Election Day

Like many Americans across the country, I too exercised my civic right to vote. I have never claimed a political affiliation. I am the type that looks at each candidate and chooses based on how they align with my beliefs and standards. I chose my candidate and should he not win tonight I will not rant and rave. I will just be glad it is finally over. I am tired of the political mudslinging on tv, the phone calls at all hours of the day, and the door to door campaiging asking me who I am voting for. That is for me to know and only me to know. I should not have to tell you why I am not voting one way or the other if I tell you I am undecided. Whomever wins today is going to have a tough road ahead of him. Personally, I would not want to be the one taking over in a situation like the one we find ourselves in. What happens when he is not able to do everything promised during his campaign? My opinion is that things are going to get worse for us before they get better. The way I see it, it is a no win situation. If the Dems get elected and things go bad you'll have the grand ole party screaming "Told you so. Wouldn't have happened if McCain had been in office." and vice versa. It doesn't matter who takes office. Republican or Democrat, we need to come together as a unified front. Instead of "I can do this and that" how about "We can do this and that." Because, as you know, there is no "I" in team. And isn't that what we are? A team? The United States of America?
So, as a teacher I felt it was my duty to assist in my students understanding of the Democratic Process. Therefore we have been learning about it and following the campaigning. Today they exercised their civic rights by voting in a Mock Election. I had a ballot, a ballot box, and a voting booth. We opened the polls and explained how long they had to go to the booth and vote. Once they had voted they were to go over to one of the poll workers, my assistant Dona, and get their sticker. Dona took duct tape and made little stickers that resembled the ones you get. Once everyone had voted, the polls closed and the votes were tallied. We even had a learning experience with that. You must remember that I teacher high school students with severe cognitive disabilities. There is never a dull moment to be had. I am at the white board tallying the votes when I discover two things. One: everyone had said they had voted and received a sticker but I was one ballot short. I made 8 ballots. I have seven students. I had 2 blank ballots that hadn't been used. The second: I had a "Hanging Chad". One student did not follow directions. Instead of filling in one of the boxes next to the candidate's picture, he/she had circled both names. It took a little detective work to figure out which one hadn't voted and once we did we made him. The "Hanging Chad" was easy. You work with a group of kids long enough and you recognize things about their work. The circles made around the names were very distinctive. As soon as I saw the ballot I knew who had done it. Her m.o. is to just put circles around everything when she is unclear of the directions instead of asking for clarification. Dona and I decided that her vote wouldn't count. Were it to have been a real election, that is what would have happened. That is what I truly call a teachable moment. Did it phase her? Not really.