Sharing is Caring ☮️

Posted On 3/14/2019 2:13:00 AM, 5Comments

     The world is not always fair for people all around the world. The war, poverty, and racism force people to leave their homeplace for good in order to live or survive,at least. At this point, the humanity’s role is to provide a safe environment for aggrieved people in need. We, the teachers, may come across with these innocent victoms-children. Because every individual has the right to education, they must be supported and protected to help them continue their lives. In this regard, the teachers’ role is to promote social and cultural cohesion between students in classrom to provide an equal and safe environment for all students including the ones who comes from different backgrounds.

     The activity given below, “ Have You Ever?” gives all students an opportunity to explore each other which is a way of ice-breaking. Apart from that, the teacher also can learn more about students’ background which is an obligation for the process of preparing activities and materials for a lesson. Especially the second objective of the lesson plan; “To explore the value of knowing and appreciating similarities and differences in a group.” is the most beautiful part since peacebuilding requires appreciating similarities and differences to promote the feeling, empathy. Because empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another, it should be given priority in the school environment for building social cohesion. The activity of the lesson which is similar to an interview would help students to understand each other’s feelings such as happiness, sadness, pain, hopes and dreams etc. I believe, for friendship, cohesion and peace; we need communication and fellowship. Also, even though walking around as a whole class may sound a bit chaotic, the noise and chaos is actually the best part of the activity since they make sounds “together”. The last part, raising hands to certain questions, which promotes students’ sense of belonging is also an effective way of exploring students’ background because young learners’ tendency for talking about themselves is a fact !  In addition to these, the activities not only creates a friendship among students but also creates a communicative environment which is also another factor that is essential for non traditional classrooms. I loved the activity’s  offer of “sharing” because the more we share, the more we can find something in common.

 

 

 

Comments (5) -

Bill Snyder
4/6/2019 12:04:20 AM #

Hi Dilanur,

This sounds really interesting but I'd like to know what the exact 'Have you ever' questions are? Is there any way you can share the list with us? Then I can give you some richer feedback.

Thank you!

Best wishes,

Bill

Dila
4/14/2019 10:55:18 AM #

Hi Mr.Synder,
I added the question list. Additionally, the questions can be enriched as another option. They may be prepared by teacher or as a whole class.

Bill Snyder
4/16/2019 8:36:24 AM #

Hi Dilanur,

Thank you for the update and clarification of the questions.

It's the start of the school year here in Japan and I have been doing a similar activity as an icebreaker with my students. Only my questions have tended to be lighter than yours, like, "Find someone who is wearing green socks." But my audience and purpose are different from yours

Still, I like some of your questions, like. for example, :Have you ever been misunderstood in another culture?' I think my students would respond well to that question. I also like "Have you ever started to say something and forgotten it?," because of the common human experience it points to. I'll use questions like this with my students in the future.

I do wonder how many students will have met someong who speaks 5 languages. In order to get more positive responses, you might change the criterion to 3 or 4 languages.

Overall, I like this kind of activity. It gets students interacting and it gives the teacher something to listen to in order to b able to give feedback to students on their performances in general, which, at least in my contenxt is a real purpose.

I hope this is helpful.

Best wishes,

Bill

Dila
4/17/2019 7:41:36 AM #

Thank you Mr. Snyder,
I agree with you about the questions part. If I was the one who prepared the questions, I would try to prepare them in a more realistic way. For students, the more authentic and realistic questions the better since authenticity is an important factor for motivation and attractiveness.

Deniz
4/21/2019 8:16:24 PM #

Dila,

Great activity and yes thanks for adding the questions.

I like how you said:
Also, even though walking around as a whole class may sound a bit chaotic, the noise and chaos is actually the best part of the activity since they make sounds “together”.

I feel like my best classes are the ones students make noise! Sometimes they whisper trying to be quiet and I tell them no, this is the time you can actually engage in real conversation and forget that you're within the walls of a classroom.

Thanks for sharing this activity with us!

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