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Being the Change: How to Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution by Peter Kalmus

Sara's practicality and inspiration are the motivation that every educator needs to navigate hard topics and help our students, and ourselves, grow as human beings. I feel like I have evolved from reading this book and I cannot wait to use all of her ideas with my own students. Jun 03, Heather rated it it was amazing Shelves: If you are a teacher, get this book. I am going to use every lesson with my students next year. I think it can be used for all level learners though you may have to adapt some of the language and resources.

Abs If you are a teacher, get this book. Absolutely excellent and necessary. View all 3 comments. Sep 02, Sandra rated it it was amazing Shelves: So glad to have read this for summer professional development, as it urges the importance of teaching social comprehension to students by BeingTheChange to lead and make real, effective changes in students and our communities. She stresses the significance of doing the hard work, i. Ahmed also discusses ways for students to navigate two sides of an issue by understanding both perspectives, as well as the meaning of intent vs impact.

This work is so important, and will stay by my side this entire school year to work through with my students. I want to celebrate our diversity, perspectives, and humanity. This is a must-read for all educators and parents! Jul 05, Beth Honeycutt rated it really liked it. Quite a few practical ideas of how to engage students in thinking and talking about their world.

Jul 16, Patrick rated it it was amazing Shelves: Such an important resource Jul 21, Karen Szymusiak rated it really liked it. A must read for every educator.


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Jul 18, Mary Lee rated it it was amazing Shelves: Hands down one of the best professional books I've read. This is a book that has given me some important shifts I can make in my teaching, my thinking, my personal life. Aug 20, Jamie rated it it was amazing Shelves: I think many of the lessons naturally lend themselves to middle school or high school audiences.

As a fifth grade teacher, I can use some of them as is, but would need to adapt others. There is still so much value in this book, without even lifting lessons directly from the pages. The advocacy and prioritization of these conversations in classrooms is a critical, essential, conscious move toward supporting open-minded people in our work as educators. The inclusion of these lessons really cannot I think many of the lessons naturally lend themselves to middle school or high school audiences. The inclusion of these lessons really cannot happen naturally without a teacher mindset that values student voices and perspectives, and this is quite revolutionary in some American classrooms, even today, despite some lip service to the contrary.

The author recommends that teachers do the activities themselves, before working through them with students. I think this work is helpful, because it helps to build a comfort level with topics we sometimes gloss over as teachers in order to avoid controversy. Sep 14, Brittany Soder rated it it was amazing Shelves: A powerful book about transforming the classroom from a static room into a dynamic community where students learn how to embrace identity as well as think and respond to our increasingly polarized and political world.

Ahmed calls on teachers to embrace their humanity when teaching children how to tackle the world around us. No longer can we clutch to the "authority" given to adults to look down on children. We must work with our children as intelligent human beings, Ahmed's work illustrating the A powerful book about transforming the classroom from a static room into a dynamic community where students learn how to embrace identity as well as think and respond to our increasingly polarized and political world. We must work with our children as intelligent human beings, Ahmed's work illustrating the children want to have conversations that MATTER, not just lessons for another test.

Her work is inspiring and will light the fire in an educator to change the educational system. Aug 01, Kris Patrick rated it it was amazing. Love love love love love love A more thoughtful review later. Jun 05, Andy rated it it was amazing. Practical ideas, not much fluff. Jul 20, Laura Komos rated it it was amazing Shelves: Jul 20, Rachel Polacek rated it it was amazing. Every teacher needs to read this book.

Jul 02, Cindy Gerwin rated it it was amazing. I am on two committees at school that will have an impact on school culture. When I think of school culture, I think of a place that attends to social emotional learning as well as nurtures academic curiosity and celebrates diversity. There are so many practical and powerful lessons in this book for both the entire school community modeled at staff meetings and extended into the classroom. Conversations that honor diversity can sometimes create a discomfort, but that doesn't mean that we WOW! Conversations that honor diversity can sometimes create a discomfort, but that doesn't mean that we should shy away from them - we can talk through the discomfort to bring about real change and acceptance.

Being the Change: Lessons and Strategies to Teach Social Comprehension

In today's current political climate, this book is so relevant! Jul 30, Sunday Cummins rated it it was amazing Shelves: As I read this, I found myself questioning my own way of being in the world. I created an identity web. I created a four column chart with notes about "what's in my heart," "my thinking," "my identity," "my ideas for action. I noticed my bias in action. Each of these personal thinking experiences served as a catalyst for deeper reflection. Sara Ahmed's easy-to-do suggestions for instruction have inspired me As I read this, I found myself questioning my own way of being in the world.

Sara Ahmed's easy-to-do suggestions for instruction have inspired me to observe even more carefully as I work with students. LOVE her approach to helping students discover and explore without our direct instruction bias, microaggressions, how to be candid, our "universe of obligation" and intent vs. These "simple" suggestions, though, do require us to be savvy observers--of the world and the students in our classrooms and authentic listeners, committed to a learning stance. She provides thoughtful suggestions for what we can do when tension surfaces, when we observe students struggling and so forth.

More importantly, she provides tips on how to sustain the conversation over time, through current news, as part of tragedies or a crisis that we or our students may face. A few quotes from the book that I underlined as I read: Our goal is to make the process of active listening automatic in their thinking and writing, and to treat listening to someone as an active of love. In order to discuss, comment on, or write about a topic that I care deeply about but may not know a lot about, I must first admit that I have an uninformed opinion.

They don't avoid discussions of identity. Transformative progress is their goal and everyone is a solution. Jul 19, Paula rated it it was amazing Shelves: I think this is a book every teacher who cares about their students' social and emotional well-being and cares about our world should buy and read. Ahmed shares some easy to implement lessons that tackle some of our hardest issues today: She offers ideas for creating conditions where kids can feel safe to ask questions and examine their beliefs without being judged or preached to.

Sh I think this is a book every teacher who cares about their students' social and emotional well-being and cares about our world should buy and read. She encourages us to recognize that we ALL have biases and rather than denying or guilting ourselves, we can use that awareness to be more empathetic and understanding. Ignoring these issues doesn't make them go away-find out how you can be part of the solution in your classroom and beyond. Aug 25, Mr. A collection of lessons to teach social comprehension. Ahmed refrains from proselytizing, meets students where they're at, and respects their thinking.

She also advocates for the classroom to be a place where difficult conversations occur, and where students discuss and explore their differences rather than suppress them. Unlike the description, the book does not address specific topics like gender, sexuality, religion, or politics; instead, it asks students to think about their identity, and ho A collection of lessons to teach social comprehension.

Being the Change: How to Live Well and Spark a Climate Revolution

Unlike the description, the book does not address specific topics like gender, sexuality, religion, or politics; instead, it asks students to think about their identity, and how their identity shapes the way they interact with world. The individual lessons are probably best suited for MS students, but are certainly adaptable for HS. Could work in ELA, social science, or advisory. Jul 17, Ashleigh Rose rated it it was amazing. Go read this book before the year starts with kids. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia.

Jul 09, Edouard Stenger rated it really liked it. Another book I discovered lately, Being the Change by Peter Kalmus is an excellent opus on climate change. Too many of them focus on the big picture and macro economics and this is my first about this topic with a personal lens.

Peter Kalmus is a scientist and a very smart man: The author now lives with a carbon footprint a tenth of the US per capita average: In comparison, a French emits on average less than five tons. Over the course of a few years, he gave up flying, started biking and composting, turned his old car to run on WVO waste vegetable oil and started dumpster diving freeganism. The book is replete with good ideas and great concepts so many fellow Americans could start very quickly.

Switching to renewables for our electricity consumption with the help of the local utility, biking more, eating less meat or none at all It would not be too hard for the majority of people to cut their emissions in important ways with little to Others however fail to be practical or are a bit dangerous. Freeganism can be illegal and a bit dangerous. Turning your car to run on WVO is fraught with peril and difficulties. Most of us would rather go electric. Composting not only your food but also your own feces demands a lot of time and space.

Humanure can get you seriously sick unlike regular composting of your food waste and scraps Besides the climate imperative, the author shows how the entire capitalistic systems in the US is a danger to life. It is a broken system. If you have read the news or my blog, you already know that. This books tackles all these topics and proposes solutions. Rekindling connections with our neighbours and a sense of community is chief among them. I agree with the author on many topics if not the quasi totality of them. The book is full of personal history and journey and this makes it endearing. This a great book that I recommend to everyone who is tired of reading the horror stories of global warming and feels powerless.

While many solutions still have to happen at a country or regional scale, many solutions exists to cut our own emisisons significantly while improving our lives dramatically.

Cuts in emissions do not have to be tied to cuts in comfort levels or of qualifty of life. Actually, it is quite the opposite as demonstrated here. I had the pleasure of hearing the author speak at a book signing.

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Kalmus' story is compelling as are the many solutions he not only offers, but indeed he lives. They author is walking the walk, cycling to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory where he works, to study climate change. The first section of this book is the best description of climate change I've read yet. His thoughtful hand holding through the process of explaining CO2e and GHG equivalence will crack open the otherwise challenging-to- I had the pleasure of hearing the author speak at a book signing.

His thoughtful hand holding through the process of explaining CO2e and GHG equivalence will crack open the otherwise challenging-to-explain Climate Crisis. You'll learn new risks and understand the true scope of the challenge we face. The second half of the book walks you through your new life, should you choose to accept it. It is a comprehensive string of examples of what you can do, and how it'll make an impact. I never rolled my eyes, though the humanure suggestion has been vetoed in our household already.

In some ways, it's a guide book to our future survival, on a personal level. It doesn't try to solve the global problem simply by activating you to make someone else change a law though that's in there too. It is closer to existentialism without the hermit aspect of Thoreau. Oct 29, Deena rated it really liked it. I have so many thoughts on this book, I'm not sure even where to begin with a review.

I could probably write a review that would rival the length of the book itself. The title jumped out at me because I am always looking for ways to improve myself, my life, and my impact on my community and the world. I always want to be part of the solution rather than the problem. When it comes to global warming, we are all unfortunately, inevitably, part of the problem, through our mere existence, but I do be I have so many thoughts on this book, I'm not sure even where to begin with a review. When it comes to global warming, we are all unfortunately, inevitably, part of the problem, through our mere existence, but I do believe there are ways to mitigate our personal contributions to global warming, and that's why I wanted to read this book.

Want to change the world? Start by being brave enough to care - Cleo Wade

The author, an Earth scientist, discusses both is professional and personal journey as he confronts global warming on a daily basis. The first few chapters are dedicated to discussing the science behind global warming, and specifically how burning fossil fuels at the rate we currently do will result in a mass extinction, possibly much sooner than we could possibly imagine.

Some of the science jargon was way over my head, complete with charts and graphs, but the gist is clear: The questions are whether we can temper the amount of warming the earth will experience, and how we, as humanity, can do so. The remainder of the book discusses the ways in which the author has made changes to his own life to significantly reduce his carbon footprint and live a more peaceful existence in connection and harmony with the rest of the biosphere.

He attributes flying on airplanes to just about the worst thing we can do when it comes to contributing to global warming. Next are things like driving cars, eating meat, and buying "stuff" namely, plastic. For example, he describes two of his friends- one of whom keeps goats in order to procure milk in a more ethical way, and another who is vegan, and both of whom fly on commercial airplanes on a fairly regular basis.

Yet, the author himself has not one, but two biological children. There are other statements and practices that rubbed me slightly the wrong way while reading this book, and not because I don't think they are examples of how we should all be working toward reducing our consumption and impact, but because I find that there is a touch of inherent hypocrisy in them.

The author drives an old vehicle with a diesel engine and fuels it with vegetable oil waste from restaurants. This is wonderful, and I would love to do the same. At one point, though, the author describes using vegetable oil waste from the Cheesecake Factory to fuel a long-haul cross-country drive. I couldn't help but think that while it's fantastic that he is reusing this oil in a way that does not burn fossil fuels, his reliance on the Cheesecake Factory and presumably other restaurants like it , which no doubt depends on fossil fuels to produce the meat it serves, to transport the food it serves, etc.

I guess what I am trying to say is that the author so often states that he is "opting out" of so many of the evils that contribute to global warming, yet in some way he is inevitably still relying on them. In the same vein, he describes a friend who has lived without money meaning he has spent not a single dime since While admirable, I couldn't help but chuckle at the irony when the author mentioned that he met this friend as the friend was catching up on emails at the public library That did not sit well with me.

The author describes many of his personal practices, including but not limited to bicycling more often than not, mediation, growing his own food, freeganism, rejecting airplanes, composting humanure, drying clothes on a clothesline, ditching the heating and air conditioning systems, and keeping bees. Again, while these are all wonderful practices, and I would love to do many of the same kinds of things minus the beekeeping , the author lives in southern California, where the growing season is year-round, the air temperature is rarely too hot or too cold, and there are both mountain and beach escapes within a stone's throw.

Not everyone lives in such a place, and I doubt he would suggest that we all move to southern California to further deplete the limited resources there.


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Don't get me wrong; he does state from the outset of the book that we should all do what we can, no matter how small, but then so often I felt there was a tad too much preaching and sanctimony going on. A recurring theme throughout the book is to stop flying on airplanes, immediately. As a person who in recent years has made some serious steps in what I think is the right direction to reduce my own carbon footprint, I am fully aware of the toll that flying in airplanes takes on the biosphere, and I am guilty as charged.

However, my family's situation, and my husband's career as a diplomat, requires us to live overseas and we get there by flying and yes, we take additional trips by flying. This got me thinking There would be no diplomacy, no humanitarian aid, etc. I don't know whether that is more valuable that is more valuable than slowing the rate of global warming. It seems to me that we can't have it both ways, at least not until there is a fossil-fuel-free alternative to flying. These thoughts don't sit well with me, as my head says I should stop flying, but my heart says that seeing the way other cultures and people live is so important to understanding and promoting community, which is something the author also holds dear.

I don't know the right answer on that. No matter how much we think we are doing to be good stewards of the environment or, more preferably, the biosphere, which the author uses and which I like , we can always, always, always do more. This book provides a lot of inspiration and ideas that everyone can try But, we can all do something, and for that reason, I would recommend reading this book and trying to keep your guilt at bay while doing so and then changing that guilt into something productive.

Climate change is the challenge of our times. Barring nuclear war, it's the thing that will most affect our children and their children in turn. But it feels overwhelming. What can I do about it? This wonderful book courageously tackles this difficult question. The author, a climate scientist, speaks from his personal experience, describing how it came to feel wrong to burn fossil fuels he sees the suffering it's causing, e. Harvey and giving specific detail as to how he cut back his emission Climate change is the challenge of our times.

Harvey and giving specific detail as to how he cut back his emissions. He argues that this is a good step that anyone can take and that it helps create a cultural shift. Maybe this is part of why we're doing so little about it as a society? Far too many climate books come off as preachy or try to make readers feel guilty.