Schools Should Include Everyone
Is it Cool to be Mean?
There is a mean streak in popular culture, isn't there? It hurts.
Schools are better places for learning when all children feel included. It doesn't just happen; schools have to work at it.
The first week of December each year is Inclusive Schools Week, a time to celebrate progress in making schools welcoming for all students. The theme this year is "standing up for inclusion." Here are ideas your school might want to try. (Suggested by inclusiveschools.org)
- Hold a "speed-friending" event like the one used by Galileo High School in San Francisco.
- Establish a "Five Minutes for Friendship" ritual each day. Have students pair up with classmates on a rotating basis. Provide a topic for the pair to discuss for five minutes. Ask a few pairs to share their conversation with the class.
- Display student artwork and projects around the school. Projects might include "what makes me special" essays, name histories, or family trees.
- Ask students to write about a time that they didn’t feel included in a group. Talk about how it made them feel. Ask them how their experiences relate to anyone who is perceived as different and what challenges they might face in a school setting.
- Read and discuss poetry that focuses on creating and maintaining unity among different groups of people.
You can find more Celebration ideas here.
Although Inclusion Week is a good time to raise awareness, consistency is key to making your school welcoming.
Is your school inclusive? How do you know? Does your school use a school climate survey to ask students and faculty how included they feel at your school? How does your school use the findings to improve?
Tags on this post
Bullying Character Education School ClimateAll Tags
A-G requirements Absences Accountability Accreditation Achievement gap Administrators After school Algebra API Arts Assessment At-risk students Attendance Beacon links Bilingual education Bonds Brain Brown Act Budgets Bullying Burbank Business Career Carol Dweck Categorical funds Certification CHAMP Change Character Education Chart Charter schools Civics Class size CMOs Collective bargaining College Common core Community schools Contest Continuous Improvement Cost of education Counselors Creativity Crossword CSBA CTA Dashboard Data Dialogue District boundaries Districts Diversity Drawing DREAM Act Dyslexia EACH Early childhood Economic growth EdPrezi EdSource EdTech Effort Election English learners Equity ESSA Ethnic studies Ethnic studies Evaluation rubric Expanded Learning Facilities Fake News Federal Federal policy Funding Gifted Graduation rates Grit Health Help Wanted History Home schools Homeless students Homework Hours of opportunity Humanities Independence Day Indignation Infrastructure Initiatives International Jargon Khan Academy Kindergarten LCAP LCFF Leaderboard Leadership Learning Litigation Lobbyists Local control Local funding Local governance Lottery Magnet schools Map Math Media Mental Health Mindfulness Mindset Myth Myths NAEP National comparisons NCLB Nutrition Pandemic Parcel taxes Parent Engagement Parent Leader Guide Parents peanut butter Pedagogy Pensions personalized Philanthropy PISA Planning Policy Politics population Poverty Preschool Prezi Private schools Prize Project-based learning Prop 13 Prop 98 Property taxes PTA Purpose of education puzzle Quality Race Rating Schools Reading Recruiting teachers Reform Religious schools Research Retaining teachers Rigor School board School choice School Climate School Closures Science Serrano vs Priest Sex Ed Site Map Sleep Social-emotional learning Song Special ed Spending SPSA Standards Strike STRS Student motivation Student voice Success Suicide Summer Superintendent Suspensions Talent Teacher pay Teacher shortage Teachers Technology Technology in education Template Test scores Tests Time in school Time on task Trump Undocumented Unions Universal education Vaccination Values Vaping Video Volunteering Volunteers Vote Vouchers Winners Year in ReviewSharing is caring!
Password Reset
Search all lesson and blog content here.
Login with Email
We will send your Login Link to your email
address. Click on the link and you will be
logged into Ed100. No more passwords to
remember!
Questions & Comments
To comment or reply, please sign in .
Iris December 5, 2017 at 10:38 am