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Technology isn't always negative

With the proper guidance, students can use technology in an effective way

Between online math platforms and video explanations, technology can provide students with resources that can vastly improve understanding

Try to provide verbal and written options

Everyone learns differently, based on their past experiences and culture, so providing these options will help more students understand

Especially when giving directions, write it down and say it verbally. This enables students to refer back to the directions and ensure understanding

Educate yourself on culturally responsive teaching

While you may be teaching the content as you see fit, it is important to take other cultures into consideration

Embrace the different cultures in your classroom and work to incorporate them into your classroom culture

Take time to get to work with each student individually

Checking in with each student to ensure they are on track is important in helping each student succeed

Some ideas for making students feel prioritized are helping them organize their homework, giving them a survey on their experience in class, and allowing time for them to ask questions one-on-one

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Building on the Home Languages, Cultural, & Ethnic Backgrounds

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Building on the Home Languages, Cultural, & Ethnic Backgrounds

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For teachers to succeed in this standard they must accomplish two things:

Build on Home Language

Provide proper scaffolds for those whose first language is not English

Utilize past experiences in home language to inform new learning opportunities

Give students the opportunity to learn in the same medium as their home language (verbal, written, etc.)

Build on Cultural and Ethnic Backgrounds

Have oral based lessons since many diverse cultures have roots in oral communication

Give examples of diverse people when speaking of history or literature

Allow students to use their culture to inspire their current work

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According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Massachusetts, in order to be exemplary in meeting diverse needs, one must do the following:

Use a variety of appropriate inclusive practices to address specific differences in individual students' learning needs, abilities, interests, and levels of readiness

tiered supports

scaffolded instruction

Create structured opportunities for each student to meet or exceed state standards

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According to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in Massachusetts, in order to be exemplary in adjustment to practice, one must do the following:

Regularly organize and analyze results from a variety of assessments to determine progress and use findings to adjust practice in real-time

Implement appropriate differentiated interventions and enhancements for all students

Make appropriate modifications to lessons and units

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This class was called Math Connections with teacher Mrs. Tracy Menard at Taunton High School. The class was comprised of 10th and 11th graders. The intention of the class is to refresh topics that will be on the MCAS test and provide students with strategies for test-taking.

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Culturally diverse students often come from cultures with a strong heritage of oral communications. Their families prioritize the power of spoken word to convey messages and ideas. In order to make sure that each student is learning in a way most effective to them, teachers should work on channeling instruction into oral forms of communication. This goes further than just translating lessons into a native language; it is more important to make the lesson culturally relevant to students from diverse backgrounds (Ferlazzo, 2021).

Example:

When learning a new topic, give students mnemonics to help them remember. In math, some examples are PEMDAS (parentheses, exponents, multiplication/division, and addition/subtraction) and "All Students Take Calculus" (which trig functions are positive in each quadrant).

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Collaboration has many positive effects on students. It encourages personal accountability amongst students. It also takes pressure off students compared to sharing to the whole class. In the case of ELs, students are able to receive personalized assistance and practice in English, which is very important in SEI. It also allows students to learn about other cultures and languages that they wouldn't learn about otherwise (Ferlazzo, 2021).

The use of strategic partnering can make collaboration more effective

If students are seriously struggling, the teacher can partner them with a stronger student who can explain the topic.

If there are different levels of difficulty, the stronger students can receive a more difficult problem and students who are still emerging can have a less difficult problem. This allows each student to receive a challenge and progress their learning.

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Giving students math that can be applied to real world situations is a great way to help students connect the content to culturally diverse experiences. It can also foster mathematical identity development. Students have a broad range of experiences, so providing them tangible applications can make the math more interesting and understandable to them. It will elicit diversity in student's thinking, learning, and communicating (Ferlazzo, 2021).

Example:

If students are struggling to understand addition and subtraction, give them a bank account and ask them to spend and earn money. For the problem 3 - 5 = -2, give students a bank account that has $3 in it and have them buy a $5 coffee. Would you still have money in your account or would you overdraw?

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How to Make this Class More Culturally Responsive

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How to Make this Class More Culturally Responsive

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In order to improve upon this teacher's involvement of culture and ethnicity, they must make the class more culturally responsive. The following are several ways to make math more culturally responsive:
1. Real-World Connections
2. Student Collaboration
3. Oral-Based Instruction

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English Learner:

also known as an EL

children or adults that who are learning English as a second or additional language

in order to be considered an EL in school, students must undergo adequate testing/evaluation by school district

Sheltered Content:

a means for making content more accessible for English learners while simultaneously promoting English proficiency

CALP:

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

This is the language that is required to discuss academic content in the classroom

BICS:

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

This is the language required for everyday communication and informal interactions

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Ferlazzo, L. (2021, July 13). Twelve ways to make math more culturally responsive . Education Week. Retrieved March 14, 2023,
from https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-twelve-ways-to-make-math-more-culturally-responsive/2020/12

Echeverría, J., & Graves, A. (2014). Sheltered content instruction: Teaching English learners with diverse abilities. Pearson.

Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. (2022, December 23). Cap guidelines. CAP Guidelines -
Educator Preparation. Retrieved March 15, 2023, from https://www.doe.mass.edu/edprep/cap/guidelines.html

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Students are able to make up work that they have missed before the end of the semester, and students can work with teacher to complete corrections on their work

When students had questions that may be applicable to the entire class, the teacher went over them on the white board

The teacher went around and checked in with every student

The teacher utilized repetition. She repeated directions several times and redirected students who were off task. Additionally the teacher created an agenda for each day with written directions and spoke them aloud

Teacher uses paper and digital tasks, which allows students who are more proficient in either to show off their strengths. It also prepares them for MCAS which is online.

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The teacher does an excellent job of individualizing lessons

She checks in on individual students very often to make sure everyone is getting the help they need

While she does teach the class as a whole, she provides several different explanations for different types of learners (verbal, visual, auditory).

The teacher takes time to make sure every student is on the same page to prevent them from falling behind.

If students do fall behind, the teacher takes the time to create a plan for them to catch up. She makes plans with each individual student to succeed throughout the semester.

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Evidence of Building on the Home Languages, Cultural & Ethnic Backgrounds

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Evidence of Building on the Home Languages, Cultural & Ethnic Backgrounds

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The teacher does not mention home language/culture.

She doesn’t talk about culture or ethnic backgrounds.

The teacher had key math vocabulary written on the wall. This helps bridge the gap between L1 and L2 CALP.

Her flexible grading system does not require proficiency in English, but a command of the subject matter. She stresses understanding concepts instead of English vocabulary. If students display an understanding of the mathematical concepts or formulas, they are given the same credit as students who know the names of these concepts.

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It is hard to do this in a math classroom. If students didn't learn about these topics in their home language, making a connection between these languages will not help improve understanding.

It is likely that there were more level 4,5 and 6 (WIDA scale), so scaffolds aren’t as prominent.

The teacher used visual and graphic supports in order to help students understand without a necessity for English.

In discussing her grading, the teacher does not require technical language in the students' responses. If their work is correct and their conceptual ideas are there, they are able to receive credit. In this way, students can are not require to have perfect English to succeed.

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The teacher started grading the students’ tests and discovered they all really struggled. She decided to have her students retake the test the next day in groups.

One student was struggling with his phone usage, so she gave him the choice of putting it away or giving it to her. The student gave her his phone. She helped the student refocus and get their work done.

The teacher suggested students use their phones in a productive way (like watching informative videos) when many students were using their phone.

Students were struggling to understand graphing, so the teacher explained it in several different fashions. The students could make a table, find the intercepts, or use the point-slope formula, which the teacher explained to them using examples on the board that she came up with on the fly.

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Technology is a huge issue in the classroom, the teacher adjusts to help her students stay focused

When most students are struggling on a particular topic, the teacher quickly switches gears to review/re-explain the topic and ensure understanding

It is clear she has a lot of experience; with each problem that arises, she adjusts to most effectively teach her students