The El deafo event that I attended was called “Exploring Identity”. This event was put together by a grad class and consisted of numerous activities. The first activity was a giant game of telephone. This showed us how messages can get jumbled, which is especially important when considering people with a hearing impairment. I enjoyed the new way to look at this game. I remember always playing it in elementary and middle school as a lesson for how rumors can easily change and messages can be mixed up. This however was focusing on how messages can change for those with a hearing impairment because it can be harder to focus on what is being said. I appreciated this new take of the classic game. After this we were broken up into three different groups for three other activities. My group started in the discussion activity. In this activity we talked a lot about our community along with empathy. I had a local high school student who practices the islamic faith. Her insights around community were amazing for me. She talked a lot about how her sense of community changes depending on where she is. When she is with her muslim friends she feels as though she can completely be herself, but at school she is sometimes afraid to share her religion and her full self, because she is afraid of how those around her will treat her. As someone who has been a part of the majority this really gave me a new way to look at how a community could make someone who belongs to the minority feel. This also helped me think about Cece and how she was only comfortable with people who accepted her and did not make a big deal of her hearing impairment.
Performance Criterion 3.2 states that Candidates design learning environments that support collaborative learning marked by positive social interaction. I believe this event shows this, because the event has future educators think about how we will create a positive and tolerable environment for all people. The community activity showed that it is important to create an environment that all students feel comfortable in. This will mean creating an environment that encourages students to talks about differences in a positive way. This is something that I hope I am able to do when I am a future teacher. I definitely plan in building a community in my classroom that celebrates difference instead of hide from them.
This event made me think of the importance of creating a community amongst my students. The community activity really stuck with me. I want to create an environment where all my students feel comfortable to be themselves. I don’t want my students to feel like they have to hide who they are. I want to create this community by making my classroom a safe space for student, and make it clear that hurtful language and intolerance will not be welcomed in my classroom. I will also create this environment by being kind to my students and celebrating all of my students’ differences. If I lead by example I will be able to encourage my students to do the same.
