As educators it is our job to teach students a surplus amount of information on varying topics. One responsibility that a teacher has is teaching students about different cultures that exist around the world. People live different lives depending on where they are but the basic concept of being a human does not change. Wherever people live they go to school, their parents go to work, they live with their families, they eat dinner and play. The activity may not be done the exact same way depending on where someone is located but it is experienced and lived out by everyone. A resource I cannot wait to use in the classroom is a book called “Same Same, but Different”.

It is about these two little boys who become pen pals and are curious about one another’s lives. Through the story the boys share with one another and learn that their worlds are “same same, but different.” It is such a cute story and gets the point across that we are all humans and we all go about life relatively the same as one another but it can differ in countless numbers or ways. There is a lot that can be done with the story. An activity I would love to do is give my future students a pen pal. I remember in elementary school I had a pen pal and we would write to one another every month. It was fun and exciting way to learn about another person’s life whose was the same same as mine, but different. I would enjoy giving that opportunity to my students, a memory they too, can have forever. It is such an authentic way to gain a sense of awareness of other cultures and the different ways life can be experienced!