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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers: Carlo' Malatesta Reflection

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers: Carlo' Malatesta Reflection

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One aspect of the article Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy by Heraldo V. Richards, Ayanna F. Brown, and Timothy B. Fonde that spoke to me was the idea that teachers must recognize and use students’ cultural backgrounds as assets in the learning process. The article emphasizes that culturally responsive pedagogy helps teachers connect instruction to students' lived experiences and prior knowledge, thereby increasing engagement and academic success. This idea made me reflect on my own Heritage Spanish classroom. Many of my students come from Spanish-speaking families and already have cultural knowledge and language exposure from their homes and communities. However, they sometimes feel insecure about using Spanish in an academic setting. When I connect classroom activities to their cultural experiences, such as discussing traditions, music, or community events, students become more confident and willing to participate. This article reminded me that culturally responsive teaching is not only about acknowledging diversity, but also about intentionally using students’ cultural knowledge to support learning. When teachers value and incorporate students’ backgrounds into instruction, students are more likely to feel respected, engaged, and motivated to learn.

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Rather than attempt to talk about everything you read, choose one aspect of this article that "spoke" to you. What connection did you make this article?

One aspect of the article that spoke to me is that, as teachers, we are encouraged to honestly examine our attitudes and beliefs about ourselves and others to uncover and confront any biases that may influence our values and teaching practices. We must recognize and address prejudices toward any cultural, language, or ethnic group so we can create a more trusting and accepting classroom environment.

Thus, when removing stereotypes, it helps in turn to maintain high expectations for every student. This is a cornerstone of effective teaching. When educators "raise the bar," they signal a belief in their students' inherent potential, which directly counters the damaging effects of low expectations that often stifle growth. By holding all learners to rigorous standards, teachers provide the necessary support and scaffolding that empower students to navigate challenging material and achieve academic success. This approach doesn't just improve test scores; it builds the confidence and self-efficacy students need to eventually participate as active, informed members of society.

In my experience, I see lots of teachers overlook multilingual learners, assuming they are not capable enough. I had one student in 8th grade who came from the Philippines; he was placed in my ELD class because he was not screened for WIDA. They assumed that since he is an international student, he needed to be placed in an ELD class. He actually won the spelling bee contest and is very smart. I had a similar experience with a student who needed to be placed in honors math but was placed in standard math because of his English proficiency level.

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Paula's Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Reading Reflection

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Paula's Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Reading Reflection

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I have some takeaways from the article that I would like to share. First, the use of authentic materials of the target language is a practice that is highly encouraged within the Dual Language classroom however the article extended my thinking to the option of including resources that validate students' cultural diversity, not only from the target language but the different backgrounds at least of those present in the classroom. Second, the need to assist students in becoming social actors of their community. In the past, I have learned about The Global Goals for sustainable development and how school instruction can be aligned to developing a global mindset in students that help us become active citizens to make the world a better place. The third one a final, the importance of being advocates of the richness of diversity inside the classroom and in our schools in order to promote understanding and respect among us.

https://globalgoals.org/

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Overcoming the World's Challenges - The Global Goals

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The climate crisis. Ensuring no one goes hungry. Human rights abuses. Extreme poverty. Problems of this scale can be overwhelming, but the Global Goals(also known as the Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs) are the solution to tackling them.

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I found this reading to be very insightful. It is important that as educators we understand that not all of our students come from the same background. They have different cultures and experiences like ourselves. It is important for us to be understanding of this. We also need to be willing to learn about cultures that are different from our own. It is also important for us to reflect on our own teaching and make improvements.

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In order to become culturally responsive educators, we must actively reflect on how we teach students. As our classes include a diverse group of students, we need to research and educate ourselves by learning about other people and cultures. As our curriculum is given to us, sometimes, it may lack information or focus on a certain group of people. As culturally responsive educators, it is our responsibility to ensure all students feel valued and respected. One way to do that is to include parents and community members in school events and in our classrooms. Fostering relationships with parents will allow us to build bridges with a variety of people. Also, we must choose books and materials wisely that help students learn about different people, cultures, and languages in meaningful ways. The students that we have usually copy their parents’ ideas and thoughts and what they are exposed to in media. It is our responsibility to educate our students that way they may increase their parent’s knowledge as well while being respectful of their differing opinions.

Richards, H. V., Brown, A. F., & Forde, T. B. (2007). Addressing Diversity in Schools: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Teaching Exceptional Children, 39(3), 64-68. https://www.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/addressing-diversity-schools-culturally/docview/201087404/se-2

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One aspect of the article that really spoke to me was the discussion of the instructional dimension of culturally responsive pedagogy, particularly the idea that teachers should recognize and utilize student's background in instruction. This resonated with my experience using the cultural exit tickets in my classroom. I have noticed that many students question the relevance of learning another language especially when they come from only English speaking backgrounds. I try to connect their personal experience and cultural practices to make the language feel meaningful.

For example, I ask students to describe family traditions or cultural experiences. This small adjustment helps students feel that their experiences are valued while also strengthening their engagement with the language. Reading this article reinforced the importance of designing instruction that not only teaches the content but also incorporates the students culture, which has increased motivation and participation in my classroom. I would even say an eagerness to learn.

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers Reflection

While I enjoyed reading the article, one activity stood out as being incredibly difficult to include in co-taught classrooms. This activity is validating our students’ cultural identities through instructional materials. The Charlotte Mecklenburg School district gives English Language Arts (ELA) and Mathematics teachers specific curriculum to follow. These curriculums often do not include culturally relevant topics for our student population. For example, our eighth graders are currently reading “Farewell to Manzanar” which follows a Japanese girl’s life before and after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. In this book we learn what her life was like with her family living in internment camps. Not one of our eighth graders is of Japanese descent which makes the unit incredibly difficult for our students to connect with on a personal level. Although we do our best to include references to similar events students are familiar with such as the Holocaust and ask that they compare and contrast the two events, our school is at a disadvantage time-wise.

Due to our language magnet program, students only attend English once every other day rather than every day. This gives ELA teachers half of the school days to cover as much of the district curriculum as possible, leaving little time to include activities not outlined in the curriculum. Reading this article made me wonder if there was anything we (as teachers) could do to encourage curriculum developers to include a more varied text pool instead of focusing on one book for an entire quarter as we currently do. Currently, visitors from the district criticize our ELA and Math teachers when they choose to include activities the district feels strays too far from the curriculum. I have even had a conversation with one of these visitors who told me every 8th grade ELA teacher across the district should be teaching the same lesson at the exact same time which was unfathomable to me. After having this discussion, it seems even more difficult for ELA teachers to include culturally sensitive materials in their classrooms to support our English Language Learners. -Angelica

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Hannah's Reflection: Culturally Responsive Language Teacher

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Hannah's Reflection: Culturally Responsive Language Teacher

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The article's emphasis on critical thinking across cultures connected immediately with a recent classroom discussion about the definition of "afrolatinidad" and the challenges of having multicultural identities. Many students were shocked to discover that Black Latinos exist, showing how school curricula often erase these intersectional identities. Some of my biracial or bilingual students compared afrolatinidad to their own cultural experiences, while others reflected on their perspectives of those who identify under multiple labels. The results of this discussion would not have been as rich if I had not gotten to know my students and their cultural identities beforehand. I knew I had students who could relate to the topic, and others who would be required to challenge their own beliefs. I do wonder how I could improve the process, as some students did not take the discussion seriously or perhaps felt it was too vulnerable a topic to discuss in front of their peers.

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Mia's Culturally Responsive Language Teachers: Reading Reflection

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Mia's Culturally Responsive Language Teachers: Reading Reflection

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One thing that I can definitely agree with from the article was the portion where it mentioned students who weren't being challenged only doing the bare minimum to get by. That made me think about my native speakers/heritage learners when they are in my classes. The reason being that they do not actually get challenged especially in a Spanish 1 class because they know all of the material that I am teaching. That being said they usually do not earn a good grade in my class and typically barely pass due to the fact that they are bored with the material that is being covered. I do try to increase the rigor that I have for the materials for my native speakers but it still isn't a great motivator for them to actually want to try/put forth effort.

Another point that the article made was that the rejection may also cause students to drop out. It made me think about what a guest speaker that came to my school earlier in the month said about the integration of schools here in Concord. She went to Concord High School and she said that there were some of her peers that couldn't take the fact that they had to deal with the constant targeting and mistreatment that they faced in the school to the point that they dropped out. Although we are no longer living in the times of school integration, that line makes me wonder if there are students that still feel ignored, left out, and/or forgotten to the point that they drop out of school.

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers- Christina Moore

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers- Christina Moore

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One element of the article that spoke to me is the importance of validating students’ cultural identities in classroom practices. In my ASL classroom, learning about Deaf culture and its history is a central part of the language, showing how the Deaf community is tight-knit while ASL serves as a shared language for people with diverse identities, beliefs, and experiences. By incorporating real-world lessons with traditions, stories, historical events, jokes, and cultural values, I help students feel included, respected, and capable, and this reminds me that culturally responsive teaching celebrates all students’ strengths, identities, and perspectives.

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers - Juhye Loudon

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers - Juhye Loudon

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As I reflect on my own experiences, as I am from a different culture myself living in the United States and my culture is different than the students I serve, the aspect of the article that “spoke” to me is the idea of is how teachers become culturally responsive to students. This involves teachers and me reflecting on their own experiences and history. Even though my culture is different from that of my students, I share the same experience as them. The feeling of not knowing what to say or do and the fear that comes with that affects students’ learning. Also, just as the article stated, I must learn the backgrounds and cultures of my students so I do not have my own cultural expectations forced on them.  This will help me to make those necessary connections with my students.

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers - Lina Erickson

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers - Lina Erickson

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Our previous discussion 6.3 left me thinking about identity in the classroom, starting with my own. Because of this, the section of the article that spoke to me the most is the Personal Dimension, as it made me reflect on how identity could shape my teaching. The article mentions the need for teachers to analyze their own backgrounds, as this can be a helpful tool for learning about diversity. As a non-white Latina and a non-native English speaker, I bring with me experiences that absolutely influence how I position myself in the classroom. Understanding that race and nationality do not determine the quality of my lessons, my classes focus on helping students understand that communication should be placed over perfection.

This understanding of how my experiences shape my teaching practices happened gradually, and I have to admit that at first I was very insecure, and I am pretty sure my students did not get the best impression. However, as with almost everything, experience helped, and this insecurity turned into a strength. Additionally, being aware of my racial and cultural identity helps me be more mindful and sensitive to my students’ diverse backgrounds and needs.

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers --> Indya Cross

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Culturally Responsive Language Teachers --> Indya Cross

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This entry strongly connects to my experience teaching high school students, where social acceptance and peer perception feel incredibly important. At this stage, students are easily embarrassed and highly aware of how others view them, which makes creating a respectful classroom culture essential. I intentionally work to foster an environment where students respect both me and each other. I strive to treat every student as special and valued, while remaining consistent and fair with classroom expectations.

For example, I maintain a clear “no profanity” rule. I model respectful language by never using profanity myself and calmly addressing it when I hear it. Often, I’ll simply give a look or replace the inappropriate word with something humorous, like substituting “apple” for a curse word. Because I am consistent and predictable in my responses, students understand the expectation and generally self-monitor. This consistency promotes mutual respect and reinforces that fairness applies to everyone, regardless of background.

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Culturally Responsive Reflection: Leigh Ann Johnson

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Culturally Responsive Reflection: Leigh Ann Johnson

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One aspect of this article that really spoke to me was the emphasis on using students' cultural knowledge and experiences as assets rather than viewing differences as deficits. The article reinforces the idea that culturally responsive teaching is not about celebrating diversity through surface-level activities, but about connection instruction to their lived experiences to support their academic success. Many students enter my classroom believing Latin is irrelevant to their lives or disconnected from their identities. When I first began teaching, I focused heavily in content and curriculum, but as I progressed as an educator, I realized the importance of engaging with students' backgrounds and interests. This is something that I've spent a significant amount of time building in my curriculum, since connecting an ancient language to their daily life was rather difficult for me in the beginning. Now I make sure that I am always connecting Latin back to English or making connections through prior knowledge in other classes. This has improved student motivation in my classroom.

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Culturally Responsive Language Reflection Carrie Lassiter

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Culturally Responsive Language Reflection Carrie Lassiter

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After reading this article, many aspects stood out and connected with me. One of the things that stood out to me the most was how the article was putting a lot of emphasis on the use of cultural knowledge. The article discussed using students' cultural knowledge as a positive instructional tool. The article talked about how using cultural knowledge as a positive tool is better than viewing diversity as a challenge.

This article allowed me to see and reflect on how well I know my students and their demographics. Just because I am already aware of their linguistic, diverse racial, and other backgrounds doesn't mean I understand them deeply. This article caused me to think more deeply about the backgrounds of my students. An example of me thinking more deeply would be how supports are adjusted after deeply looking into the backgrounds. Modifying supports based on experiences and the backgrounds of students will help them reach their learning goals.

Something else that the article made me connect with is how is the classroom culture I have created. It made me stop and think about how my classroom culture is shaped by my beliefs as a teacher. Looking at it now, I see that the cultural aspects in my classroom are made up through engagement, participation, and feeling comfortable to participate, even when a student isn't sure they know about the topic. The classroom culture was not something I thought a lot about before looking at this article. Now, after looking at the article, I will be able to think more intently about it for my students.

I believe that this article was overall very beneficial when it comes to important ways to help students become successful. It has also helped me see how they can become successful through learning with their cultural backgrounds. For an English as a Second Language Teacher, this helped me see that being aware of background is beneficial for students.

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Culturally Responsive Language Reflection: Christa Olson

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Culturally Responsive Language Reflection: Christa Olson

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I found a connection to the article’s emphasis on fostering positive interrelationships among students, families, the community, and the school. Seeing a colleague avoid communication with families has shaped my belief that these connections are essential for student success. At my school, Class Dojo helps bridge gaps by bringing parents, teachers, and the PTO together and instantly translating messages for multilingual families. It is wonderful! I understand that many parents work long hours and whether it’s a quick message about testing or a simple compliment, both messages help strengthen a trusted relationship. Since students spend the majority of their day at school, this communication truly matters. When students witness positive interactions, they feed off of that energy. Many of my families feel culturally disconnected and I want them to understand that their child is an asset to the classroom and their community. My school is hosting a Curriculum, Culture and Community event, which I look forward to being a part of. I think events such as these are excellent ways of including parents in the teaching-learning process. It truly takes a village and I feel that teachers, families, the school and the community, each contribute assets that create a well-rounded network for learning.

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Culturally Responsive Language Teacher Reflection- Katie Oelkers

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Culturally Responsive Language Teacher Reflection- Katie Oelkers

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I enjoyed how the article recommended a number of specific strategies to improve self, instruction, and systems. One strategy that especially stood out to me was the role of family and community involvement. As the article points out, these relationships not only help a teacher to better understand students, but it also creates opportunities to draw on caretaker's knowledge of what works best for the student. As an EC teacher, I frequently collaborated with families at IEP meetings and throughout the year to review goal progress. I really value these relationships and believe them to be beneficial to students. The ESL teacher at my school however, expressed difficulty building family connections due to language barriers. Another ESL teacher that I observed more recently also expressed that many of her students' parents did not speak English. As I prepare to teach ESL, I do think about how to intentionally and proactively build relationships with families who do not speak English.

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The article made me reflect on the wide range of backgrounds our students bring into the classroom. One idea that stayed with me was the importance of helping students connect their home experiences with what happens at school. When there’s a disconnect between the two, it can make learning feel less meaningful or even uncomfortable for some students.

Another powerful point was the reminder that teachers need to recognize and work through any negative assumptions about cultural, language, or ethnic groups. That kind of self-awareness is essential if we want to create classrooms where all students truly feel respected and supported.

I think being open-minded about different cultures helps build the kind of respect and trust we hope to see among our students. I also strongly believe in student-centered classrooms as a way to support achievement. In my classroom, I let students choose where they sit based on where they feel they learn best. My thinking is simple: when students feel comfortable, heard, and safe, they’re much more likely to engage, take risks, and succeed academically.

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apologies in advance for the bell (cat toy) and the sneeze.

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Andi's Article Response - Cultural Responsiveness

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Andi's Article Response - Cultural Responsiveness

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Our students are something fantastic!

Freedom Writers by Erin Gruwell PBS article

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Our students are something crazy beautiful!!

Freedom Writers:  Erin Gruwell PBS article

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Huishu's Reflection on Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Huishu's Reflection on Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Alex Lefter's Reflections on Culturally Responsive Teaching

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Alex Lefter's Reflections on Culturally Responsive Teaching