Who is Invisible?

What does that even mean?

Well, if we’re talking literally, then we’re talking about someone with superhero powers or magic items: Violet from the Incredibles or Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.

If we’re talking figuratively, we’re talking about people who feel unseen or unrequited love.

And, if we’re talking about groups of people being invisible, then we might mean that a group of people are not really included or represented in novels, textbooks, media, ads, policies, conversations, videos about goal setting, etc…

• PART 1 Do you SEE people who look like you?
• PART 2 Are people who look like you represented?
• PART 3 Stories matter
• PART 4 Why does representation matter?
• PART 5 I am a biased, imperfect human being
• PART 6 Take the challenge (explanation)
• PART 7 Go beyond heroes and holidays

Who is Invisible Slideshow Lesson

• Here is a link to the NO PREP FREE slideshow diversity lesson above: https://educircles.org/view/invisible-google-slides
• Here is the playlist with the 20 YouTube videos to view, analyze and evaluate:
• Distance Learning friendly diversity activity: You can edit the Microsoft Powerpoint™ and Google Slides™ files (included in the zipped file.)
• Detailed diversity lesson plans provided.
• Answer key NOT provided. Answers will vary based on people’s aspects of identity and their lived experiences.

IMPORTANT NOTE about this diversity activity:

Although it says BLACK HISTORY MONTH in the title, this resource does NOT specifically mention Black History Month or the contributions (past or present) of this group of people.

Likewise, there are no specific examples relating to Women’s History Month, Irish-American Heritage Month, Deaf History Month, Asian Heritage month, Older Americans Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Gay Lesbian Pride Month, Hispanic-Latino Heritage Month, Disability Employment Awareness Month, Italian-American Heritage Month, or American Indian Heritage Month.

And, that’s a good thing because it means you can use this lesson package any time.

The point of this lesson is to raise awareness that some groups of people are more visible than others. And some groups of people can be portrayed in stereotypical ways (The danger of a single story).

This lesson is a great way to start off your Black History Month unit (or any social justice issue) because it gives students a chance to explore their world before going deeper with other resources.

Another IMPORTANT NOTE about this diversity activity:

This slideshow lesson does NOT provide any assignment specifics (handouts, rubrics, worksheets, etc) to do the actual Who is Invisible challenge. That’s so that every teacher can do the challenge in a way that is meaningful to them.

The slideshow lesson DOES provide everything you need to help your students understand the theory and the challenge.

This is intended to be an authentic, meaningful, open-ended 21st Century Learning task for classes to engage with – where problems and solutions aren’t always handed to us on a silver platter.

The power of this challenge is 

• to give students an opportunity to think about themselves 
• to give them some background theory and common vocabulary about stereotypes (single stories) 
• before asking students to analyze and evaluate which groups of people might be invisible
• and creating an alternative version to help amplify the stories and contributions that we don’t always see.

By thinking about who they are, hopefully students will own this task and look for groups of people that are meaningful to them. 

• That might be race, gender, age, social economic class, sexual orientation, physical or mental ability, culture, appearance, nationality, etc. 
• None of these words have been used in the slideshow and that is by design.

There are many ways to do this challenge. Suggestions are included in the lesson plan (PART 6).

The hope is that students will then start to use the skills from this challenge to wonder about equities and inequities in other parts of their world.

DIVERSITY ACTIVITIES LESSON PLAN 2.5 hour lesson slideshow (160 min)

INTRODUCTION (What does invisible mean) – 30 min

• What does Invisible mean? (slides 1-3) (5 min)
• Literal example of invisible (slides 4-5) (5 min)
• Figurative example of invisible (slides 6-7) (5 min)
• What does it mean when we say groups of people are invisible (slides 8) (5 min)
• Ground Rules – Discussion (slides 9-13) (5 min)
• Ground Rules – Personal Identity (slides 14-17) (5 min)

PART 1 Do you SEE people who look like you? 10 min

• Watch the following video clip (slides 18-20) (5 min)
• Discussion (slides 21-22) (5 min)

PART 2 Are people who look like you represented? 30 min

• Identify different parts of videos (slides 23-37) (10 min)
• Watch the next video clip (slides 38-40) (10 min)
• Discussion (slides 41-44) (10 min)

PART 3 Stories matter 30 min

• What is a single-story? (slides 45-48) (10 min)
• Strategy to help students identify single stories and stereotypes? (slides 49-50) (5 min)
• Watch the next goal-setting video (slides 51-52) (5 min)
• Discussion (slides 53) (10 min)

PART 4 Why does representation matter? 10 min

• We all have many different sides to our identity (slides 54-55)
• What if you DON’T see yourself reflected in resources (slides 56)
• What if you DO see yourself reflected in resources (slides 57-60)

PART 5 I am a biased imperfect human being 20 min

• Setting up an authentic, meaningful task (slides 61-68) (10 min)
• Things to know about me and my Aspects of Identity (slides 69-72) (10 min)

PART 6 Take the challenge (explanation) 20 min

• Different ways to do the Who is Invisible challenge? (slides 73)
• Explain the challenge (slides 74-79) (20 min)

PART 7 Go beyond heroes and holidays 10 min

• How can you use these skills to explore other parts of life? (slides 80-88)

FYI: This lesson is part of the Growth Mindset 21st Century Skills Mega Bundle.

• Get the bundle
• Learn more about the bundle

https://youtu.be/SSKtvFU5adk

I really am looking for input on my next set of goal setting videos. (See PART 5 in the slideshow for more information.) 

During the March 2021 edition of the Who is Invisible contest, I was ready to give away $500 worth of TpT Gift Cards to people who 

1. taught the FREE lesson and 
2. filled out this contest google form: Who is Invisible Google Form

PRIZES available to be won:

Winners to be determined by random draw. 

• One (1) $100 TpT gift card
• Two (2) $50 TpT gift cards
• Eight (8) $25 TpT gift cards
• Ten (10) $10 TpT gift cards

A few notes about authenticity and transparency:

• Because this was a high-value gift card, I did a live stream video drawing which you can watch here: https://youtu.be/H2J918yS4Wk
• I used random.org to determine the results.
• You can independently verify the results of the giveaway here using the verification code anxleq: https://giveaways.random.org/verify/anxleq
• Please note the verification page is only up for 30 days after the random draw. If you want to verify the results after 30 days, just email the people at RANDOM.org and they can check their archives.
• More information about the verification process is on their FAQ page: https://giveaways.random.org/faq#q11

My next Educircles challenge is called “Did I cheat?” 

• A free lesson will be posted in my TpT store in the next few days
• The slideshow lesson will ask students to analyze the live stream video for this giveaway and then try to figure out (how) did I cheat?
• Contest winners were invited to do the lesson with their classes – I’m sure their students will have a vested interest in making sure their teacher wasn’t cheated!
• I can appreciate that simply asking the question about cheating might raise some concerns, so contest winners were also invited to email me directly if they had any questions, concerns or suggestions!
• Oh, and of course previous winners of the Who is Invisible challenge (March 2021 edition) are eligible to enter the “Did I Cheat?” Educircles challenge
• The prize offer in the “Did I Cheat” challenge is the same as in the “Who is Invisible?” challenge.

Watch a video replay of the live stream contest drawing!

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/H2J918yS4Wk

https://youtu.be/H2J918yS4Wk

Some things to know:

• No purchase necessary to win.
• Enter before 03/15/2021 at 11:59 PM (ET).
• Open to people 18 years or older who are currently or formerly employed as educators.
• Void in Quebec, and anywhere this promotion is prohibited or restricted by law, or where requirements would be required but have not been met. All applicable federal, state and local laws apply.
• Prizes come in the form of TpT gift cards which can be used to purchase anything on the TpT store. (You do NOT need to buy something from my store.)  Winners will be notified and receive their TpT gift card codes to the email address they enter on the contest form.
• Odds of winning depend on the number of entries received.
• You may enter multiple ballots to improve your chances of winning as long as the information in each contest entry form is different. Multiple entrants that submit the same entry content will be disqualified. Incomplete forms will be disqualified.
• Each person is only eligible to win one gift card in this contest.
• By submitting a contest entry, you agree that any content or information provided by you on the contest form is your original work and otherwise does not infringe the intellectual property rights of any third parties.
• Your first name / last name initial, city / country, answers and grades you teach may be posted on Educircles.org, SEOT.ca, the Educircles TpT Store, social media. Unless prohibited by applicable law, your contest entry constitutes your permission to use your name (First Name, first initial of Last Name), address (city / country), and your entry content in any and all mediums, in perpetuity, in any manner Educircles deems appropriate (including for testimonials, publicity, and other promotional purposes) and for publicity purposes without any compensation to you or any review or approval rights, notifications, or permissions; and constitutes your consent to disclose your personally identifiable information to third parties (including, without limitation, placing the winner’s name on a winner’s list).