Dance Curriculum Toolkit

Title of Resource: "No-Name Calling" Week

 

Target Audience: Educators, Administrators, Students, Parents, Community Members

 

Description of Resource:  The GLSEN (Gay, Lesbian, Straight, Education, Network) website sponsors the school event, "No Name-Calling Week".  This resource provides the public with information about how to start, host, and evaluate school's participation throughout "No Name-Calling Week".  The website promotes the maintenance of a safe school environment for all students.  It provides educators with resources for their classrooms such as lesson plans, posters, fliers, and information that can be used in the classroom as well as outside of the classroom.  There are also materials for parents as well as students to access at their leisure.    The tabs at the top of the page are: Learn, Act, Teach, Connect and Support.  All of these words imply action towards a healthier environment all around for all children.  

 

Appropriateness for High School Students: I think that participation in a week of "No Name-Calling" is appropriate for students of all ages!  What I think is most beneficial about this particular event is that it is not specific.  The vagueness of the term name-calling, includes such a wide variety of topics and issues that are visible as well as unknown in schools today.  Unfortunately, students use name-calling as a put-down and means of bullying others to make themselves feel superior.  I think this is relevant to high school students because as students mature and go through the various stages of puberty into adulthood, some students struggles with issues of self-confidence/self-esteem as they progress through some of the "gawky" stages of growing up.  Unfortunately, teens/young adults are some of the worst offenders of bullying.  This event requires active participation from students to engage in this activity and really stop and think about their actions.  Bullying is a topic that most students think is a "farce" but it is still occurring in today's society.  

 

Use of Resource in Classroom/Ways to Implement this Resource in my Classroom: I believe that every school should participate in the GLSEN's "No Name-Calling Week" as it promotes a truly safe school environment, which all students deserve.  The website walks through the setup process for anyone who wants to implement this event in their school.   Along with details about the "No Name-Calling Week" event, the webpages provide great resources for encouraging a bully-free environment in schools and resources for students to access about the seriousness and detriment that name-calling has on others.  This website contains resources for educators such as posters, lesson plans, activities, outreach programs, and ways to encourage students to get involved in this good cause.  In my studio classroom, I would hang the posters this website provides as a reminder to students to think before they engage in name-calling.  The consequences of name-calling can be life-long and finding a way to get through to students that it is not a "joke", would prove beneficial to them long-term.  I hope to implement this event in whatever school that I am in one day if it is not already a part of the academic year.  My hope would be in my classroom, to open the discussion to students in a manner that they would find engaging.  Depending on the dynamic of the class, this discussion may happen as a group if I think that the class is comfortable enough to speak openly about the topic.  Another option for discussion would be, I would pose one question at a time that students would respond to on an anonymous sheet of paper and when they finish, they would place their paper in a box/hat that I would shake up and read aloud to the class as a way of promoting and facilitating the conversation.  A few examples of questions I might pose would be, "Have you ever bullied someone or stood as a bystander while someone else was bullied? If so, why did you bully that person? If you were a bystander, why didn't you stand up?" or "Why is it important to talk about bullying?" or "What do you think a week of no-name calling is important?" to name a few.  As the conversation continues, I would build lists on the board of action words, adjectives, and other valuable phrases that come up in discussion.  From there, I would have students use the lists that they have created as a jumping-off point for them to begin working on a piece of choreography as their reaction, response, or feelings about the "No Name-Calling Week".

 

Strengths of Resource as a Teaching Tool (Purpose, Value, Uniqueness, Positive Aspects):  What I like most about this event it that it lasts an entire week.  Often times, events such as this are only 1-2 days long, however, by having an entire week dedicated to no name-calling allows for teachers, such as myself, to spend time expanding on what students already know and opening the conversation in a safe-space as a way of finding solutions.  I think that students are more informed now about bullying and have learned about it in schools that in high school, it's about taking the next step.  The resources that the site offers are great and one in particular I found to be very useful is the "10 Simple Ways to Celebrate No Name-Calling Week in your School!"  This site helps educators promote action as well as encourages students to take action and standup to stop the hatred and bullying.  I also found it very unique that this website is not geared toward a specific age group but rather encompasses all age groups which I think is very special and an all-around complete resource for educators and families to access throughout the years.  

 

Possible Modifications to Resource (Weaknesses, Limitations, Supplemental Resources):  In today's society, much of the bullying that occurs between students is not longer happening in schools at recess but rather "cyber-bullying" has become the new trend.  The scariest thing about cyber-bullying is that there is no way to control it, and most of the time; cyber-bullying incidents do not get reported because they happen outside of school away from adult supervision.  Potential modifications that may need to be made might depend on, how involved school administrators are willing to get in this event.  In order for this "No Name-Calling Week" to be successful, everyone has to be on the same page and be on board with what is going to take place.  I think that there has to be a strong framework set that addresses how students that resist participation in this weeklong event are going to be handled.  Will there be consequences for these students?  Will there be awards or rewards given to students who perform exceptionally during this week?  Is every teacher willing to be an active participant in this weeklong event?  All of these questions are just a few of the logistics that I think will need to be addressed and discussed in order to have a successful week.

 

Resource Citation: GLSEN. (2012). Join the thousands of schools that celebrate no name-calling week each year! Retrieved from http://glsen.org/nonamecallingweek/planning-resources