Yesterday I overheard a few people talking while we were lining up for specials about a student and how they didn't like the way that his/her breath smelled. I was a little taken back by the comment and asked my class to sit down. Once everyone was seated, I asked them what it means to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. A few hands rose to answer the question. While it took a few minds to come together, they understood the comment. I knew my next bullying lesson had to happen soon. Today, I brought in two apples. I told the kids that the apples were the same kind of apple, about the same size, and picked from the same tree. I asked them what was the difference between the two apples. The obvious comments came to surface: the color, the stems, the size. I then asked them what the insides might look like. I wanted to see what difference they could find in the two apples. Again, the obvious was stated: number of seeds, sweetness, ripeness. I posed the big question: "Why in the world am I talking about apples with you today?" As the blank stares looked back at me, I knew this was my chance to talk to them about differences. But this message needed to be bigger than differences. You see, what they didn't know was that the apple without a stem had been dropped, bounced, rubbed, squeezed, and rolled before I even came to school. I cut the apples open. Immediately after I cut the apples open, they started to see the color difference. This is where I told them what I had done before school. I told them that I yelled at the apple, I told the apple that it smelled funny and I didn't like the way it looked. I told them I made fun of the apple for being so small. The room was so silent, I could hear a pin drop. They started to really see where this lesson was going.
I asked them again about what it meant to walk a mile in someone else's shoes. We talked about how some students do not have running water, or money to buy the best clothes. We talked about how home life for every person is different. We talked about how the outside of the apple may not be that different, but the damage is inside. When they were talking about how bad someone's breath smelled, it could be causing damage to someone on the inside. Moral of the story: Walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you make comments or judgements.
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Fifth grade is a very hard transition for all students. Their bodies are changing, they are taking on new responsibilities, they are developing more and more independence, and they are finding their own way into the world. This can be a scary time for our students as well. As I develop my expectations in my classroom with my students this week, I can't stress to them enough that I have one rule in my room. RESPECT! IF they can follow my one rule, everyone in the room will have a wonderful year. Bullying was our focus this week. Our class will continue to discuss bullying each month. The idea is that your words cannot be taken back. Your words are damaging to those on the receiving end. Each student was given a coffee filter and a tube of toothpaste. The were not given a reason why. I simply asked them to spill all the toothpaste out of the tube into the filter. The kids worked hard to clear the tube. Many of the students wanted to know why, some thought it was fun to make a mess, and some were grossed out by it.
After they squeezed all the contents out, I then asked them to put it all back into the tube. The look on their faces was priceless. They started saying that it was impossible. They wanted to know what tools they could use. They even asked if they could cut open the tube. I stopped the class and asked them what the point of this activity was. When I told them that their words were represented by the toothpaste and the filter represented the person on the receiving end, their mouths dropped. They got it. We had a great talk about how they can't take those words back (the toothpaste can't go back in the tube), and how the coffee filter looks fine until you move the toothpaste around. The filters were ripped and discolored. Some were wet. The lesson we all learned was that we need to make sure we watch what we say. We need to make sure our words are not going to hurt anyone or that we might want to take back. This blog will allow for me to update you on things that are happening in our classroom this year. I would like for our students to use this blog as well to share their work and what they are learning.
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