Blog #2!

 

Reflection Prompt for Videos 1 and 2: Do you think we all have a bias and if so what can we do to recognize it and overcome it?  What are some ways you can become a more culturally responsive teacher?

I think we do all have some level of bias, whether it is intentional or not. I think a lot of bias comes from the way we were raised. I also think some biases come from people outside of our family who helped shape us like teachers, friends, and community members. One way to recognize our biases is to think about our responses to different circumstances in our life and to be more aware. In the first video, the speaker said, “Most discrimination happens outside of our awareness.”

In the second video, both professors talked about being a culturally responsive teacher. Dr. Newell talked about how teachers first need to self-reflect on their teaching styles and beliefs. She went on to talk about a second way which was to become aware of student’s cultures. I believe both are true. As a teacher, I have to think about my classroom setting, lessons, library, decorations, etc. Are these things set up to welcome a culturally diverse group of students? Do the books I read reflect a culturally diverse population? I have a lot of ESOL students in my class, so I try to have words up in Spanish and English in my classroom. I have also been collecting and purchasing books lately to reflect a culturally diverse classroom.

Reflection Prompt for Video 3: What is the Kamehameha School doing to embrace students' culture? What can we learn from the Kamehameha School?

         The Kamehameha School is going several things to embrace students’ culture. These things are building a strong foundation in community, taking students out into the community to learn, embracing the culture in the lessons, and putting the culture as a priority for their learning. The teachers are meeting the students where they are instead of making them meet the teachers where they are in the classroom. They put a strong importance on building relationships between students and between teachers and students. For projects, they take their students out of the classroom to bridge the gap between the school building and their community. I believe we could all incorporate these strategies and ideas in to our daily classrooms. I love the quote “no significant learning occurs without a significant relationship.” Quality learning first begins with a relationship, and this school showed the results from building the foundation first.

Reflection Prompt for Video 4: How did this teacher use culturally responsive teaching practices to increase student engagement? Do you think this is an effective strategy?

I wanted to scream “AMEN” after watching this video. She hit the nail on the head. This teacher chose to reset, because what she was doing was not working. I feel like I have to do this every year, because my group of students is different every single year. This teacher used the students’ interests to be the focus of their writing. I have done the same thing in my class in the past, and it is so much more effective then copying from the board! Students are clearly engaged! The more you let them talk about themselves, the more engaged they become. I am finding more and more, my students want to be heard! This is a great example of allowing them to own their learning and express in a way that they are learning but also having fun!