Beyond mathematics and science lessons, a teacher has the bigger responsibility of inculcating values among children that shape their personality and mindset in the future. Just as most teachers use storytelling and creative activities to teach life lessons, the internet’s favorite fourth-grade teacher, Ryan Brazil (@4thgrade.enthusiast) also used a chair to explain “fairness” to kids in an innovative manner.
Her brilliant demonstration and explanation, which have since gone viral on TikTok, are as appropriate for adults as they are for her students. Ryan’s classroom is usually brimming with educational stuff full of creativity. From a “culture wall,” to an “art area,” to a “class promise code,” and an “Anti-bias ABC’s book,” she employs a lot of innovative materials in her teaching. In this particular video, she taught her students that “Fair means everyone gets what ‘they need’ to be successful,” which is what she wrote in the video’s caption.
“This is really important, to me and to the culture of our classroom,” she can be seen telling her class in the video. She said that she heard someone say that she wasn’t being fair, based on things someone got more than others. So, she asked her students to raise their hands quietly and tell her, “Do you guys know what ‘fair’ means?”
A student named Benji answered that “fair” was supposed to mean “equal.” Next, Ryan pointed toward a student named Jack and asked him to stand up there in the front. “Do you see that yardstick on top of the whiteboard,” she asked, “Can you grab it?” Jack grabbed the given stick successfully, for which she congratulated him.
She then called another boy named Alex and asked him to repeat the same activity. But Alex was shorter in height as compared to Jack and wasn’t able to reach the stick. “What does Alex need? How can we help Alex with a quiet hand,” Ryan asked the class. A student named Chaha suggested that they could provide him with a chair. Hence Ryan gave Alex a chair, which he used to reach the stick prompting “yay’s” and claps from the class.
“But wait a second,” Ryan interrupted the excitement, “That wasn’t fair. We gave Alex a chair but we didn’t give Jack a chair.” Returning to Benji’s definition of fair, she said that although it was a “beautiful mistake,” his definition was “actually wrong.” Elaborating on her idea, she said, “Jack is taller, he didn’t ‘need’ the chair. Not all of you are going to need the same things. Some things are going to be really easy for some of you. Some things are going to be really hard for some of you.”
Ryan went on to explain what fairness means in real life, “So you might look around and think ‘Hey, that’s not fair! I didn’t get extra time or I had to do this or they only get to do that,’ but I want you to stop and think about what you need versus what that other classmate might need.” She concluded the video with a line that will stay with the kids as a valuable life lesson, “Fair doesn’t mean everyone gets the same thing,” she said, “Your experience isn’t ‘the experience.’”
People complimented Ryan saying that her definition isn’t just valid for her students but also for grown-ups. Praising her, @jdubes_ said that she “perfectly encapsulated” the lesson, and added another point, “And you don’t have all the information you need to know what that other student needs. You can only know what you need.” @witchmama commented, “’’YOUR experience isn’t THE experience.’ Beautiful.”
You can follow Ryan Brazil on TikTok for more inspirational classroom videos!
