When I was nominated for an educator of the year award with my school district I was asked to describe a content lesson or unit that defines you as a teacher. Choosing just one lesson that defines me as a kindergarten teacher was a difficult task. Kindergarten students in general all enter the school year with varied abilities. One of my favorite lessons to teach is part of our Social Studies Unit: History versus present, My history, Part and Present. This unit begins with a pre-assessment piece in which students illustrate and write about a tradition they have with their family. This pre-assessment provides me with background information about students and their family. This pre-assessment engages students of all backgrounds and abilities by allowing students to share what is important to them. Students were able to draw and write allowing students who are more confident writers to add words, while students who are still learning their letters to use pictures to answer the prompt. Students were then allowed to verbally share their family tradition with either just me or to the class.

By allowing the students to share about their families as the topic opener, they were engaged in the unit from the start. I also shared with the students a few of mine. This allows students to relate better to the unit and me. It was a great starter point for us to begin discussing what traditions are, how we many have similar and different traditions, and how our traditions define us as individuals. In school, I always struggled with social studies and history as a subject. As a teacher now, I try to relate the content to the students. I believe in allowing them many different opportunities to share about their personal experiences and the ability to share in different ways such as through pictures, written words, or verbal words. Throughout this unit, we have many discussions and activities based on their experiences to help relate the topic of past and present to their culture and traditions.

Over the years, so many different things have changed my outlook and the way I teach. Looking back, I remember being a young teacher, out of college ready with all my ideology on how I should run my classroom and interact with parents. At that time, I was not ready to begin the work to be culturally responsive. I admit I was closeminded at that time. Becoming a parent myself was my “ah hah” moment. It was at that point that I was able to accept that I needed to modify the type of classroom teacher I was and be more aware of the families in my classroom. My message to anyone who is not ready to begin this work would be to first find their why. You need to first self-reflect on your current beliefs and look at how they could possibly be holding you back as an educator. If you are not ready to submerge yourself into being culturally responsive then you truly are holding yourself back as an educator. It is critical to understand the background and culture of the scholars and their families in your school. You must also be aware that being culturally responsive is an ongoing process. Each class is different; therefore, each family each year is different. Knowing more about the scholars and their backgrounds will only help you in making stronger connections with their families and stronger connections to the lessons in your classroom. Especially when you are teaching such young children and need the parents to see themselves as a partner in their child’s education. For many families, kindergarten is their first experience with the school. It is important to create that positive, open communication from the beginning.