I have a love-hate relationship with interactive work in classrooms. When done well, I love collaborating with others, but when done poorly, group work can be a downright struggle. I do believe that while there is so much we can figure out on our own, there is even more we can learn when working with others, and I want to see this style truly work. As someone who wants to work in elementary schools, I thought about what kind of activities would allow me to apply interactive components.

I found a TEDx video on YouTube that is a great example of diversity and inclusion that could be used as an activity starter in the classroom. 

At the end of the video, Blakeway says to “find out what makes you different” (TEDx, 2017), which sparks interest in figuring out what makes each person special. This would get students thinking about what makes them special and what they have to offer (learner-generated) (Bates, n.d.). I would ask students to get creative about what makes them unique and express it in whatever way best suits them – eg. written/typed, drawing, art (designed) (Bates, n.d.). This activity shows how diverse everyone is and how we need to celebrate what makes us our own person! 

I would provide formative feedback for this activity (learner-teacher) (Bates, n.d.), but would be more interested in the process and their effort, rather than the final presentation. Students often compare themselves to others, so it can be challenging to find their strengths; however, when prompted, they can usually think of many ideas they hadn’t before! The next step would be to have students get into small groups to discuss their strengths and diversity (learner-learner) (Bates, n.d.) to work on communication skills and connecting with others.

This activity would not be a lot of extra work for me, as it is a great social-emotional learning activity that could be delivered through a variety of platforms – watching the video, working independently, and getting into groups to discuss diversity can be done in person or over computer technology. With the way it is designed, it could work for a small group of students (eg. 4-5) or for an entire class, as it could follow a Think-Pair-Share format to talk about diversity and inclusion in the classroom and beyond. I look forward to trying something like this in the future!

Reference

Bates, A. W. (n.d.). Teaching in a Digital Age – Chapter 9.6 – Interaction. Retrieved from https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/teachinginadigitalagev2/chapter/pedagogical-roles-for-text-audio-and-video/

TEDx Talks. (2017). We Are All Different – and THAT’S AWESOME! [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQuM5e0QGLg