Edgr 595 – the Same Differently – Essay – Dolores MerriweatherSearchEssaysSign upSign inContact usTweetIndex/MiscellaneousEdgr 595 – the Same DifferentlyDolores MerriweatherThe Same DifferentlyEDGR595Community of LearnersConcordia University-PortlandThe Same—DifferentlyI believe I can help by teaching staff and students’ equity. Scott (2015) states, “Even in the suburbs, low-income students are now 40 percent of the student population in the public schools,” “It’s everyone’s problem”(Para. 2). It may be possible that students can learn about poverty by understanding the majority of the students in the school are in same boat. Based on this idea I formulated an egg experiment and shared it with the staff in a morning meeting.
I have taught this lesson before, once in Junior high and for the last four years in my 4th grade classroom as we were talking about black history. I first learned about the lesson when I was getting my endorsement in ELL/ESL. As an end result I wanted to use this experiment to enlighten the staff at my school about teaching equity. I begin by having everyone brainstorm gathering ideas about how teachers viewed the words equality, equity, and diversity. After I jotted down the information in an anchor chart I begin to structure my lesson. The lesson is taught with two eggs, one brown, and one white. First I paired the teachers and gave them an egg of each color, 2 graphic organizers (T-Chart) for each color egg. I asked them to write down the characteristics of the outer layer of the egg. Some of the eggs had imperfections however many were considered perfect.
Once they wrote down the their observations I presented them with another organizer and one brown crayon and one white crayon. I asked them to color each egg on the sheet, one brown the other white. As I lead the teacher in the lesson on diversity and how we view our students I asked them to share their observations among one another. After the group shared their observations I asked the teachers to crack each of their eggs. I asked them to use the experiment organizer to tell me what they saw when they cracked each of the eggs.
As the lesson was coming to a close I wanted the teachers to write down and draw a picture illustrating how people are the same. Zmuda, states, (2015) “In every school, Regardless of its resource… The one constant goal is creating a school and classroom culture that engages students to do their best work.” I feel what make teachers true educators are their acknowledgment, appreciation, and respect of students’ differences. Students’ diverse intelligences, talents, skills, interests, and backgrounds enrich our schools and our lives as teachers. Therefore teaching with diversity means that there are lots of different kinds of things. Diversity can be seen in languages, religions, beliefs, schools, traditions, etc. Diversity makes the world an interesting place to be.
[quote=Zmuda]The importance of the human being in any society, has not been overlooked. As I’m reminded of in my experience of teaching, diversity in a society is so important because it is our ability to create diverse human beings on the basis of a desire to live a life with equality, dignity, equality and respect for all. We make these claims because they are rooted in our innate human capacities for life, our unique biology, and our unique cultural and political values. It’s important to the human spirit that we engage in diversity, not just as an excuse for discrimination, but as our primary way of providing a safe space to learn. I think to be honest, it’s also a really important thing!
[quote=Zmuda]The fact that we are human means that we all do at least take a step back as more and more people are being raised by and raised not only in our class but in the world around us. As a result there are so many new teachers, students, and teachers who are creating a positive environment to educate students, students, students and students. So many teachers are doing a lot of work because of this. It is all part of our collective spirit, we all look into diversity, and in turn give thanks when we see others doing the same while our individual beliefs and behaviors are shaped by the diversity of society. Every year we put together a list of teachers, students and teachers who work with students and the teachers and students themselves, and what they look like.
[quote=Zmuda][quote=Zyndale:]My hope is for students to have a place in a place they will know and which has not been abandoned by their teachers. One of them, being a woman, has been educated in an environment that has allowed her to grow. And so, by accepting this opportunity, I will make education as fulfilling, beneficial, and meaningful with her as I can.