Lesson I Use

The main tool I use to help facilitate equity in my classroom is creating an environment where every student can feel safe and respected so that they are comfortable sharing ideas about their own culture and beliefs. I facilitate this by doing a lot of teambuilding and sharing activities at the beginning of the year. One of the most powerful lessons I teach all year is an art lesson that has students exploring the differences and similarities in skin color. For this lesson, we create watercolor portraits using blended colors. Students work to match their own skin color for their portrait. They have to mix and experiment with colors in order to achieve the color they need. After completing the portraits, the class shares the color mix that they used to get their skin color correct for their portrait. What is revealed from this lesson is that even if you have a very different skin color from another, you probably have some shades of the same color used to make your own skin color. The ultimate lesson the students learn is that even though we look very different, we still have some things that are the same.