My goal was to somehow get the students to think in a more advanced way about current events and to make connections to both past and present

April 9, 2004
Mr. Grabowski:

Thank you so much for your interest in my use of political cartoons. So much has happened since I started using the political cartoons, that I do not remember exactly when I started using them. What I was looking for at the time I began to use the cartoons was a way to tie current political, cultural and social issues into the context of the American History classroom.

My approach in the classroom is that if the past tells us nothing about how to live our lives now, why should we waste our time. I do not advocate the rote memorization of facts, figures, dates, etc. What I do care about is that students are able to connect lessons and experiences from our nation's past to today and to the future. What I have found over the past 10 years of teaching is that many students really do not know what is going on in the world and some do not seem to care. My goal was to somehow get the students to think in a more advanced way about current events and to make connections to both past and present. I also want them to see where they 'fit' in a more global context.

The response has been very positive. I use political cartoons every day in addition to a daily discussion statement or question. Students are required to respond to both at the beginning of the class. I periodically check their class notebooks for responses and they receive a grade relative to their participation. Sometimes, like any students will, they groan about the constant discussion of current events, but then they complain if I miss a day or I forget to have the most current cartoon ready at the beginning of class.

At the beginning of the year, most students knew very little about life outside of our small rural county. Today, most can carry on meaningful conversations about America's past, present and potential for the future. To me, this is the goal of all education and instruction. Students should be able to function and think on their own, breaking free from their instructors and develop their own belief systems. I have had some of the most encouraging and challenging discussions in the classroom with students who some have written off. We have discussed very controversial issues and have used cartoons as a platform to do so. Everything from abortion, the 9-11 Commission, racism and terrorism have all been topics for our discussion in class.

Students have also successfully created their own political cartoons, using topics at the local, state, national or international levels. I was so impressed by their creativity and the serious nature of some of the cartoons, everything from dress code at the school, problems with referees at the football games, the death penalty and the recall election. Ironically, before I was voted teacher of the year, I created a cartoon showing a figure, titled teacher of the year trying to balance everything while on a unicycle. The kids loved the idea that I did the project along with them.

I was not aware of the program you helped create. I think it is a great program. The opportunity to redefine the cartoon through changing the caption is really great. I am going to use that idea. I plan my cartoons a week in advance, due to my busy schedule and have them set up on Power Point so that I just 'flip' to the next toon each day. I spend at least two hours on Daryl Cagle's website and the New York Times site to find the toons I use. For the sake of time and efficiency, I will continue to have students create their own responses in their notebooks. I have printed series of cartoons related to specific periods of America's past in order to add depth to a particular subject in the content area. For example, I used a series of cartoons published in response to Lincoln's campaign for president in 1860. These were powerful in their message as to the issues that faced the nation during this time period. I also used a series to develop greater understanding of Theodore Roosevelt's impact on the development of modern American foreign policy. Finally, students are tested on their ability to think at higher levels through interpretations of cartoons based on class topics, current events and discussion. They know if they are going to get the responses right, they must practice their interpretations and evaluations of the cartoons. At the beginning of the year they really struggled, now they are very successful. Some even create cartoons based on current events just for fun and want me to post them for class interpretation.

I guess every teacher discovers what works in his or her classroom. This just happened to work for me. Thank you for being so interested in my use of the cartoons. I hope this helps you and the development of the program. I will send the website address to other instructors who may utilize the lessons. I will also check the site periodically, to see what creative ideas you have incorporated into the program.

Respectfully,