Diversity is a hot topic in education today. Recently I led a class of grade sevens that were discussing the topic. I found that while they were grasping the information they did not seem to be taking the ideas to heart. I found the Race Bridges lesson plan for the "Claim It!" activity online and thought it would be a beneficial activity for my class to partake in.
This is an activity that can either go wonderfully right or horribly wrong; the stakes are high. It is important that students know that participation is voluntary as they will be asked to claim various items about themselves that they may feel uncomfortable claiming. Students must realize that the information that their peers will be sharing is to be kept between the class. However the increased sense of community that can come out of this activity makes it well worth it.
The basic idea is to have students standing in a line along a wall or one side of the classroom. The teacher reads a statement ie: "Step out and claim it, if you are a woman." Students who belong to that group will then step out into the middle of the room. They should pause there look around see who is standing with them and also who has not stepped out. Before beginning the activity I taught the students the ASL sign for love, so that the students who had not stepped out could show love to those who had. Some of the different items that students were asked to claim included, gender, race, having a disability, having a family member who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, having a family member who has been arrested or is in jail, living with only one parent and having gone to an art gallery or museum with your parents.
After all the items had been read out and claimed by the students they were given time to reflect and answer a few questions. I took the time to speak with each student the next day after I had read all their responses. It was very encouraging to hear that they had now realized they weren't alone in their struggles. One student expressed to me that he had lost a step-brother recently and had not realized anyone else in the class had lost someone close to them as well. He was glad to know that he was not alone. Another young man has been struggling as his parents are going through a divorce, he expressed similar feelings, saying that he was glad to know that he wasn't the only one that lived with only one parent. A girl shared very honestly with me about her uncle's struggle with alcohol. She was very candid telling me the story of what he has been through and how that has impacted her. I was honoured by their honesty.
For the most part I was really pleased with my class' response to the activity. While we were stepping out and claiming different things that applied to us the students were respectful and seem to understand the seriousness of the task. Their reflections after the fact showed that they were thinking about how we often do not know what is happening at home in the lives of those around us. Many of them expressed that they need to be more sensitive when people are having a bad day at school because they might be having a difficult time at home.
I too learned many things about my class. I was surprised that there were multiple people claiming almost every category. There was only one student who claimed having Arabian ancestry, but all the other categories had at least 3 students. I had not realized that so many of my students had faced so many challenges at such a young age. I was delighted to learn that while I do not have any ESL students in my class about 70% of them speak another language at home at least part of the time. What amazing diversity!
This is an activity that can either go wonderfully right or horribly wrong; the stakes are high. It is important that students know that participation is voluntary as they will be asked to claim various items about themselves that they may feel uncomfortable claiming. Students must realize that the information that their peers will be sharing is to be kept between the class. However the increased sense of community that can come out of this activity makes it well worth it.
The basic idea is to have students standing in a line along a wall or one side of the classroom. The teacher reads a statement ie: "Step out and claim it, if you are a woman." Students who belong to that group will then step out into the middle of the room. They should pause there look around see who is standing with them and also who has not stepped out. Before beginning the activity I taught the students the ASL sign for love, so that the students who had not stepped out could show love to those who had. Some of the different items that students were asked to claim included, gender, race, having a disability, having a family member who is addicted to drugs or alcohol, having a family member who has been arrested or is in jail, living with only one parent and having gone to an art gallery or museum with your parents.
After all the items had been read out and claimed by the students they were given time to reflect and answer a few questions. I took the time to speak with each student the next day after I had read all their responses. It was very encouraging to hear that they had now realized they weren't alone in their struggles. One student expressed to me that he had lost a step-brother recently and had not realized anyone else in the class had lost someone close to them as well. He was glad to know that he was not alone. Another young man has been struggling as his parents are going through a divorce, he expressed similar feelings, saying that he was glad to know that he wasn't the only one that lived with only one parent. A girl shared very honestly with me about her uncle's struggle with alcohol. She was very candid telling me the story of what he has been through and how that has impacted her. I was honoured by their honesty.
For the most part I was really pleased with my class' response to the activity. While we were stepping out and claiming different things that applied to us the students were respectful and seem to understand the seriousness of the task. Their reflections after the fact showed that they were thinking about how we often do not know what is happening at home in the lives of those around us. Many of them expressed that they need to be more sensitive when people are having a bad day at school because they might be having a difficult time at home.
I too learned many things about my class. I was surprised that there were multiple people claiming almost every category. There was only one student who claimed having Arabian ancestry, but all the other categories had at least 3 students. I had not realized that so many of my students had faced so many challenges at such a young age. I was delighted to learn that while I do not have any ESL students in my class about 70% of them speak another language at home at least part of the time. What amazing diversity!