TIWIT, part 10 of 174: A civics lesson

My IB class was supposed to have a novel test today. The way I teach novels, at least in my advanced classes, is like this: They read the book, take a test, and then get working on analyzing it. If they fail the test, they get zeroes on all class assignments until they pass a version of the test. (Trust me, this usually gets them to read.) Anyway, I assigned a novel two, three weeks ago, and figured they should finish by today. But yesterday I realized that most of the students wouldn't be ready. Being the slackers that most of my students are, they put everything off until the last minute.

So, after school yesterday, on a little blog that I have for the class, I decided to pose a question: How many of you would prefer to hold off on the test until Monday? You have to swear that you'll be ready. So, vote on this blog to keep the original date or to move the test to Monday. I need at least 11 votes by midnight and I'll go with the majority.

In the next couple of hours, there were more than 30 messages posted, students practically begging to change the test date to Monday. And so, being a believer in flexibility, I agreed. The test will be Monday.

After that, I got this interesting message from one of the kids:

Hahaha.. thanks Mr P. I do have to tell you im amazed how everyone worked together to collect the votes, everything from non stop phone calls, to IMs,to email...and even, myspace blogs!!!! just to get our class to come here and vote. Intriguing..

My initial thought was, A-ha! They just learned something about politics. That's exactly how a political Machine operates. On election day, city employees visit or call homes to make sure people cast their ballots for the mayor.

But then I realized that this is NOT how the Machine operates. The Machine relies on old technology, like phone calls and doorbells. These kids used modern technology to get out the vote: instant messaging, email, myspace. The lesson here might be for politicians: If you want to reach a large group of voters, especially the young ones, maybe you should consider new get-out-the-vote strategies.

(Hey Kos readers, since you're here, check out more recent posts.)