Buttons for Belonging - A GSA Project
November 12-15: Survey Week
We invite all students and staff at Bayside to participate in a survey, to gather information before our project begins.
Please follow the link and take a couple minutes to complete the survey. Answer the questions honestly. There are no names attached to the survey. We're looking for your ideas, not your name! Thanks!
https://forms.gle/EzDoVadFtafHDnyaA
We invite all students and staff at Bayside to participate in a survey, to gather information before our project begins.
Please follow the link and take a couple minutes to complete the survey. Answer the questions honestly. There are no names attached to the survey. We're looking for your ideas, not your name! Thanks!
https://forms.gle/EzDoVadFtafHDnyaA
Project Information:
I am working on a project called, "Buttons for Belonging." Initially, this is focused on supporting our GSA and building school-wide understanding of the LGBTQ2+ Community. Over time, this project could be duplicated for other topics, curricular and extra-curricular.
The project will involve the purchase of a button maker and button making supplies. The initial cost about $750. We have raised some money (Approximately $250), with the help of a school fundraiser.
The project will involve:
Communication:
Extension: Of course, these tools can be used for many other projects:
Connections to School Planning:
Connections to NB Global Competencies:
Curricular Links:
I will focus on English Language Arts:
Speaking & Listening: End of Grade 8 Student Achievement Standards (Atlantic Canada ELA Curriculum Grades 7-9)
I am working on a project called, "Buttons for Belonging." Initially, this is focused on supporting our GSA and building school-wide understanding of the LGBTQ2+ Community. Over time, this project could be duplicated for other topics, curricular and extra-curricular.
The project will involve the purchase of a button maker and button making supplies. The initial cost about $750. We have raised some money (Approximately $250), with the help of a school fundraiser.
The project will involve:
- A pre-project survey for students, using survey monkey or a similar platform, to gather information on some basic LGBTQ2+ topics - ex. Do you know what it means when someone asks what your preferred pronouns are? Do you know what GSA is? Do you know what an Ally is? Do you know what LGBTQ2+ stands for?
- After this is done, students in GSA will create buttons to share something about themselves (some examples would be their preferred flag, preferred pronouns, ally logos, etc.).
- Students will be open to conversations and answering questions to help fellow students understand what their buttons represent.
- We would also create some announcements, posters, and theme days when non-GSA kids could get their own pins to wear to spread awareness.
- After the 20 weeks, I would administer the survey again to see if there are changes to responses in the school-wide population. Ultimately, our goal is to create a more understanding and respectful school community.
Communication:
- We will be making use of the school twitter feed to share our creations and the meaning behind our projects, using #Buttons4Belonging
- At the end of the project, I will create a document to share the idea, results and how it can be duplicated.
Extension: Of course, these tools can be used for many other projects:
- Entrepreneurship: We will use the button maker as a fundraising tool to further the work of our GSA: renting it out to school groups or creating buttons for them
- Language Arts: creating a collection of buttons that would represent a book character, taking into account character traits.
- Social studies: create a collection of buttons that would represent a historical figure or could be used for political campaigns or to represent a particular time in history.
- Science/Math/other subjects: Demonstrate knowledge of a topic by making a series of pins to teach others
- The possibilities are endless!
Connections to School Planning:
- SIP: Goal #5: To Provide a Positive Learning and Working environment for all students. Part of this goal includes having and supporting a GSA.
- DIP: Goal #5.2: To increase capacity of schools to promote affirming cultures (building the capacity of GSAs and increasing diversity of curriculum resources with regards to LGBTQ+.
- Provincial 10 year plan: Objective 1: Ensure all learners value diversity and have a strong sense of belonging.
Connections to NB Global Competencies:
- Innovation, Creativity & Entrepreneurship: Enhances concepts, ideas, or products through a creative process; seeks and makes use of feedback to clarify understanding, ideas, and products.
- Self-Awareness and Self-Management: Has self-efficacy, sees themselves as learners, and believes that they can make life better for themselves and others; develops a positive identify, sense of self, and purpose from their personal and cultural qualities
- Collaboration: participates in teams by establishing positive and respectful relationships, developing trust, and acting interdependently and with integrity; learns from and contributes to the learning of others by co-constructing knowledge, meaning and content; networks with a variety of communities/groups; fosters social well-being, inclusivity, and belonging for themselves and others by creating and maintaining positive relationships with diverse groups of people.
- Communication: expresses themselves using the appropriate communication tools for the intended audience
- Sustainability & Global Citizenship: Recognizes discrimination and promotes principles of quality, human rights, and democratic participation
Curricular Links:
I will focus on English Language Arts:
Speaking & Listening: End of Grade 8 Student Achievement Standards (Atlantic Canada ELA Curriculum Grades 7-9)
- Students who have achieved SCO 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4 will be expected to, "initiate conversations about a range of topics, respond appropriately when others initiate conversation, and pose questions in class discussion to gain understanding;" and "recognize the ideas of others and demonstrate an awareness of diverse points of view."
- Students who have achieved SCO 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 will be expected to, "engage in dialogue in one-on-one, small-group, and large-group discussions to understand the feelings and viewpoints of others and to contribute to group harmony;" and speak and listen to make personal responses to texts by making connections with prior knowledge and experiences, describing reactions and emotions, generating thoughtful questions, and developing opinions with reasons."
- SCO 8.1: Students will be expected to demonstrate competence in the frequent use of writing and representing strategies to extend learning; to explore their own thoughts and consider others' ideas; to reflect on their feelings, values, and attitudes."
- SCO 9.3: Students will be expected to understand that ideas can be represented in more than one way and used with other forms of representing.
- SCO 10.3: Students will be expected to use various technologies for communicating with a variety of audiences for a range of purposes.