Hanging in my classroom, is a large R decorated by a former student. The first day of school I refer to it as the good R because everything we do for ourselves and others should be about Respect. It's amazing how quickly this message is accepted. Some examples:
From a student - It is 4 year old Will's first school experience so his Mom has been asking him every day to talk about school. Will said it was fine and that's all he would contribute until last week. Then he said, "I went to the It's OK to be Different class today and we talked about Respect and being kind to one another."
From a teacher - "When school starts, I spend several weeks on listening skills, consideration of others and cooperation before I delve into the curriculum. Without Respect for ourselves and others, we cannot learn."
Showing posts with label From the Teacher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label From the Teacher. Show all posts
Monday, September 26, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Reflection from Laura Richdale, teacher
I have recently requested reflections from people involved with the It's OK to be Different program. I am looking for responses from teachers, parents and administrators. The first is from Laura Richdale, teacher and friend.
"The It's OK to be Different program became a support that I used throughout my teaching days. Whenever a child made a negative remark aimed at a classmate or friend (present or not) I would wait to see if another nearby child would react in a positive manner. The more experience the class had had with the program, the more often I would overhear someone speak up on his/her own, to offer a solution to the conflict. If not, I would simply begin a discussion about the time they focused on understanding then accepting differences in others. I would try to jog their memories, getting them to relate what had just transpired to what they had experienced when talking about respecting personal feelings. More often than not, the children were able to connect the events and instead of the incident at hand taking on a very negative tone, everyone would see that we all need to remind each other that it is indeed okay to be different.
"The It's OK to be Different program became a support that I used throughout my teaching days. Whenever a child made a negative remark aimed at a classmate or friend (present or not) I would wait to see if another nearby child would react in a positive manner. The more experience the class had had with the program, the more often I would overhear someone speak up on his/her own, to offer a solution to the conflict. If not, I would simply begin a discussion about the time they focused on understanding then accepting differences in others. I would try to jog their memories, getting them to relate what had just transpired to what they had experienced when talking about respecting personal feelings. More often than not, the children were able to connect the events and instead of the incident at hand taking on a very negative tone, everyone would see that we all need to remind each other that it is indeed okay to be different.
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