VSTE

Virginia Society for Technology in Education

Lesson Planning

Language: A Step Toward Inclusivity

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Written by VSTE Board Member & UnisonEDU founder, Patrick Hausammann. Connect with him at @PHausEDU.com on Bluesky & @PHausEDU on X.

Few things in life can affect or move us more than a great story. The story keeps us held in suspense or riveted in anticipation as we listen or read the events unfolding. When a story is a great one, the pages seem to fly by as you consume the literary genius as quickly as you can, placing yourself in the story as you go. By the end, you’ve lived the events with the character, you’ve felt all the possible feelings, and you’ve reached the resolution. Even if you wished the ending to be different, you’ve loved, felt, and experienced the story. 

Now picture the same story but as you read it you’re filled with a sense of loss, disconnection, and even anger. The story still flows well and you can easily tell it’s well crafted, however, you know quickly it’s not by someone you like or that thought of you. You’re unable to place yourself in the story but you keep going in hopes you’re included, perhaps just on the next page or coming spoken word. Alas, you arrive at the end just as frustrated as you were towards the beginning. You’ve not lived events through the characters nor have you felt anything but the negative feelings that arose early on. You hope the memory of the story will soon fade but know it will likely stay around a while due to the strength of emotion you feel.

Such polar opposite reactions are present every single day in classrooms, workplaces, and even homes around the world. There are many elements of equity and inclusivity that contribute to the stark contrast of the two experiences. Some of these include bias, racism, prejudice, homophobia, sexism, genderism, ableism, and ageism. In a story, elements of these can be found in numerous parts from an author, however, one of the most prominent is often the language used.

Hopefully, one big question you have at this point in the post is, what can I do to be more inclusive and not alienate anyone that reads or hears my stories, writing, etc.? Below are the first two steps I would recommend to begin your journey. It is my sincere hope that they continue a wave of progress that can be seen in numerous large technology companies and beyond. They should also help in expanding your reading and social networks further allowing you to continue your journey past this entry level.

  1. Educated Commitment
  • Don’t try to be more inclusive in your language without also learning more and examining your own biases and past interactions. There are few things worse than performative measures taken to mask a true self that will undoubtedly surface and carve a swath of loss, disconnection, and anger in many readers while fueling the perpetuation of negative biases in others. A false facade will be uncovered by those it will hurt the most. Think and learn first. Apologize for the past wherever hurt has been caused. Follow the great Maya Angelou’s model, “I did then what I knew how to do. Now that I know better, I do better.” Ken Shelton (https://kennethshelton.net/) in collaboration with Microsoft created an online learning pathway, “Anti-racism journey for educators with students,” that would be a great place to start your journey. It can be accessed here: https://education.microsoft.com/en-us/learningPath/8ec7f261
  1. Role Specific Research

Now that you’ve begun your journey to being more inclusive in your language and have committed to ongoing education and growth, be sure to share as you progress. Your share may just be the words another needs to read or hear to start their journey. Be an active ally and upstander calling out and educating those that practice exclusion, racism, and more when you recognize it. Together we can make a true difference and progress towards a world where everyone can live the events with the character representative of themselves and feel all the possible feelings from the story and not the exclusion they embody.

 

Bonus Resource: Anti-Racist Language Guide from the University of Arizona

 

Sketchnoting

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While it's a form of notetaking that has been around for a little while now, some may not be aware of sketchnoting as applied to student use. This method of notetaking helps to summarize thoughts in a unique way. Originally posted in September of 2020, author Chad Fisher provides his take on this for use with students. Connect with him on Twitter at @Chad_the_ITC.

Sketchnoting is something that has been around for a little while now. This method of taking notes is a little different than your typical outlines and takes a lot more thought in the planning of your drawings. But that can be the beauty of sketchnoting. You really have to conceptualize what you're hearing and make sense of it in order to place it into some type of drawing that can make sense to you.

Last year I was asked to come into a classroom and talk about some possible digital options that students could use for creating sketchnotes. One option that I thought of is called Autodraw. This online tool is part of Google's experimental labs and has been in use for several years now and isn't the only tool online that students can use. Autodraw is a little different from other drawing applications though in that users don't have to have the best of drawing skills in order to make or draw things. You just need to start drawing something and the app will make suggestions as to what it is that you're trying to draw. You just select the closest object to what you wanted and it takes the place of what you were drawing. It's not always 100% accurate but I was surprised at how well it actually worked.

A Sketchnote by Sylvia Duckworth ( https://sylviaduckworth.com/) from https://www.edtechteam.com/blog/2018/08/eduslam-how-to-sketchnote/

The Autodraw app lends itself very well to sketchnoting but doesn't only need to be used with notetaking. Drawings created in the application can be downloaded and then reused in whatever way that is needed or required. So if there's a reason why you need students to draw online consider this as a good option for those who feel they lack the necessary drawing skills.

With the current lack of participation by many students who may be working virtually, Sketchnoting may be one avenue to think about to get students more involved. Yes. Not all students may enjoy working with this notetaking technique but some may. Why not at least give it a try? Even if students don't use the online method and instead use old fashioned paper and pencil they may get more out of listening to their teachers doing online presentations or videos.

Can I use this amazing resource? Part 1

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Written by UnisonEdu member Rosemary Wagoner. You can connect with her on Twitter at @roswag.

Copyright Fundamentals: Fair Use Doctrine | Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education - IICLE

Determining if a work can be used in instruction can be confusing. Fair Use Guidelines help guide us as we consider if something can be used. We will be examining works for evidence to determine if they meet the Fair Use guidelines and can be used in instruction. 

There are many great resources online for instruction. It is also very easy to download the many resources. It is wonderful that educators can share resources easily over the internet. We just need to be careful of where the resources come from and if they qualify as “fair use”. Two sites that teachers get resources that are concerning are Teacher Pay Teacher and Pinterest. Both of these sites have value you’re just depending on others to have posted within the Copyright and Fair Use rules. It is also important to understand when you purchase something on Teachers Pay Teachers you're paying for the right to use that with your class. You would not want to put this on the internet where others can get it without paying for it. Remember the teacher who created is probably trying to earn some extra money. If your colleagues like the resource they should pay to use it too. 

Kathy Schrock is a tremendous resource  She has a plethora of resources on just about any technology use. ITRT. She has an entire section devoted to Respect for Intellectual Property. This page can be found at https://www.schrockguide.net/intellectual-property.html. Let’s  review a few of the resources found on this page. Common Sense Media.org also has good resources for staying safe and following Fair Use guidelines. They have a good lesson plan found at https://www.commonsense.org/education/digital-citizenship/lesson/the-four-factors-of-fair-use. As an educator there are resources you can use that the average person would not be able to use legally. Fair Use part of the Copyright Laws govern what teachers and students can use of resources found on the internet for educational purposes. Copyrightkids.org is a good resource for younger children on learning about copyright. They also have a quiz that the students can complete once they have gone through the other resources on the page. It is also a good review for adults. 

Let’s look at the factors that help determine if something qualifies under fair use. The lesson from Common Sense Media does a good job of explaining the four factors of Purpose, Amount,  Nature, and Effect. Purpose is whether it is for education or business (for profit). How are you using the work? Teaching is an area where you can use some copyright materials, but it isn’t free reign. Students can also use resources found on the internet for school projects. Amount- How much of the work will you be using? Is it a small portion or most of the work? To determine how much of the work you will be using make sure you look at the original. Make sure not to use more than 10%. Nature - What is the nature of the original work? Is it an image, article, song or video. Songs and videos have more restrictions and are watched closer by the producers. Effect- How will your use of the work affect the creator? Will it have a financial impact on the creator that keeps them from making money? This is where we need to pay special attention. 

Earlier I mentioned that it is concerning to use Pinterest and “Teachers Pay Teachers”. The reason I find it concerning is that you may not always be sure that the person who posted or is selling something has the right to do so. Try to find the original when possible. Some of the things I have seen teachers get from “Teachers Pay Teachers” involve released SOL items that the teacher selling the item put time into making into a resource. This type of thing is fine to use as the released SOL items are in the public domain once they’re posted. Anything you find from a government site is public domain. Teachers also like to share things.

Sites like, Raz-kids, and Education.com only allow you to share the resources with your class in a closed environment. A closed environment would be Google Classroom or a Learning Management System. Some examples of a LMS are Moodle, Canvas, Schoology and Blackboard. Newela gave permission to use their resources through the end of the school year. There were also many other companies that gave free access through the end of the year when we had to suddenly change to online learning. Before using them you will want to check to see if that is being extended. Make sure you review the COVID-19 special regulations to see how long the resource will be available and make sure you stop using it at the time specified.

Rosemary Wagoner

roswag13@gmail.com