Breaking News: #BringBackOurGirls

On May 8, 2014, along with the rest of the world, my 4th graders stood in solidarity. We discussed the sad news of the kidnapping of 234 Nigerian girls from their school. My girls had heard some of the news but were not clear of all the details. Upon hearing that these girls were kidnapped because others believed that they should not be educated and even to think otherwise was sinful, my girls shed tears, got angry, and grew curious and even more thankful for the opportunity to grow smarter everyday. To show our support of #BringBackOurGirls, we spent this morning researching the news and growing our background knowledge so that we can speak out against this injustice. We watched the following videos and wrote encouraging notes. We also wore red shirts and ribbons on our wrist to show that we #StandInSolidarity #Sisterhood

To My Sisters, With Love

In my classroom, I try to create a culture of love, acceptance, inclusivity, and celebration. The reason I do this is because I want my girls to feel safe and free to be themselves. This in turn develops confidence which results in them not being afraid to take risks in their learning when working whole group and in small groups. Throughout this year, I have found several ways to establish and enforce this culture. The most popular among the scholars is "To my sisters," an opportunity for them to share their admiration for one another, with one another. I give the girls a post-it note and on it they can write a shout-out to someone else either for something academic or something sisterly. They may also write shout-outs to the whole class. Sometimes I will even push them to write shout-outs to someone that they bump heads with because there has to be something that you appreciate about them. This activity works because:

1. Kids love sticky notes. Don't ask me why.
2. They love telling others about something nice someone did for them.
3. They love when others tell about something nice they did.

Around testing time, I took some of my favorite shout-outs and turned them into a poster to remind the girls that they are loved, not only by me, but by one another. Every time we do this activity it astonishes me how they all giggle and smile at how something so small as them giving a compliment made someone's day better.