Fair Isn't Equal

I think everyone in the Pinterest world has seen the Bandaid Lesson to teach that fair isn't equal.

First, I asked each student to close their eyes and come up with a pretend injury. Then I call each student to share their injury and how it happened. There were MANY different kinds of injuries and causes in my classroom! Some had broken collarbones from skateboarding accidents while others broke their leg in a soccer match, one was thrown from a horse and another cracked his skull.

After listening to everyone's (painful) injuries, I chose one student to come to the front of our room. I asked her to again tell us what happened (fell down) and where it hurts (scrapped knee). After I placed the bandaid on her knee, I went through each of my students and gave them a bandaid in the same exact spot as the scrapped knee student. A few replied, "But that wasn't where I was hurt!" I tell them that I am treating them all fairly and that I have knee bandaids for everyone! Some tried to argue so I said, "Ohhh you want me to give you a bandaid where you NEED it?" Students, of course, look at me and give me the "Duh!" look. (I did this with all students and even though they know I will put it in the same spot as the others, they think I may change to a different spot for them). Here are the students with their sad faces with their bandaids (some where a bit dramatic with their poses!).

After all students have a bandaid, I take time to discuss that fair doesn't mean the same. We are all different so what we need is not always the same. Each student in our classroom has their own needs and it is my (and other teachers') job to give them their best opportunity to succeed. We then hang the following poster up in our room:

(find it here)