Over the past few weeks, two of my professional dreams came true. One is that I was able to formally introduce myself as a coach to my colleagues. The other is that we are developing a Kid Equity group at my school. Today I am excited to write about the Kid Equity group and some of our first lessons with the students in the group!
Three elements of the Kid Equity group are exciting to me. First, we are building off of and connecting to some of the work in which some of our middle school and high school student leaders have been engaging in. Second, this is important work to center the voices of our student leaders on critical topics for all students around equity and valuing diversity; these particular students are in grades three through five. Third, the teachers involved in the work are collaborating closely to create something much richer than I could do on my own; this is allowing me to learn from my co-teachers and provide the best experiences possible for my Kid Equity group.
We are basing our work on the four themes/sections in This Book is Anti-Racist, starting with “Understanding and Growing Into My Identities.” We will begin each of our sessions with a Morning Meeting and an affirmation. Then, we will read aloud a book connected to identity and do an engaging activity. The books are books in which students can see themselves and learn about others; we are trying to highlight “Own Voice Authors.” Some of the books include:
Marisol McDonald Doesn’t Match
One of the collaborators in this project is our amazing, talented Art Teacher who has made the first two activities into videos to support both the students and the facilitators explore identity deeply, through art. On the first day of this activity, students will write about their identity, exploring both external and internal aspects of what makes them unique. Using a fingerprint, they will write attributes and identifiers, then do a Gallery Walk to see what classmates wrote. The Gallery Walk is designed to form community and generate more ideas for each student.
On the second day, students will create a self-portrait, including some of their identity markers. What I love about this self-portrait is that it recognizes and makes explicit to students that some of our identity is visible and some is internal. This is done through a concrete piece of art with layers.
I know this is just the beginning of this project but am excited about the teacher collaboration, the work with students, and the impact on our school as we share what our Kids Equity students are doing with all students, and give them opportunities to shine as we center their leadership skills.