I’ve found that mingling in the hallways during passing periods has helped keep kids from making inappropriate comments or being violent. I also respond quickly and constantly to bullying that occurs in my classroom and in the hallways. Making this anonymous helps students find the safety to express themselves and receive feedback in a non-judgmental way. I also work to incorporate different types of brain breaks to allow students the chance to express their creativity, their ideas, and their viewpoints. The fan club cheers and continues growing until it’s a head-to-head finale. When a student “loses” to their partner, they become part of the “winning” student’s fan club. The game is silly by nature, so it gets the students laughing and engaging with each other. This game gets all kids up out of their seats and into a fun, low-stakes competition with their peers. One of our favorite games to play is Bear, Salmon, Mosquito, which is a lot like Rock, Paper, Scissors. I’ve implemented many class and team-building activities in my room so that my students feel like valued members of our classroom. DeGidio has a passion for educational technology and increasing student engagement.īuilding a safe classroom environment for all members of our learning community is important to me as a high school teacher.
![gay pride day of silence gay pride day of silence](https://static.thereisadayforthat.com/images/1280x853c/birthday-2901945_1920.jpg)
Nicole DeGidio is a high school English teacher, 6-12 ESL teacher, and instructional and technology coach at Clayton Ridge Middle School and High School, a rural school in northeast Iowa.
![gay pride day of silence gay pride day of silence](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/A13usaonutL._CLa|2140%2C2000|81DLdSmfHaL.png)
To gain some more insight, we spoke to two teachers who wanted to shed some light on their experiences. The purpose of this rally is to share their experience during the protest and bring attention to ways their schools and communities can become more inclusive.
![gay pride day of silence gay pride day of silence](https://i.etsystatic.com/isbi/32869b/2723169728/isbi_fullxfull.2723169728_9x9epvey.jpg)
This group of students will finish with “Breaking the Silence” rallies at the end of the day. Around April 23rd, students go through the school day without speaking. The Day of Silence has expanded to reach hundreds of thousands of students worldwide, each year. This includes standing up against anti-LGBT attitudes or enforcements. The GLSEN Day of Silence is a national student-led demonstration started by Maria Pulzetti LGBTQ students and allies take a vow of silence in protest against the detrimental effects of harassment and discrimination against LGBTQ people in schools. This group recognized just how much of a key role educators play in creating safe and affirming learning environments for LGBTQ youth, and now use their platform to support student-led moments such as the GLSEN Day of Silence. GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network) was established by teachers in 1990. One of the ways we can support our students in the LGBTQ community-and further educate those who aren’t-is by acknowledging and taking part in the GLSEN Day of Silence. That’s why we’re responsible for supporting each and every one, in any way we can, so that they all feel, seen, safe, and supported during their formative years. This includes figuring out their gender identity and sexual orientation. Each has their own unique thoughts, feelings, and personal lives as much as we’d love to understand all their inner workings, there’s so much going on behind the scenes that we’ll never know about. The Day of Silence is also observed in countries like New Zealand and Singapore.As educators, we interact with countless numbers of students, every day. At the end of the day, all the participants together break their vow by taking part in rallies or attending/dispensing speeches. Some also draw the letter X on their hands to mark the day. To symbolically represent the silence hurled at LGBTQ+ students, people participating in the protest typically stick tapes on their mouths. The movement became a national phenomenon the following year and since then, the National Day of Silence has expanded across schools, colleges and workspaces in the United States.
![gay pride day of silence gay pride day of silence](https://ih1.redbubble.net/image.775011402.2807/pp,840x830-pad,1000x1000,f8f8f8.u4.jpg)
Created by then-student Maria Pulzetti, the aim of this protest was to bring to light the circumstances that the LGBTQ+ community have to grow through, typically being waved off or silenced by their parents and being turned a blind eye to by the administration. It was initially identified as a class-project formed on non-violent protesting. The first seeds of this movement were sown in 1966 by the students belonging to the University of Virginia. National Day of Silence is observed in April each year as a movement against the harassment and bullying of individuals identifying with the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (LGBTQ+) community.Īs the name suggests, students protesting for this movement typically take a day-long vow of silence to symbolically represent how the students from the LGBTQ+ community were silenced throughout the years.