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Exploring Identity and Community

How can we work together to create an open, supportive, and reflective learning community?

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NAMES AND IDENTITY

Complete the following statements.

  • I was given my name because . . .

Your response here

  • I like / I dislike my name because . . .

Your response here

  • My name is / isn’t a good fit for my personality because . . .

Your response here

  • People assume ______ about me because of my name . . .

Your response here

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“ORIENTATION DAY”

Read “Orientation Day” and complete an Identity Chart below for Jennifer using words and phrases from the reading.

Jennifer

An identity chart is a diagram that individuals fill in with words and phrases they use to describe themselves as well as the labels that society gives them.

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“ORIENTATION DAY”

Answer the following questions.

  • What could Wang’s teacher have done to make her feel more welcome in the class?

Your response here

  • What could other students have done to make Wang feel like she belonged?

Your response here

  • What is important to know about each other in order to learn together this year?

Your response here

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WHAT DO YOU NEED?

Answer these questions in Padlet:

  1. What can the teacher do to help you be the best learner you can be in this class?
  2. What can other students in the class do to help you be the best learner you can be?
  3. How will you help other students in the class be the best learners they can be?

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INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY CHART

Complete a Starburst Identity Chart below for yourself.

Your Name

At the ends of the arrows pointing outward, write words or phrases that describe what you consider to be key aspects of your identity. At the ends of the arrows pointing inward, write labels others might use to describe you. Add more arrows as needed.

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LEARN ABOUT EACH OTHER’S IDENTITIES

Choose one question to respond to in Flipgrid

  • What is the most important part of your identity? �What is a story that explains its significance to you?
  • What is one thing that you want other students in the class to know about your identity, and why?
  • What is one way that how you think about yourself is different from how others might describe you?
  • Who is a historical or fictional figure that you identify with or admire, and why?

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WHAT DO YOU NEED?

Answer these questions in Google Classroom:

  • One misunderstanding a teacher might have about me is . . .
  • But in reality, the truth about me is . . .

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WHAT IS A COMMUNITY?

Drag the dot on the spectrum below to indicate your opinion of the statements.

Communities are made up of people who are more or less the same.

Joining a community means you have to give up some of your individual identity.

Communities have certain rules for membership. Not just anyone can belong.

For a community to be strong, all members must like each other.

A history class is a kind of community.

The United States is a kind of community.

Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

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Strongly Disagree

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Strongly Disagree

Strongly Agree

Strongly Disagree

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Strongly Agree

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Suzanne Goldsmith

“Communities are not built of friends, or of groups with similar styles and tastes, or even of people who like and understand each other. They are built of people who feel they are part of something that is bigger than themselves: a shared goal or enterprise, like righting a wrong, or building a road, or raising children, or living honorably, or worshipping a god. To build community requires only the ability to see value in others, to look at them and see a potential partner in one’s enterprise.”

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Communities are not built of friends, or of groups with similar styles and tastes, or even of people who like and understand each other.

SKETCH an image that represents this idea about community from the quote above.

TELL -- Summarize the quote above in 3-4 words.

Your response here

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They are built of people who feel they are part of something that is bigger than themselves: a shared goal or enterprise, like righting a wrong, or building a road, or raising children, or living honorably, or worshipping a god.

SKETCH an image that represents this idea about community from the quote above.

TELL -- Summarize the quote above in 3-4 words.

Your response here

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To build community requires only the ability to see value in others, to look at them and see a potential partner in one’s enterprise.

SKETCH an image that represents this idea about community from the quote above.

TELL -- Summarize the quote above in 3-4 words.

Your response here

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COMMUNITY

Answer the following questions.

  • Use Goldsmith’s definition to support your thinking: How can a history class be a kind of community?

Your response here

  • What is the “shared enterprise” of a class community?

Your response here

  • What does it mean to see someone as a “potential partner” in learning?

Your response here

  • What would need to happen in order for the members of this classroom community to “see value in others” in the group?

Your response here

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CREATING A CLASSROOM CONTRACT

The next lesson in the series is creating a classroom contract.

I do one differently than Facing History, but wanted to provide the link here.

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WHAT DO YOU NEED?

Answer these questions in Padlet:

  • A strong community is…
  • What qualities of a strong community does this class already have?
  • What needs to happen in order for our classroom community to grow stronger?

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THANKS!

Please keep this slide for attribution.

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