I am a Special Education who teaches seniors. I teach a class called Mosiacs. In this class we discuss current events, and topics such as racism, poverty, crime, injustices. I chose to watch the TED Talk The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. In this TED Talk she talks about how sterotypes can be portrayed through literature. The kids in my class have constructive conversations, but we rarely read literature in this class. We decided to have them start this year reading articles. I contacted my co-teacher, and we discussed showing this TED Talk , and having a discussion around it. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shares great examples of what it was like for her coming to America. She shares sterotypes that people had about her when she arrived at college. Her college roommate asked her if they could listen to her "tribal" music, or wondered how she knew how to speak English. This made me think about kids in our classroom, and our school, who come from diverse backgrounds.
I am hoping we can show this TED Talk, and have students shares experiences they may have experienced with steretypes. The plan I want to implement is to have each student chose a book whether its a novel, or a children's book that is from an author from a different culture or country. We can them have the students share how their story or perceptions were changed after reading the book. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shared how books saved her from having a single story. My hope is through literature the students in my class can change their story, or those of others. Literature is a good genre to have kids make connections and learn whether on their own, or with discussions with others.
I am hoping we can show this TED Talk, and have students shares experiences they may have experienced with steretypes. The plan I want to implement is to have each student chose a book whether its a novel, or a children's book that is from an author from a different culture or country. We can them have the students share how their story or perceptions were changed after reading the book. Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie shared how books saved her from having a single story. My hope is through literature the students in my class can change their story, or those of others. Literature is a good genre to have kids make connections and learn whether on their own, or with discussions with others.