Honouring Diversity - Junior High
Junior high is a transition point from elementary in that the school is bigger, the students will have more than one teacher and the students will be switching classrooms throughout the day. Junior high is also a time in most adolencent lives where they begin to struggle with low self-esteem and confidence (this is especially true in students with exceptionalities). At this age, all students are having feelings of being different and may feel that they have their own personal form of exceptionality. The purpose of my activity is to give students a greater understanding of exceptionalities and what it means to have an exceptionality.
The website that I will be using is http://www.disabled-world.com/. It is a wonderful resource that teachers could utilize in their classroom to honour a large range of exceptionalities. By allowing the students to navigate the website themselves you are activating their 21st century learning as well as learning about different forms of exceptionalities. This tool would best be used by students who are junior high and older because of their prior knowledge with internet searching and common graphic user interfaces giving them the ability to easily navigate through websites. With their age level they will also have the focus and concentration needed for using this tool responsibly. There are many activities that teachers can create using this website although you have to gauge how much freedom you want to give students when using this website and be aware that there may be some content that will not be benificial to their learning.
This website provides:
The website that I will be using is http://www.disabled-world.com/. It is a wonderful resource that teachers could utilize in their classroom to honour a large range of exceptionalities. By allowing the students to navigate the website themselves you are activating their 21st century learning as well as learning about different forms of exceptionalities. This tool would best be used by students who are junior high and older because of their prior knowledge with internet searching and common graphic user interfaces giving them the ability to easily navigate through websites. With their age level they will also have the focus and concentration needed for using this tool responsibly. There are many activities that teachers can create using this website although you have to gauge how much freedom you want to give students when using this website and be aware that there may be some content that will not be benificial to their learning.
This website provides:
- Medical definitions on different exceptionalities
- Q&A
- Disabled world news
- Information on assistive technology
- Traveling (this site can really give some insight on how inaccessible traveling can be to some)
- Disability sports
- Videos appropriate to a wide age range (cartoons, documentaries, sports, etc.)
- Entertainment
- More
Celeberty Citing
This activity will require the use of the Famous People with Disabilities page located in the entertainment section. Individually, in groups or in pairs have students look through the site and browse through all the names of celebrities that have exceptionalities.
Ask:
Is there anyone you recognized or are familiar with?
Are you surprised to find that they had/have an exceptionality?
It can be so inspirational to see that known celebrities have experiences/experienced an exceptionality and has probably had that feeling of insecurity that most students are going through during this "at risk" time of their lives.
Have students chose a celebrity off of the list to do a little more research on. Have them bring one piece of information about that person back to the class (a news article, A quote that they had said, the title of a movie they were in or directed, a video/clip/interview of them, etc).
Example:
Roy Frank “RJ” Mitte III was born August 21, 1992 in America. He is an actor best for his role in a TV show called Breaking Bad. Mitte also has mild cerebral palsy.
The reason I choose Mitte is because he is an actor of a show that some of the students will be aware of, he is a young actor which makes him relateable. The following video below is of him speaking out against bullying driving home the idea that we should all respect one another. The purpose of this activity is to show that exceptionalities do not impede people from greatness. Everyone experiences moments of insecurity but by not overcoming those inseculities they limit your ability and potential.
Ask:
Is there anyone you recognized or are familiar with?
Are you surprised to find that they had/have an exceptionality?
It can be so inspirational to see that known celebrities have experiences/experienced an exceptionality and has probably had that feeling of insecurity that most students are going through during this "at risk" time of their lives.
Have students chose a celebrity off of the list to do a little more research on. Have them bring one piece of information about that person back to the class (a news article, A quote that they had said, the title of a movie they were in or directed, a video/clip/interview of them, etc).
Example:
Roy Frank “RJ” Mitte III was born August 21, 1992 in America. He is an actor best for his role in a TV show called Breaking Bad. Mitte also has mild cerebral palsy.
The reason I choose Mitte is because he is an actor of a show that some of the students will be aware of, he is a young actor which makes him relateable. The following video below is of him speaking out against bullying driving home the idea that we should all respect one another. The purpose of this activity is to show that exceptionalities do not impede people from greatness. Everyone experiences moments of insecurity but by not overcoming those inseculities they limit your ability and potential.
Resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgqcM8nP-18
http://www.disabled-world.com/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2666409/bio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgqcM8nP-18
http://www.disabled-world.com/
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2666409/bio