K- 12 Upcoming Opportunities
Supporting Meaningful Experiences for Staff and Students
About this Resource
Resources Supporting Building Inclusive Learning Communities
From: Facing History and Ourselves
While the opening weeks of school are always a time for building community and focusing on social-emotional learning, this is especially crucial as the school year begins. Educators need to consider how they can create welcoming environments that prioritize care, relationships, and community, regardless of how and where their students are learning. Students will be more likely to engage, take risks, and support each other if they feel a sense of trust and belonging among the group members and with their teacher.
This collection of activities address three important goals for the beginning of the school year:
- Reorienting students to school
- Getting to know each other and building relationships
- Creating classroom community
From: School Mental Health Ontario
Creating Caring Connections and Supporting Student Mental Health and Well-Being During the Return to School.
About this Resource:
"The First 10 Days resource was created by practicing school mental health professionals and educators, alongside School Mental Health Ontario. It is not meant to be prescriptive. It offers a range of ideas to help you to get the school year off to a good start. You can certainly substitute different activities or modify strategies to fit with your class grade and complement. You can stretch the learning over more than ten days or condense it into fewer days. You know your students best. The ideas here are meant to spark ideas. The activities outlined in the resource focus on relationships, connection, and community. They are designed to help students ease into school routines. That will allow them time to learn and practice skills to cope with emotions and challenges they may encounter in the coming weeks. As they learn ways for supporting social-emotional skills and mental health, students can create a “toolbox” of strategies to practice throughout the year in and outside school. Ideas within the First 10 Days are meant to be used universally, class-wide. All students will benefit from a chance to debrief, build relationships, feel a sense of safety and belonging, calm anxiety, and re-engage with learning when they return to school."
https://smho-smso.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/The-First-10-Days.pdf
Affirming Identities and Building Connections
Here is a link to Sara K. Ahmed's, Being the Change
Sample (Chapter 1: Affirming Our Identities: Identity Webs Introduction and Lesson)
Thank you for exploring Being the Change
In this sample, you will find:
- The Foreword by Terrence J. Roberts, PhD.
- An Introduction to Social Comprehension and Strategies to Prepare You for the Work Ahead
- Affirming Our Identities: Identity Webs Introduction and Lesson
Blogs/Websites that compliment Identity Web lessons:
Seen, Valued, Heard: Honoring Identity to Establish Community
Stay Tuned!
Each lesson/slide deck will work to build classroom community and equity literacy/social comprehension understanding by unpacking EDI terminology through a balance of personal reflection, group discussions, and classroom activities!
The three key topics highlighted are:
Exploring Identity
Challenging Bias/Assumptions
Recognizing and Addressing Microaggressions & Being An Upstander
Names Matter
From: https://www.pbssocal.org/education/honor-students-heritage-pronouncing-names-correctly
BY ASKING STUDENTS THEIR PRONOUNS, EDUCATORS CAN MAKE ROOM FOR STUDENTS WHO MAY BE EXPLORING THEIR GENDER IDENTITY
Here are some ideas to get you thinking:
From: Erin Cross, the Director of Penn’s Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center and a Penn GSE lecturer, and Amy Hillier, a professor at Penn’s School of Social Policy and Practice
Be inclusive and personal: Avoiding gendered language is one of the easiest ways to avoid misgendering students. Instead of saying “boys and girls” or “ladies and gentlemen,” try “folks” or “everyone.”
"They/them/their" works: Growing up, many of us were taught that if you were identifying a single person by a pronoun, you had to use "he" or "she." "They" was only for groups of people. Those rules have changed, and "they" or "them" is now a nonbinary way to address anyone.
Be prepared to make a mistake—and to apologize: Despite our best efforts, we sometimes misgender people. As a culture we are in the habit of assuming pronouns based on appearance. This habit can be hard to break. When you misgender someone, correct yourself, apologize, and move on. You don’t need to justify yourself or overly apologize. It’s OK. But it’s important to challenge yourself to get it right the next time.
If you hear other students or faculty using the wrong pronouns for a student, check in with the student to see if and how they would like you to address it.
Be a model for your students: In a college classroom or professional setting, we might go around and ask everyone their pronouns. But asking younger students to identify their gender might cause transgender students to feel like they are being singled out.
Before you ask students to share, explain that you want to make sure you are referring to everyone by their correct name and pronoun, which you can't assume based on appearance. Model this approach by sharing your name and pronoun. Be sure to reinforce that it is okay if folks choose not to share.
Use a form to give students more privacy: Another approach is to ask every student to fill out a form that will help you get to know them better. Questions like "What is my name?" "What do I like to be called?" and "What are my pronouns?" can fit beside questions like "Do I have a nut allergy?" See the Example Below.
Keep talking: Stress that this conversation will continue throughout the school year, and that pronouns can change.
Start off the year by making all students feel welcome: Many transgender students will use the summer break as a time to transition their gender identity, so the beginning of the school year is a natural time for a teacher to ask students how they would like to be referred to. This simple question can create a welcoming space for all students."
From: https://www.gse.upenn.edu/news/educators-playbook/erin-cross-pronouns-gender-identity
Cultivating Inclusive Spaces for 2SLGBTQ+ Staff, Students and Communities
Have You visited gegi.ca?
"The goal of gegi.ca is to equip all Ontario students and teachers – whether transgender or cisgender – with the tools to advocate for the right to express and live their gender in their own way without experiencing discrimination, harassment or violence, and without being told they have to change.
Recognizing that gender expression and gender identity have been protected grounds in the Ontario Human Rights Code since 2012, gegi.ca indirectly supports schools in learning about how their structures, practices and curricula may have to change.
Gegi.ca has a page just for your school board, featuring board-specific information on the policies and local resources that can help you to provide or advocate for an environment free from gender expression and gender identity discrimination."
Here are some additional resorces
September Dates to Keep In Mind
Rosh Hashanah
25 September, 2022 - 27 September, 2022
Recognizing that Rosh Hashanah is an important High Holy Day for Jewish families (Jewish New Year), we appreciate that schools will work to accommodate students, families, and staff who observe this celebration.
International Week of the Deaf
International Week of the Deaf is celebrated annually during the last full week of September.
I/S Opportunity: Stand up against street harassment!
Description
"Like much of the world, we are all still figuring out how COVID19 will change us. We’ve seen what happens when millions of people band together to take care of one another against the odds. How can we bring that forward into our lives after this is over?
It starts by taking action right now. Join us for a one-hour, interactive, virtual training to learn how to intervene when you see harassment happening. We’ll talk about what harassment looks like — from microaggressions to violence — and how Right To Be's 5D’s of bystander intervention can help: distract, delegate, document, delay, and direct.
We’ll also talk about how to prioritize your own safety while intervening and how to respond if you get harassed. We’ll have time at the end for practice, and you’ll leave feeling more confident intervening the next time you see street harassment!"
From: National Centre For Truth And Reconciliation
This year, our theme is “Remember the Children”. Join us as we memorialize the children lost to the residential school system and honour Survivors and their families. Learning and commemorating the truth of our history is an important part of the path to Reconciliation.
This year will include an expanded program with age-appropriate material for students in grades 1 through 12.
All sessions will be held virtually on Hubilo and registration is required to stream live and pre-recorded sessions and participate in Q & A segments.
The NCTR derives its mandate from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action and from the agreements under which the Centre was established and the records of Residential School Survivors first entrusted to its care.
A message from the equity team
Welcome Back! Here are some quick links and tips to support LDSB's collective work ahead!
We also included a description of our key responsibilities: Human Rights and Equity Team
You can check it out here:
HAVE YOU REGISTERD ON MINDS ON LINE FOR ADDITIONAL RESOURCES/SUPPORTS?
To support this important work, we are continuing to build our bank of resources on Minds Online's Self-Registering Course: Equity and Anti-Racism Supports.
A friendly reminder...
Our interim dress code still applies pending the release of a new dress code AP.
Here is the link the guidelines:
https://www.limestone.on.ca/board/appropriate_dress_code_interim_guidelines
About Us
The LDSB Equity team is excited to continue working with both staff and students, providing resources and spaces that foster a strong sense of belonging, so everyone can see themselves in Limestone!
Please do not hesitate to contact us; we look forward to working with you!
7-12 Equity & Inclusion Consultant
613-544-6925 ext.215
Rachael McDonald
K-8 Equity & Inclusion Consultant
613-544-6925 ext.336
Human Rights & Equity Officer
613-544-6925 ext.256