Culturally Responsive Teaching
In the Classroom
Above all else, students are human. Upon entering the classroom, one of the most important pieces of advice that I received was constantly echoing in my head: "You are there to build up kids not content." In my own words, I strive to guide by curiosity rather than curriculum, by drawing out students' inner thoughts, opinions, and connections to a topic and explore it through that lens. Developing positive and meaningful relationships with students is an effective and meaningful way to achieve this sense within a classroom — this is something that I can reflect on my own high school experience to verify. Classrooms where I felt more able to share my opinions and explore a subject more freely were those that I not only enjoyed the most but significantly learned from.
During my student teaching practicum, I developed lessons around the themes of student self-expression and creativity. I built assignments and projects that had students share their life experience or connect it to a topic being covered. During classroom discussion, I always emphasize that students are never wrong, and do my best to make sure that every voice and thought is heard and considered during discussions. My students, many of whom identified with minority populations, often required definite assurance that my classroom was a safe place where they could learn and share without judgement. I feel confident in saying that I achieved this goal, having been able to work with some students who, over the course of being present in my class, became more open and willing to learn as I demonstrated my willingness to listen and that I genuinely care.
Recognizing Women's History Month
One series of assignments that I did with my 7th grade Computer Technology 7 course was aligned with recognizing Women's History Month. The assignment was primarily focused on a few topics: (1) Developing an understanding of website / source credibility, (2) Conducting research and gathering sources, (3) Writing / formatting a paragraph that explains your research findings. The research topic was women inventors — inspired by this image (seen to the right) that my mentor teacher came across on social media.
When delivered to students, there was a sense of excitement among female-identifying students who were interested in learning more about these inventions and the stories behind them. Over the course of a week and a half, the class became more invested in the women whose inventions were featured here, especially Hedy Lamarr and Ruth Wakefield, who several students chose to write about. I found that this assignment, while simple in concept, really connected with many of my students which motivated them to write informative paragraphs to share their findings with me! I remember getting pulled from student to student, each excited to show me who they were researching and what they had discovered.
Pineapple Express (Rounds)
As a part of our practicum experience, each of the WPI teacher candidates had the opportunity to visit each other's classrooms to observe their instruction, specifically looking for CRT strategies. My turn was on 21 March, 2024 and my classmates visited my 10th grade Exploring Computer Science course.
Their noted observations can be seen on the pineapple to the left, but the key takeaways that I had from this session were as follows:
My instruction was clear and productive, guiding students through reviewing material and project requirements.
I provided thoughtful feedback and praise to students to demonstrate that I care and reinforce a safe learning environment.
Despite the additional bodies in the room, the class was still energetic and engaging.
The assignment allowed for students to express a story of their own creation or retelling.
I was very happy that my friends were able to come in and see this class because it is the only year-long course that I had, which allowed me much more time to get to know and work with my students. Because of this, the work that they had been doing was fantastic and easily demonstrated growth over time (for each of the two units that I taught — Web Design and Intro to Programming). This continued growth was a direct result of building relationships with my students to create a safe space for learning and my emphasis on student self-expression and creativity in projects.