that might spark inspiration. We will use this for our upcoming Thoughtful Thursday and look forward to hearing what our students have to say. We have very insightful groups, and we have noticed that as the year goes on, they open up more and more, which has created a very kind culture of sharing in our classrooms.

Short read alouds are a great way to start a conversation with 5th grade students.

The questions that students will respond to are: 

• What does peace mean to you?  

• How do you feel when you are in a peaceful place? 

• Can you think of a time when you felt peaceful? What was happening?

• How can you show peace to your friends and family?

• What does a peaceful classroom look and sound like?

Daily Lesson Reflection

Today's activity on just and unjust war was the part of the lesson that pushed me to think beyond my own knowledge and consider real-world examples and current events. I appreciated the opportunity to examine the causes of war through actual examples, which helped me better understand some of the reasons behind wars and conflicts happening in the world today. Although I read a lot of news, it’s often biased, and looking at how wars are often caused gave me a new perspective on current events. I also found the Just War Theory interesting, as it allowed me to view those real-world examples through a different lens. It made me reflect on how many of today’s conflicts seem to violate the Just War Theory, particularly in places like Ukraine and Gaza, where civilian lives are being lost at a rate that challenges the idea of a "Just" war.

Causes of War - Among the Dead Cities

I have always had some interest in WWII. My godfather was a ball turret gunner on a B-17 bomber in the Pacific during the World War 2, and I grew up around people who had military backgrounds. I started the book Among the Dead Cities after this class session, and it has really turned around some of my long-held beliefs about the Allied actions during the war. While I have not finished the book, some of the implications of the amount and types of bombings done by the British and American forces were certainly unjust when compared to the Just War Theory.

One of the chapters, The Experience of the Bombed, highlighted how although many communities faced devastating losses, the ability of humans to pick back up and support each other is universal. To me, it sends the message that even in the face of violence and war, people are inherently good and will come together for the greater good, even on the smallest scale. I think that we are seeing that right now in many places in the world.