RE teaching report.

[rivka]

Another fun RE class today. This time I benefited considerably from the capable hands and calm demeanor of lynsaurus as my assistant teacher. Our lesson this week was called "Differences Are Important."

Before church, Alex and I went through magazines and cut out pictures of people: as many, as diverse, and as non-model-looking as we could find. The best sources for this turned out to be our denominational magazine, the UU World, and my college alumni magazine.

When the kids came in, we sat in our circle of carpet squares, lit the chalice with our chalice-lighting words, and sang the Welcome Song to each child and teacher. There were five kids in class today. One of our special visitors from two weeks ago had sent a thank-you note (!!), and I read it to the class and reminded them of who she was. Then I told them that today we'd be talking about differences: what makes people different, and what makes them the same. I used the example of two of the kids in class who are brother and sister. Some things about them are the same (brown eyes, same Mommy) and some things are different (different ages, a boy and a girl).

We gathered around a table where I'd spread out all the magazine pictures. I had a piece of posterboard I'd labeled with "People Are Different, People Are The Same." Together we glued on the pictures to make a collage. As we did so, we talked about differences and similarities in the pictures: here's a baby and an old man, here is a happy person and a sad person, here are two people who are both playing musical instruments. This activity seemed to be fun for the three girls in the class, but the oldest boy got bored and wandered away and the other boy quickly followed him. After some prompting they sat down with books to look at, but they were a distraction to the other kids, so I brought the activity to a close.

Next I passed out some papers that had an "unfinished drawing" on them: a few different lines on different parts of the page, and a lot of white space. I told them that one thing that makes us all different is that we all have our own ideas and thoughts. We were all going to start out with the same picture, and finish each one using our own ideas. This turned out to be a pretty popular activity and went well. The kids' (and teachers') drawings were very different from each other. We came back to our circle and compared our pictures, and talked about the different decisions we had made after starting with the same designs.

Next we played a similarities-and-differences game. I called out a condition and instructions, and the group obeyed accordingly: "If you have a cat at home, meow." "If you're wearing a skirt or a dress, twirl around." "If you like to eat ice cream, rub your tummy and say yum yum." "If you have a mommy at your house, clap your hands." I had planned out the list thinking about our usual class group, and should've edited on the fly, because one kid was all by herself for "if you have brown skin..." and "if there is a daddy in your house..." (there wasn't.) I felt bad about that, because she did seem to feel singled out. (Usually "brown skin" is half the class, and more kids don't have dads.)

We had snack - cookies baked by the special visitor who'd sent the thank-you note - and finished with a story, Why Am I Different? in which various kids mention things, good and bad, that make them different from others. Then parents were peeking in the window and it was time to go.

All in all, I think the lesson went well. It's the beginning of a lesson mini-series on diversity ("People Of All Colors Are Important," "All Kinds Of Families Are For Caring"), and I think it served as a good introduction to that. And the kids did seem to have fun.

I only have one more turn as lead teacher and two turns as assistant teacher, and then I'll be done with teaching for the year. That's kind of an odd feeling. I really love teaching, and I like my kids very much, but I have to admit that even before the Niblet is born I'll probably be too big and lumbering to be a good RE teacher. Alas.

Comments

[green-knight.livejournal.com]

I've said this before, but it bears repeating. I think the programme you are teaching is wonderful, and I feel that the kids who attend will benefit a lot. What a wonderful way to teach them moral values without being intrusive/prescriptive.

Thank you for sharing these.

[marnanel.livejournal.com]

This.

Highlight of my week

[lynsaurus.livejournal.com]

Thanks for letting me help! I really enjoyed the class. You did a great job keeping it moving and addressing distracting behavior without getting thrown off by it. It's not easy to find so many diverse, non-model pictures of people, so go you and Alex! Differences are a tough subject. I think all of the kids felt safe and accepted by the end of class, even the two new-ish kids.

Re: Highlight of my week

[rivka.livejournal.com]

It was good teaching with you - I wish I were going to be doing COA with you in the spring. I really liked the way you helped the kids focus on and think about the activities, and responded matter-of-factly and calmly to the overexcited kids.

Yesterday afternoon Alex kept wanting to play a game where we would take turns thinking of things that were the same and different about our family. ("We all like spaghetti! But Mom and Dad like meatballs and Alex doesn't!") At one point she said, "I'm going to think of something that's the same about everybody in our Baltimore!" and I was extremely dubious, but she came up with "We all like to sleep in buildings!" It's hard to argue with that.

So obviously the lesson sank in, in a big way. That always feels good.

Re: Highlight of my week

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Some time ago, Spectrum and I were discussing things that are universal across all humans. We finally came up with "living humans who wish to remain alive require oxygen".

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

My brother and his family came up for lunch today and my sister-in-law marveled at how our hair is turning silver in the same places and how our eyes crinkle the same when we smile. People thought we were twins when we were teens.

[aquaeri.livejournal.com]

Some people are amazed my sister and I are even related - I'm an olive-skinned brunette, she's strawberry blonde with pinky skin. I only wear the cool part of the spectrum, while she looks great in warm colours. I have quite prominent features and hers are delicate. My eyelids are droopy, hers are tucked away and almost oriental. But our voices are almost identical, we have similar enough builds we can share costumes, and we move the same way.