Teachers Scramble to Incorporate News of Bin Laden's Death Into Lessons

Well, I wasn't scrambling.

I had the presidency scheduled for two classes today anyway, and it was interesting, especially because lots of students were shocked to find out that the death pictures of Osama Bin Laden were fake. But we had some great discussion. It occurred to me especially that President Obama's tenure will be defined more than ever as a wartime president. He's already presiding over three wars, and the frequency of U.S. predator drones strikes accelerated under this adminsration, but we're now at a turning point in the war on on terror, and last night's success will redound to this president's benefit. (See CSM, "Osama bin Laden's death will boost Obama approval rating, but for how long?") Indeed, one student asked how developments will help Obama's public approval ratings?

In any case, here's this at the Orange County Register, "Schools quick to integrate bin Laden death into lessons":

Across Orange County, many teachers scrambled Monday to change lesson plans to incorporate news about Osama bin Laden's death.

Teachers led discussions of the significance of killing the world's most-wanted man, while students debated everything from whether the world is now a safer place, to the root causes of terrorism.

At Dale Intermediate in Anaheim, seventh-grade world history teacher Grant Schuster began his classes Monday with a slide show of images from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. He followed that with the video from Sunday of President Barack Obama's announcement that bin Laden had been killed by American special forces.

Students in all three of his morning classes applauded at the conclusion of Obama's recorded speech.

"Many of students don't have memories of 9/11 because they were too young," he said. "Some of my students are asking if terrorism is over. But others are quick to explain that no, it's not. And we still have to be very careful."

Schuster also explained to his classes that bin Laden's death will allow families of victims of the terrorist attacks to continue their emotional healing.

"I would have been remiss if I didn't spend at least half of the period today talking about bin Laden," he said. "This served as a valuable teaching tool."

More at the link above ...