Thanksgiving has got me thinking about my classroom in two different ways: 1) not everyone celebrates the same holidays - how will I include everyone? and 2) how do I incorporate holidays into my lesson plans/activities?
When I was younger, I was one of those people that thought everyone celebrated the same holidays. It wasn't until college that I began to realize that not everyone celebrated Christmas or gets as excited about Halloween as your family does. It made me realize that everyone has a different background, different family, and different beliefs. If I want to be a great teachers, I have to remember to always incorporate and be "politically correct" about everything I say and do in the classroom. I do not want to offend any of my students or make any of them feel as if their religion or beliefs are not as important.
As for as incorporating the holidays into my lesson plans, I feel that that is a must. Students need to feel that what they are doing is important, that it pertains to them. There is no easier way to do that then by making what we do in the class relate to their lives in some way. I believe that the holidays can be a great time to make these connections. We should incorporate each holiday into our lesson plans. Students could make snow, or predict how far they can launch certain sized pumpkins, or how to grow the biggest pumpkin, or they could look into why there are 3-leaf vs 4-leaf clovers, or they could figure out how arrows fly. There are endless possibilities related to holidays and science. These possible activities could be both meaningful and informative, but most of all they would be memorable.