Water Fountain Installation Art/History Project

And so, another African American History month comes to an end.  Later today, I'll take down the library display and set up for Women's History month and the same with a big, red display board.

Sadly, I haven't thought of a way to replicate what one of my colleagues did with the water fountain in the hallway:

Later, I added a sign to explain the trash in the one fountain:

We did this display two years ago, but I didn't notice that it had the same impact as this year.  This year, people stopped and read the signs.  I overheard several conversations about the history that's depicted. 

Even better, I overheard people having insights and making connections.  Some of our students pieced together that these events weren't really very long ago.  Some of our students made connections to more recent events.  Some of them thought we were making it all up, while others corrected them and showed them information on their phones to corroborate the display.

It was very interactive and very attention grabbing, in an understated way--just what a teaching moment should be.

I love these reminders that I work in a school, that the work I do supports students and learning--and not just learning skills that will be useful in a future work place.  I love that we've created something that helped people think about history and civics and how we treat each other.

I want to believe that we do that every day, in all of our classes.  But it's great to see the education happening in real time, just outside my office door.