The day after the Whitney Kropp video we watched a YouTube video about Daniel Cui,
a freshman goalie who was bullied after his team failed to win a single
game. His team rallied around him, followed by lots of other
classmates. They used Facebook to show Daniel how much he was
appreciated.
The class really enjoyed the video, and we talked about what Whitney and
Daniel had in common - people willing to stand up for them... Everyone
deserves that!
Homecoming Prank
Today's lesson starts with a video
introducing Whitney Kropp, a senior from West Branch Michigan. Whitney
was nominated to Homecoming Court as a prank. Her classmates thought
it would be funny to watch her be humiliated by this experience. To
Whitney's surprise the town rallied around her with an outpouring of
support. She decided to go through with the experience and not let
herself be a joke to her bullies. The second video shows Whitney at the half-time Homecoming ceremony.
The comments that came up after the video were very encouraging. One boy asked "What's wrong with her?" What he meant was why shouldn't she be homecoming queen, he didn't see any reason why it would be funny...no reason why she should be embarrassed or self-conscious...she seemed totally normal. The rest of the class agreed. We talked about why it seems funny to watch other people be miserable. We agreed that it has become a very real and unfortunate part of our society.
The comments that came up after the video were very encouraging. One boy asked "What's wrong with her?" What he meant was why shouldn't she be homecoming queen, he didn't see any reason why it would be funny...no reason why she should be embarrassed or self-conscious...she seemed totally normal. The rest of the class agreed. We talked about why it seems funny to watch other people be miserable. We agreed that it has become a very real and unfortunate part of our society.
Stand-And-Deliver
This is a get to know you activity. As you read each prompt aloud students will stand if they identify with that statement. We will start out with safe questions about interests and family and move into more personal, emotional topics. The goal is to help students see that we are not so different, that we all have struggles and challenges. We are trying to build empathy and understanding.
"Please stand and look around if you..."
1) have brothers and/or sisters
2) like Mexican food
3) enjoy school
4) know how to ride a bike
5) consider yourself to be a happy person
6) have parents who are divorced
7) have fought with your parents in the past two days
8) get embarrassed easily
9) get depressed sometimes
10) consider yourself to be a kind person
11) have lost a friend or family member in the past year
12) appreciate your friends
13) appreciate your parents/family
14) could do a better job of showing your appreciation to your friends and family
15) respect other people even if they are different
16) understand that people have the right to live their lives
17) believe that harassing or intimidating other people because of the color of their skin, the clothes they wear, who they choose to love, the music they listen to, the amount of money they have, the religion they practice, etc. is UNACCEPTABLE!
15) have at least one thing in common with every person in this room
"Please stand and look around if you..."
1) have brothers and/or sisters
2) like Mexican food
3) enjoy school
4) know how to ride a bike
5) consider yourself to be a happy person
6) have parents who are divorced
7) have fought with your parents in the past two days
8) get embarrassed easily
9) get depressed sometimes
10) consider yourself to be a kind person
11) have lost a friend or family member in the past year
12) appreciate your friends
13) appreciate your parents/family
14) could do a better job of showing your appreciation to your friends and family
15) respect other people even if they are different
16) understand that people have the right to live their lives
17) believe that harassing or intimidating other people because of the color of their skin, the clothes they wear, who they choose to love, the music they listen to, the amount of money they have, the religion they practice, etc. is UNACCEPTABLE!
15) have at least one thing in common with every person in this room
Dream Big - Unlocking The Truth
Unlocking the Truth is a heavy metal band composed of three 6th graders from Brooklyn, New York; Malcolm Brickhouse (electric guitar), Jarad Dawkins (drums) and Alec Atkins (new bassist). They are focused and dedicated to their craft and are shockingly good. They have dealt with their share of bullies and have a message for you...
Don't Try This At Home
This is one of my favorites from last year...
Watch Danny MacAskill's video, he has fallen... A LOT! It was probably really frustrating and embarrassing at times, not to mention painful. But if he had given up the first time he fell off his bike, he would never have been able to achieve these amazing things.
Life is like this. You will almost certainly fail (repeatedly) before you succeed. The key is to keep trying, to not give up, to learn from each mistake, to gain experience from each failure!
Most of us have witnessed a baby or toddler learning how to walk. It can be pretty funny, but for the child it can be frustrating and they may feel like giving up. Imagine where you would be today if you gave up every time something was hard!! You have persevered and overcome more challenges than you realize. Most of us have learned how to walk, talk, tie our shoes, ride a bike, (do long division?). These things used to be hard, now they are easy. If you give as much effort to your education as you did to learning how to walk, you will be successful! It's going to be hard...it's supposed to be hard. But if you refuse to give up, you will get where you want to be.
Watch Danny MacAskill's video, he has fallen... A LOT! It was probably really frustrating and embarrassing at times, not to mention painful. But if he had given up the first time he fell off his bike, he would never have been able to achieve these amazing things.
Life is like this. You will almost certainly fail (repeatedly) before you succeed. The key is to keep trying, to not give up, to learn from each mistake, to gain experience from each failure!
Most of us have witnessed a baby or toddler learning how to walk. It can be pretty funny, but for the child it can be frustrating and they may feel like giving up. Imagine where you would be today if you gave up every time something was hard!! You have persevered and overcome more challenges than you realize. Most of us have learned how to walk, talk, tie our shoes, ride a bike, (do long division?). These things used to be hard, now they are easy. If you give as much effort to your education as you did to learning how to walk, you will be successful! It's going to be hard...it's supposed to be hard. But if you refuse to give up, you will get where you want to be.
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