Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Different Generations

Today my students went on a field trip to a retirement center and played BINGO with the residents there. It was amazing to watch the interactions between the students and the older folks. At first, my students eyes were about to bulge out of their sockets as they had no idea what to do (even though I prompted them on what to do and say) and at the end of our time, they were sad to leave and saying goodbye to their new friends. It was a joy to watch this interaction.

With people at retirement homes, you never know what to expect. You never know if they will really talk to you or just stare at your blankly. I struck up a conversation with a lady who had been a teacher for over 40 years and I really enjoyed our conversation. It got me thinking how fun it would be to visit people in retirement homes and just get to know them and their stories. I don't have a lot of extra time but would love to make some extra time in order to do this.

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