When I Grow Up

"Whatever we believe about ourselves and our ability comes true for us."

~Susan L. Taylor

Normally, I teach Language Arts, but I taught the Social Studies lesson for today. In light of Black History Month, I wanted to teach the students in my class about some of the African American heroes that have gone done in history for great things. We went to the computer lab to watch a video on Youtube.

The video was on Mae Jemison, George Washington Carver, Madam C.J. Walker, Dr. Daniel Hale Williams and Garret A. Morgan. I paused the video a lot to explain things about each person and what they did to contribute to society. When we got to Madam C.J. Walker and the hot comb, I explained to kids how it worked and how my grandma used to always straighten my hair in the morning before going to church. The video ended with Mae Jemison's quote: "I always knew I'd go to space."

Afterward, I talked to the students about the power of the tongue and how you can speak things into existence. I asked each one of them what they wanted to be when they grew up and that if they spoke it out loud and believed in themselves, that they could do it. When we went back into the classroom, I had them write down what they wanted to be. One of the girls in my class said she wanted to be a doctor, but changed it to a nurse and I told her that there are doctors who are women as well. After they wrote what they wanted to be, they had to write "I can do it!"

 

This lesson was important to me because I was able to share a part of my culture with my class and co-teacher. Also, I wanted them to know that just like these historical African American men and women, they could accomplish anything they wanted. It warmed my heart to hear them chant "I can do it!"