Diversity

The idea that everyone is a unique individual and has individual rights is by no means a new concept. The idea that everyone learns differently in today’s schools is also not a new concept. For the most part, the educational system does recognize the diverse needs of learners where each student needs to embrace their individuality acknowledging they have a unique way to learn. Despite the many improvements that have been made in development and delivery of instruction, the existing K-12 public school system is still founded on industrial-era factory-type model of instruction that has the potential to bypass the tenants of individuality.

Diversity in today’s schools is on the rise, calling on teachers to alter their teaching styles to meet the individual needs of their learners. Teachers can no longer overlook diversity in their classrooms. Perhaps the area that I have grown the most within the past few years is recognizing and appreciating the benefits of effective lesson planning. By making use of BCs New Curriculum and fully aligning the learning goals to those of the curriculum, it became much easier to plan and adapt my lessons in order to account for, and properly plan for diversity. Classrooms will always have diverse learners who require elements of creativity, innovation, and flexibility. The need to create and deliver innovative, interactive, fun, and engaging lesson plans is an area of growth that I look forward to.

As a final note, I would like to touch on making the learning experience fun. Learning can be a tough, challenging, and daunting endeavor which doesn’t always equate to being fun. I am known to be a fun and happy person. I do this by using humor throughout my day. Humor is therapy; it is a medicine that doesn’t cost anything to use in one’s day. A fun environment will engage students to fully interact with, and be actively involved in their learning. It will create the motivation to put forward a student’s best effort. I have experienced this and I know it works. Fun brings about student expression and participation. This is what learning is all about – a place where you can be yourself and openly participate. I will continue to pay close attention to fun in the classroom and ensure it is always in abundance.

I did a lesson on Math called, “Figure Me Out.”

Fluency in mathematics is a necessary skill in today’s world. The simplest of tasks require mental math strategies that work towards developing flexible thinking about numbers.

Students were  required to develop a sense of how mathematics helps us understand ourselves and the world around us (e.g., daily activities, local and traditional practices, the environment, popular media and news events, social justice, and politics)

This lesson incorporated math with a fun, getting-to-know each other activity (our identity). Students will introduce themselves to the class by creating math equations that give clues about themselves. Students will create a poster where each student is challenging their classmates to “Figure Me Out”!  

We discovered that we are all unique in our ways…and yet we are similar in many ways. Diversity is to be celebrated!