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Culturally Responsive Teaching
Culturally Responsive Teaching
Introduction
Introduction
A culturally responsive classroom is "where every person can be their authentic whole human selves" (Phillips & LeGeros, 2021). Everyone wants to feel a sense of belonging. Before I took courses like Effective Practices in Teachers and Learning II: General Educators, I used to think that just the posters in the room were just enough to make my students feel seen. And though it does help to have representation on the walls, students must understand their identity. For that to happen, as educators, we must be transparent and intentional about culture. I have done this in many different ways. Not only is this important, but many other things, like holding high expectations for all students, having restorative conversations, and engaging student voices in the classroom culture. I am consistently working on being a better culturally responsive educator for my students as it positively impacts their education.
Phillips, J. & LeGeros, L. (2021, March 15). The culturally responsive learning environment. Innovative Education in VT. https://tiie.w3.uvm.edu/blog/culturally-responsive-learning-environment/
Preparation: Internal Reflection and Self-Work
Preparation: Internal Reflection and Self-Work
To be the educator I want to be for my students; there is a lot of internal reflection and self-work that needs to be done. I am aware that many challenges I have faced are very similar to some my students have met, but to be the leader my students need me to be, I need to understand what the challenges I have faced and who I mean when I enter my classroom with my students.
I am a Latina woman, a big sister, and the first in my family to complete a four-year education at a university with a bachelor's degree. I am the first in my family to pursue my Graduate Degree. My grandmother moved here from Mexico, and now I am here to seek better opportunities that she saw possible for the generations after her. When I talk to my students, I hear similar narratives; their families moved from Honduras, Mexico, Nigeria, Dominican Republic, and Guatemala to have a better life and escape their struggles in their home countries.
To be a culturally responsive educator means understanding where my students come from and helping them see the pride in that. It means that regardless of what people think of them, I am still setting high expectations and ensuring the work they are receiving is rigorous. I want to build positive relationships with all my students and families and show them that regardless of their child's learning style, I will ensure that they are successful in my classroom and that there always will be a high bar for success.
Cultural Self- Study
Cultural Self- Study
In my Cultural Self-Study, I reflected as a Latina educator on different moments in my life in which I became aware of my identity and how this has impacted my students.
CulturalSelfStudy_PerezJacqueline.docxAs I reflect on my cultural self-study, some action steps I took because of this was that I have been able to give my students space and opportunity to let their emotions be heard and express them in healthy manners. This includes restorative conversations during our community circle or between two or three students in a conflict. I realized that through letting my students have this outlet, misbehaviors in my classroom have significantly decreased as students have learned healthy ways to express their emotions. This practice ensures that I am reaching each child holistically.
In the picture above, I am facilitating a restorative conversation between two students who needed extra support to communicate how they felt effectively. Though I usually use community circles to problem solve, this was not helping in this case. A restorative conversation with just myself and these two students seemed more practical. These two students needed help communicating with one another regarding how one student was treating the other. He was bothering the student, and the student was very emotional about it. I let both students have a space to express their feelings. The student was still upset, so he said they needed some time apart to process and are now friends again. The student who was bothering the other student wanted to play with him more and used bothering him as a way to be his friend. We had to discuss healthy ways to communicate wanting to be friends with someone.
In the pictures above are two areas students have when they need time to process their emotions. Students can grab their journals and write in this journal to express their feelings. They can leave their journal on my desk for me to read later or put them away if they do not want me to read them.
Implicit Bias Tests
Implicit Bias Tests
The implicit bias test that I took was the Race IAT. This quiz made me nervous as I overthought when clicking a button and wondered what this assessment would say about me. Though I made some errors because of how fast I needed to move, I understood what the quiz was trying to know about me. In this assessment, there were seven rounds. The only letters you hit were E or I, and they labeled each letter as a category to see if they could be sorted correctly without biases. For example, E could be black and good in one round but would change the following round to Black and bad, and the same would happen with the other letter but with White and either bad or good. As I took the quiz, I could see that my results were that I have no automatic preference between Black and White people. With my interactions with both races, I know I have had more welcoming interactions with the Black community as I grew up in the same community as Black and Brown people and, until college, did not interact with many White people. I know that regardless of my interactions, I try my best not to generalize people because of their race, which is why I received the results I did.
Continuous Professional Development
Continuous Professional Development
As an educator, I seek ways to improve my practice for my students, families, and myself. I choose the district I am in because this consistent professional development is part of our consistent practice. I have learned how to be an effective teacher and an effective leader in my school. This has been possible through professional development.
Teach Woke is an effective company that offers workshops to embed Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the classroom. This is the program my school has been using this year, and I have been able to attend professional development and receive feedback in my classroom to help me lead more restorative practices. Teach Woke is one professional development I enjoy learning from, as their values of liberation, action, collaboration, and student focus are pillars in my life as an educator (Teach Woke, 2019).
Teach Woke. (2019). About Us. https://teachwoke.com/
Though I finished my commitment with Teach for America in 2019, when I left Oklahoma, I have become consistently involved in Teach for America in Houston. One professional development I have been a part of is the Team Leadership Intensive. I have included (left) what this Leadership Intensive is. I am still in this professional development program where we meet every few weeks, dig deeper into different book studies, and discuss things like navigating conflicts with an equity orientation. This has led to other professional development opportunities that have made me a better educator and leader for my students.
These are three of the books that we read throughout this professional development that helped me better my practice for this school year. It is also great to have these books as a continuous resource. These books taught me how to become more of an effective leader in my classroom and school. Conscious Leadership by John Mackey touches on understanding multiple perspectives and how making connections and building relationships help when building an aligned vision. The Art of Coaching Teams by Elena Aguilar helped me is the importance of supporting the development of all teachers on my team and how I have to have an open mindset when doing this, as everyone might need something different. The importance of focusing not just on my development but on other educators is that my impact will be beyond my classroom and positively impact other classrooms.
There are many slide decks that I can use because we were given these slide decks to refer to as we start our work this school year. Here are a few slides from different slide decks showing some of the work we could accomplish this week. We also continuously meet once a month to continue going over this work. These developments focused on navigating conflicts with an equity orientation, equitable decision-making structures, and interrogating white dominant culture in schools and on teams.
As an educator, it has been hard at times to find ways to make impacts not just in your classroom and grade level but across the school. I have found ways to support other grade levels, like second and first grade, so their students are prepared for third grade. As well as collaborate with fourth-grade teachers as a way to help bridge gaps that they see as well. I have never been able to do this on an official platform. Still, with the consistent professional development I am receiving through the Alumni Mentorship Program with Teach for America, I see myself making an impact in many classrooms as I now collaborate with three teachers in different grade levels and support them as new teachers. Not only this, but I can attend ongoing professional development that is making me a stronger teacher aware of her biases.
This is the book I have been using as a book study throughout these ongoing professional developments. The Art of Coaching by Elena Aguilar helped me as my goal is to be a fantastic team leader for my grade- level and the students we serve. This book emphasized the importance of building trust and being solution-oriented. This helped shift my mindset when entering the classroom with different unknown factors daily.
These are some readings done during this professional development that also helped me reflect on my practice as an educator. I need to make sure that there are forms of community engagement, culturally responsive teaching, and joy in the classroom and reach each child holistically.
Though these are a few, there are many other professional developments I have been to in the last few years. These three stick out to me because I saw the most growth as it is catered to me, and people are putting in time and energy to help me become better for my students and my school. Through the reading and discussions in these professional developments, I have looked at these through a different lens, including how I talk to my students and how they speak to one another. Throughout my professional development, I am 100% confident I am leading a restorative classroom.
Planning
Planning
Culturally Responsive Teaching Classroom Plan
Culturally Responsive Teaching Classroom Plan
To understand the execution in my classroom, I have included my Culturally Responsive Teaching Plan (left). Here I talk about my classroom environment, classroom elements that bring challenges, and my classroom plan. I had to understand the background of all my students in my classroom, including their family culture and best learning styles.
In this plan, you will see what I have been able to execute as an educator as well when it comes to graphic organizers that support my student's learning and a cultural exploration project my students did on their family culture.
Classroom Plan_PerezJacqueline.docxClassroom Environment Design
Classroom Environment Design
In my classroom, there are photographs of historical leaders that represent my student's backgrounds. Many books in my classroom library also represent my student's backgrounds. Through lessons and books, students can learn about the individuals on our classroom walls.
Student Interviews
Student Interviews
StudentProfiles_PerezJacqueline.docxIt is very important that I know my students and their backgrounds. An example of me doing this is through an assignment I did for Johns Hopkins called Student Profiles. In this assignment. I got to better understand my students, their interest, their home lives, and how they impacted their behavior and performance in school.
Student- Facing Criteria for Success
Student- Facing Criteria for Success
Posting student-facing criteria for success is essential for students to understand the expectations for them throughout the lesson. It is imperative when students are given independent practice to complete. I write my criteria for success in my daily lesson plan, on my whiteboard, daily slideshow, and on student handouts. Students can use this to ensure that they are meeting the rigorous classroom expectations and have a guide that leads them to success.
Through this, I can use different approaches to monitor students in independent practice. The expectations I set are that I do three laps during independent practice and mark students' papers so that they know if they are on the right path, and I use a document to track the data I see. My criteria for success are usually three different bullet points. Each bullet point is one of my laps. For example, if the first bullet point is to describe something they learned from the picture in my first lap, I will ensure all students are telling something they learned from the image. If I see that students are making the same mistake, I will stop the show and review with students what they should be doing during their work.
Lesson Plans
Lesson Plans
GapAnalysis_PerezJacqueline.docxIn the assignment, I made a unit plan to help prepare my students for state testing using CRT. I used text that students would be able to relate to. Through the lesson plan that was given, I was also able to find the gaps that might exist and adjust accordingly to meet my student's needs.
CRT_LessonPlan_PerezJacqueline..docxIn the assignment, I used the unit plan on the left and planned a lesson with CRT in mind. This planning helped me be successful in how I taught the lesson and helped all students and their learning habits in the forefront.
These planning tools helped me as an educator because the expectations in my classroom are set through my plans. Students are not only held to high expectations but are given the tools to be successful. I also make sure to have a classroom environment in which all student backgrounds are appreciated, and we learn more about all backgrounds through projects and readings.
Execution
Execution
Community Circles and Social Emotional Learning
Community Circles and Social Emotional Learning
Community circles are facilitated daily in the classroom before the day begins and at the end of the day. Through community circles, students can talk through what they are feeling, ask each other questions, or just talk about what they are really excited about. This is a time that I can use as a pulse check to make sure all students are well.
This PowerPoint slide is presented during circle time so that students are reminded of the created norms.
Students were participating in the daily morning meeting. This is something that students have learned to do and even facilitate on their own. You can also see the talking stick circled in a student's hand.
Students had to complete this practice plan at the end of the unit. This plan showed that students understood that it takes time to get good at something and not to give up when things seem as if they are getting harder. Students could also come up with solutions if needed to help them problem-solve when they do not understand how to do something.
Though I do community circles daily, I use Tuesday to cover social-emotional lessons before the day begins. Our district gives these lessons, but I can use them and adapt them to my student's needs. A particular lesson that my students enjoyed was learning about the importance of practicing something until you get it right or get better at it. Through this unit which took over a month, students learned that their brain sends messages which make networks. These networks get stronger the more we practice. For example, students can see that if they continue to practice reading or sports, it will get easier because the network in their brains is getting stronger.
Above is an example of the objectives that students had for this unit. This also includes student vocabulary.
This is part of the lesson plan in which students practiced making a plan with a partner.
To see a more in-depth lesson, click here.
These are examples of the practice plan students made on lesson 4 and then their final product on lesson 5.
My Country Project
My Country Project
As a Latina woman, I have learned about myself and my culture's influence on my identity. As a Latina woman whose parents are from Mexico and the Dominican Republic, I have seen significant differences in other Latin American countries. It made me think about how it would be great to have my students present about where they are from. This was eye-opening because it was evident that students had no space to talk openly about where they were from. Many students saw similarities, and some saw differences and wanted to learn more about each other. I use this project as something we did in class to introduce another upcoming project where students would research a different country or culture they might not know much about.
For this project, I have students put together a small display on paper explaining their culture. We called this project "My Culture, My World." The class periods we used for this showed significant student excitement students were using their Chromebooks to find videos and started showing each other how they dance at family gatherings. They were also comparing things like their unique foods and holidays.
Above are a few examples of student work. Students showed that they could complete research, learn about their flag, and teach their classmates and me about their culture.
ACFrOgCdXSybUcKg0ocmVNGn_N9xFmefsUprBaYfIg1oE8xndJ_DJd3FACfNzNBS6rB0N5gfA_LH26XgQL5x-g8iy3fmpM73amqbmZ-GhXMqUwmUIz5S9QB19GrwvdBF41dxapYskqgPm7EM81Nz.pdfHere is a packet that the students had to complete about their country. With the previous project, we did on our own culture, students were well-equipped to research on their own.
Overall this experience led me to think beyond just having students learn and experience the cultures in the classroom, but I wanted them to see beyond that. From this, I found a country project with the other third-grade teachers, and we decided to plan this as something that students could do at home since they would have to create a board. Time was given in class to complete their packet, but the creative aspect was done at home.
Students were given over a month to do this project, and 100% of students were able to turn in the project. If parents weren't able to buy a board, I was able to support them in that aspect. I also printed pictures parents sent me if they did not have quick access to a printer. This is a project that I will continue to do every year as it helps students learn about the world around them.
This is the rubric that was used for all students when they did their presentation on their country.
Some students who completed the project used the papers from the packet in their display. On the board, you can see a completed packet that is shown above.
Above are some projects students completed to present to the class about the country that they were assigned. All students were able to have three students ask questions after. Many parents enjoyed this project as well as they mentioned that they could learn a lot about a different country as they supported their child with this project at home.
Historical Figures
Historical Figures
As stated in my planning, I ensure representation in the classroom of people from different backgrounds on my classroom walls and my library. This is very important to me because I want my students from diverse backgrounds to see people who look like them be successful no matter what obstacles they have to overcome. A project that my students were able to do in my classroom to show a historical figure they learned about was during Black History Month.
This project entailed students completing research during our social studies block about a historical figure and creating a board on it at home. Parents were very eager to help with this due to the success of previous projects.
Many students went above and beyond and dressed up as their historical figures to present for extra credit. This was very exciting, as students could be in character for this presentation and truly see things from different perspectives.
This was a project I enjoyed, and I plan to do more projects like this for Women's History Month and Hispanic Heritage Month.
Many parents pointed out a positive outcome from these projects that I did not think about: students getting exposure to skills like public speaking. I do not remember presenting something to classmates until high school in my academic career, so exposing students to it at such a young age sets them up for success.
CRT Section Conclusion & Reflection
CRT Section Conclusion & Reflection
As an educator, I am committed to the self-work I need to do to be an exemplary educator and am consistently finding ways to better my practice. These are a few examples of my work on myself and how I make sure my students benefit from what I have been learning. I will continue to use these practices in my everyday work so that all students receive an education where they can be their whole authentic selves.
ForwardForOurYouth_PerezJacqueline.docxThis is my five-year plan which ties everything together that I have learned throughout this program. Culturally responsive teaching has helped shape where I see myself going in the future to best support my growth and my students.
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