Fitting Activism into Your Daily Life: The Valentine’s Day Challenge (READ & COMMENT!)

This Valentine’s Day Challenge was inspired by 4 things:

1. A discussion I had with a student after class reigniting my belief in the power of the individual to make positive changes for kids and schools
2. The start of the Oregonian‘s new “Civic Engagement Page.”
3. The Children Defense Fund’s 7 Actions for 7 Days project
4. The State of Oregon’s upcoming birthday (on Valentine’s Day)

As Valentine’s Day nears with its over-the-top visual appeals, I often hear people grumbling that love isn’t something to celebrate only once a year but instead every day.  I think it’s that way with being active in the community, too.  It is not the grand gesture that is most important but the way we integrate this work into our daily living.

In this spirit, I declare that the best Valentine is one that we can give to the community to show that we have love, respect, and hope for kids and schools.  For the next 2 weeks, I warmly invite you to READ, SHARE, and COMMENT HERE on your experiences.  

I know that we are all busy people who often feel like there’s no way to make a difference — I hear that a lot from my students and friends.  For the next 14 days, though, there’s no excuse.  You will be presented with 14 easy ways to become more educated, engaged, and/or active. So let’s get started and SHARE THE LOVE!

Your first challenge?  Share your sources for education information.  If you want to have stimulating conversations and debates about education (or even just want to complain about standardized testing or graduation rates), you will need to surround yourself with informed conversationalists.  Share any or all of these sources as a starting point for getting your friends on board:

 

• Portland Education Action Network (the bigger this community of readers, the more perspectives we can share).  Share this via Facebook or email.
• Stand for Children’s Oregon Issues Blog
• The Chalkboard Project Blog (this blog uses a variety of writers with many specialties and views)
• Ready, Set, Teach (the Chalkboard Project’s Blog for Educators)
• Marian Wright Edelman’s Huffington Post Blog
• Edutopia

This is a great first challenge because you are guaranteed success.  By emailing, tweeting, or sharing this site and others through Facebook, you are spreading the word and starting more conversations.

So, in an attempt to engage you in conversation here (yes, I’m the eternal optimist), I pose the following questions and invite you to respond:

1. What other online sites should we all be reading when it comes to education?  Where do you get your information?
2. Have you completed challenge #1?  Who did you share your education resources with?  Why?