I conducted lessons on Friday and Monday that asked the students to identify the issues that were important to them-all the while not knowing who the candidate was whose positions they were supporting. I wanted to see where they stood on the issues outside of knowing the candidates.

Friday denigrated into a yelling match about how if Obama lost, the white people were going to get the s*it kicked out of them-in the school and on the bus. After those beatings, the white people that were still around were going to re-institute slavery and then segregation. When I asked them to look up what the 13th-15th Amendments were, they chose to instead continue with their ignorant vitriol. I walked out of my room.

I was apprehensive for today. I knew the excitement and energy were going to be palpable. On a personal level, I was excited.

From my first class:
I confiscated a sign that said "No Whites Allowed" Barack Obama. They began chanting it at one point.

Quotes from that same class:
"We are going to paint it the black house now"

"You better not get too close to me white boy[to a white student]. We have a black president now"

"Who did your parents vote for white boy[to a white student]?"

"What color is your president now?"

"We got the power now."

I feel like I profoundly failed as an educator today. I tried, both today and other days, to make it about the issues. I simply could not do it. The volume of yelling back was too loud.

Im sad. Sadder than I have ever been as an educator. This day means so much to me personally, but as an educator, it has been an awful, truly awful experience.

I lost faith and hope today.

I saved the poster as a souvenir.

This makes me physically ill....such ignorant behavior! I wonder if the vile creatures know that Obama's election would not have been possible without the support of "white boys?" Consider also that he was raised by a white mother and white grandparents. Obviously, Obama values education...I'm sure he would be embarrassed and sickened by the behavior and words of these "students?"

I had a much more positive day with my first graders.

I assigned homework requiring that they go to the polls with their parents and experience the voting process. Many of them came to school this morning with "I Voted" stickers on their jackets proudly proclaiming that they voted and they won!

During journaling, the kids all wrote journal entries (completely on their own) about the election. My favorite was M, who drew her grandmother, herself, and Obama dancing in the air surrounded by lollipops and huge letters proclaiming "I LOVE BORAK!"

We read a wonderful children's book about Obama by Nikki Grimes. The kids were interested in his daughters and fascinated by the fact that his parents were divorced.

The joy was contagious today in our little charter school. And the exhaustion as kids felt the effect of some late night news viewing. But all in all, it was a wonderful day.

vile creatures?! wow.

Unfortunately, the requirements for the H.S.A. have really put a damper on my ability to take a "day off" and devote it solely to current events. As much as I would have loved to spend the whole day talking about the election and analyzing the acceptance speech, I teach the H.S.A. Government course in Baltimore County. As a result, I am on a very strict timetable and am REQUIRED to give "benchmark" tests on set days.

The benchmark days are set up so that I have no extra days built in (what genius thought of that?) to discuss current events. Thus, I was only able to devote about 20 minutes to the election...then, I had to do a lesson about cloture in the U.S. Senate! Tell me, which is more important?

As a first year teacher, these H.S.A. tests and the benchmark tests are driving me insane. I can't teach the important things, because I have to teach the test!

My students were joyful as I was. It was a very good day for us.We discussed issues and what it will mean to us as well as watch the speech. We watched channel 1 also which did a special and discussed it some more.The joy was contagious and we were all exhausted from the late night news viewing.Most went to the polls with grandparents or parents and spoke of their experiences.It was a wonderful day.

The Obama mania at my neighborhood high school is extreme, contagious, and inspiring. The students don't all understand the issues completely, but many are taking so much more of an interest than I've ever seen before. We studied election maps (and since we memorized the states in September this was a perfect connection.) We also watched his speech and watched the CNN folks talk about the Electoral College.

I've had the same discussions as the first person about race. Luckily, my students often check each other- when one student said that he didn't like white people others chimed in that THEY thought he was being racist. The approach that I've used is to talk about Hillary Clinton. I ask all the ladies if they would have voted for Hillary just because she's a woman. We talk about why voters should pay attention to stance on issues, and then I say "So then should I vote for Obama just because he's black?" The kids get the "Ohhhhh" look in their eyes and I know that we made a connection that changes the way they reason through decisions!