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I honestly learned that no matter who you are dealing with positive energy is the most effective way. 

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I honestly learned that no matter who you are dealing with positive energy is the most effective way. 

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I learned that we need to make sure we build relationships with our students. So when they see us they see a person who will be there for them.

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Based on our discussions, I learned identity is very important to everyone. We must be aware of our identity and help students figure out theirs. We as teachers need to provide students with knowledge to help them figure out who they are. To do this we can incorporate fun and comfortable activities such as our name stories.

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I LEARN THAT EVERYBODY HAS A ORIGIN HISTORY ABOUT THEIR CULTURE THAT I CAN RELATE TOO.

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To be truly culturally responsive we also have to be In touch with our own identify. We are who we are because of what we’ve been through and though every culture has had hardships, you can still find and celebrate the good in each situation. In addition, culturally responsive teaching helps us identify all our similarities and differences and appreciate each other On a deeper level. It’s ok to have uncomfortable conversations about identity because it helps up have a better understanding of who we are as people and who the others around us are as well. Culturally responsive teaching opens up lines of. Communication easier and without judgement because we are learning about other cultures and dispelling judgements based on misinformation.

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Everyone is different, comes from different backgrounds, have different upbringings.  It was great viewing things from a different lens.  

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Everyone is different, comes from different backgrounds, have different upbringings.  It was great viewing things from a different lens.  

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The scorecard should be reflected towards the book of the month , some books are lengthy and some are not. Depending on the story thats where the questions should focus. 

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The scorecard should be reflected towards the book of the month , some books are lengthy and some are not. Depending on the story thats where the questions should focus. 

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To answer the questions you really have to take an in depth look at parts of the book you wouldn't normally think about. Its a lot harder than it seems because its all objective, but it gives a sense of responsibility to the teacher to make sure the literature we are sharing with our students encompasses all genders, races, religions, abilities and walks of life.

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To answer the questions you really have to take an in depth look at parts of the book you wouldn't normally think about. Its a lot harder than it seems because its all objective, but it gives a sense of responsibility to the teacher to make sure the literature we are sharing with our students encompasses all genders, races, religions, abilities and walks of life.

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To answer the questions you have to dig deep into the book.  It's also time consuming.

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To answer the questions you have to dig deep into the book.  It's also time consuming.

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I enjoyed the book, but not really happy about latinX

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we need to expose children to their cultural identities while at the same time teaching academics.

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I learned so many things that we do not talk about with our students. Many of this information would help students to identify their cultural backgrounds and heritage.

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It is important that what is considered satisfactory on the scorecard should be reflected in the books that are picked for our students we teach.

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Alicia, I learnt that everyone is different and have different views . The discussion were great.

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Alicia, I learnt that everyone is different and have different views . The discussion were great.

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I learned during session 1 is that it's important to learn who our students are. The lessons/ curriculum  in which we as teachers create should be diverse, and be a reflection of our student body. Teachers must find the joy in all topics, in addition, cultivating genius can be taught throughout all subject areas.
In session 2, I learned how to use a score card to see if books that I am introducing to students are diverse. These books, should also show people of color, and genders in a positive light. Students should also be able to make personal connections to books introduced.

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I learned that we need to build stronger relationships with our students by understanding their cultures and differences.

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I learned that we need to build stronger relationships with our students by understanding their cultures and differences.

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I learned that no matter from where you are from, you can learn and success.

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We need to cultivate genius in our classsrooms by getting to know our students and building relationships with them.  It is imperative that they feel important.

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We need to cultivate genius in our classsrooms by getting to know our students and building relationships with them.  It is imperative that they feel important.

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I leaned that in order to cultivate the genius in our students we have to cultivate the genius within ourselves and we must validate our students (culture, identity, knowledge) and build them up.

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Alicia, You really have to dig deep into the book to answer some of the question, it was time consuming and some questions were a bit hard. Thank you to the team that worked on the units!!!!

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Alicia, You really have to dig deep into the book to answer some of the question, it was time consuming and some questions were a bit hard. Thank you to the team that worked on the units!!!!

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HRL is when we respond to the cultural identity of our students represented in our class, and respond to cultural occurrences that have happened in the past and how they relate to the present.

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I learned that many times we read books but we do not pay attention to the importance of the reading.

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I learned the importance of teaching cultural identity and the shift in thinking of instructional practices.

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Choosing the right books and having the right discussions will help us make curriculum where the students see themseleves as succesful. 

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Choosing the right books and having the right discussions will help us make curriculum where the students see themseleves as succesful. 

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I learned more about my colleagues and this session reinforced the importance of building relationships and getting to truly know students. This work is most effective when we as teachers understand where our students are coming from and celebrate each other.

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Genius is represented in so many ways.  It is so important for us to share and discuss as well as the kids to share and discuss about identity and representation.  This allows for them to learn, quite organically that there is a lot more that binds us than separates us.

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I LIKE THE BOOK THAT MY GROUP HAD. AND I THINK KIDS WILL ENJOY IT. ITS VERY IMPORTANT WHY WE HAVE OUR ELDERS THAT WEASK QUESTIONS AND FIND OUT ABOUTOUR FAMILY ORIGIN. AND I THINK AFTER THE KIDS READ THIS BOOK THEY WILL GO HOME AND ASK QUESTIONS TOTHEIR PARENTS OR FAMILY MEMBERS

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This mornings session was a good a way for one another to learn from our peers. The Identity lessons we shared were helpful. I now have at least 3 lessons that I am excited to share with my class.

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I enjoyed the activities because we were able to share non academic things about ourselves. There is no right or wrong answer. Using these practices in the classroom can allow all students, including SWD and ELLs, to become comfortable enough to eventually share and participate during academic discussions.

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looking forward to delivering more culturally diverse lessons that empowers students of all culture next September.

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I think having the scorecards allowed us to look at the books in a different way. Normally, when reading the books in our curriculum, I never paid attentions to the types of questions they asked on the scorecards.  I feel like now I will be more aware of books that we read.

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The score card was a bit challenging. But with practice , and choosing books that will benefit students will make it easier.

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I enjoyed exploring different ways to work with students about identity and learning more about their own, and others identities.

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I enjoyed learning about differnt ways to get to know our students all about our students.  My favorite was telling our name stories.  This is a great icebreaker for getting to know our students.  I also can't wait to use the contributions from Ms. Minecola and Ms. Sinon.  Thanks for the idea!

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I enjoyed learning about differnt ways to get to know our students all about our students.  My favorite was telling our name stories.  This is a great icebreaker for getting to know our students.  I also can't wait to use the contributions from Ms. Minecola and Ms. Sinon.  Thanks for the idea!

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Flanagan: It is important and meaningful to celebrate students identity, having them share their story is empowering and uplifting.

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Flanagan: It is important and meaningful to celebrate students identity, having them share their story is empowering and uplifting.

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Cultivating Genius is exciting because it teaches us about each others background, Cultures and liking. We can take what we are learning in this book and become a better Educator to our students.

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Today, I had a great experience. After the exercise of the origin of my name, I was able to experience a more effective way to work with the kids. In addition, I have a better understanding of how the kids could be more involve on their learning.

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The morning was very interesting. We had the opportunity to come up with ideas that are going to help our students. The culture is something that every kid has to be aware of.

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I learned that creating "I can" statements for the 5 pursuits can be difficult, and it is helpful to work on them collaboratively as we begin to do this work.

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I think if we put the scorecards together for all of the books of the month we will see as a whole that the books reflect a wide variety of cultures and social issues.

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It was very interesting to see the new ideas that are going to be added to the curriculum to help our students identify with their roots and who they really are.

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I learned the importance of the scorecard and the importance of choosing the proper materials for our students. Students should be learning from a curriculum and using materials that they can relate to and shows a reflection of who they are.

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April
This was a great PD. I learned so much about cultivating my students by learning student's history, learning student identities and questioning literacy and language development.

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Utilizing the score card can be challenging because you need to make some assumptions.  However, it is important and necessary because it forces us to look at the text we use and making sure that all are represented and not just in a stereotypical way.

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This activity was a little on the difficult side, but I do think that it would be interesting to see it play out doing so with a whole lesson rather than just one book.

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Flanagan: It is important to review currently used texts to promote inclusion and diversity and to avoid stereotypes.

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Flanagan: It is important to review currently used texts to promote inclusion and diversity and to avoid stereotypes.

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Using the Scorecard can be difficult but I do understand its benefits. Looking at books using the Scorecard help us to make sure that we are including everyone, so that our students see themselves in our curriculum, make more connections and are more interested and invested in their own learning. Thank you Nicole and Fo!!!!

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The afternoon session was great! Scoring the next books of the month was an important step in building culturally sensitive students.

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This was an excellent P.D, I learned that the more comfortable students are with themselves they will open up to learn more. I also learned a lot about my peers. Ms. Rice was right this was fun.

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I am excited to go back to thematic units and lots of scaffolding. I feel like that went by the wayside right before I started teaching, so I'm excited to try these new ways.

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A parent of one of my students just shared that she feels "the public school system is failing our black children because it’s not enough black history/culture being taught in public schools therefore the some children get bored only learning about the European ways and it’s sad." I told her that the DOE Is looking to change diversity and how it's addressed in the city via "cultural responsiveness." Each student's culture is important. Teachers/administrators must first examine and unpack their/our own "histories, identities, biases, assumptions, and tensions with racism and other oppressions they have learned, experienced, and practiced."

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My take away from this morning is mainly about how much I learned and how many of us had similar opinions about culture, color etc... it was very nice to share our experiences about ourselves and with our students to broaden our knowledge base

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My take away from this morning is mainly about how much I learned and how many of us had similar opinions about culture, color etc... it was very nice to share our experiences about ourselves and with our students to broaden our knowledge base

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Niika Mason

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I learned that the score card is a tool to think about how students should learn. It is not easy to apply to all books we use or will use to teach our students.

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Cultivating genius is a great way to learn about collogues as well as teaching to diverse students. Its eye opening to see how important it is to bring identity into the classroom.

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The morning session was very informative . I see how i can use the I can statement to guide my lesson by aligning the I can to skills, intellect and culture..

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I learned how my colleges were using Cultivating Genius to enhance their lessons and connecting students with their identities. We got to see some Kinder specific lessons that made it relevant for the younger grade teachers.

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I learned how it is important to build a relationship with students so that they have a safe space and can feel like their voices are important and heard.

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I learned how important identity can be for students and the importance of including culturally sensitive materials in our lessons.

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I learned how important identity and conversations with students are needed in lessons. Allowing them to feel comfortable in their environment as as who they are is what will help them be better in society

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I learned about identity and how it can be applied to a first grade classroom. In understanding how the lesson's are structured and the focus, it allows me to begin to think about how I can support my speech student's to address the curriculum.

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I learned that it is very important that we as adults help to teach and embrace the identity of our students. They need to feel confident that they belong and are really important parts of society.

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The scorecards are a lot of work but a great way to ensure the materials we use are culturally responsive. They are also difficult to complete.

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I learned that it is not easy to teach identity. I however realize how critical a subject it is, and that our littlest learners can digest the lesson and have something wonderful to contribute. 

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I learned that it is not easy to teach identity. I however realize how critical a subject it is, and that our littlest learners can digest the lesson and have something wonderful to contribute. 

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I learned that building relationships with our students  is the way to unlock their genius. Building and maintaining that connection helps us to tap into their potential no matter what the educator nor child looks like.

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I learned that building relationships with our students  is the way to unlock their genius. Building and maintaining that connection helps us to tap into their potential no matter what the educator nor child looks like.

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I think the scorecard for the book of the month is helpful to understand the author's message in different ways.

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I feel that I am beginning to understand the pursuits a little more as they relate to early childhood (criticality) as I listen to Dr. Muhamed explain in her own words. Working as a group, I understand how subjective our perceptions are and knowing that will help me to better understand myself.

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As teachers we have to begin shifting our mindset from just focusing on teaching skills.

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As teachers we have to begin shifting our mindset from just focusing on teaching skills.

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My reflections on Cultivating Genius is that it is an interesting method of incorporating cultures into education but it was also a struggle for me to keep up while i was in the book club. I'm getting a better perspective about the book from how other people interpret the book.

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I gained a stronger understanding of the 5 pursuits and how to include them as "I can" statements in lessons by looking closely at the identity lessons written by my colleagues and by discussing them with my team. This is something I am still struggling with on my own. It was helpful to collaborate.

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I learned how difficult it is to score a book, but with teamwork and collaboration it can be done so that our children have a curriculum that better represents them.

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I learned how to put "I can" statements together for each of the 5 different pursuits. I found how very challenging this can be but how important it is for forming culturally responsive lessons and activities for our students.

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I learned that this is not an easy topic to discuss.

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Nika Mason
In session two I feel that the story allowed us to take note of the importance of understanding and sharing our cultural backgrounds and ideas. It broadens our awareness of others around us and have us insight on how to introduce these topics to our students and how beneficial it can be to them.

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I learned that no matter where you come from we all have different Identity which makes us who we are, some where we all can relate and some where we find joy learning from.

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We have to dig deep into a text and try to exam as many areas as possible to learn more about ourselves and our students.

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I learned how to analyze a book using the scorecard and the thought that needs to go into choosing a book.

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Today, we listen to the book: Journey Home. I strongly believe that our students will identify with it. This book make me think about my own family roots.

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The score card doesn't seem to be an effective measure of scoring literature because it takes too long.

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Utilizing the score card allowed us to evaluate our Books of the Month to determine if they are culturally responsive.  Utilizing the score card can be challenging, but is worth the work.  

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Utilizing the score card allowed us to evaluate our Books of the Month to determine if they are culturally responsive.  Utilizing the score card can be challenging, but is worth the work.  

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Looking at book of the month . I learned how to analyze how best the book is meeting the criteria of culturally sensitive literature . We all participated ,Ms Fo and Ms .Minecola did a great FO as usual did a great job.

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The scorecard is an excellent way to ensure we have an all-inclusive curriculum. To be able to present a book where the author, illustrator and main characters look like our student population will build pride and character in our student's,

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The scorecard is an excellent way to ensure we have an all-inclusive curriculum. To be able to present a book where the author, illustrator and main characters look like our student population will build pride and character in our student's,

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The book of the month brought my back ground to my memory.
excelent way to teach the kids about their own culture.

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I learned that it's important to address student achievement while affirming their cultural identity through our daily lessons.

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The scorecard was an interest and difficult task that allowed us to to really evaluate all aspects of the books to see just how well their lessons will apply to a diverse environment
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This was cool.

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Completing the scorecard is truly a challenge with picture books. It is often difficult to discern race and nationality. I guess though that is the point. Perhaps picture books should be more mindful to clearly demonstrate inclusivity (in all areas) economically, culturally, gender and race, because to not so often means "you don't exist" or you have nothing positive to add.

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The scorecard is a great tool to use when planning your lessons. It helps you determine if this is the perfect to deliver an effective lesson that touch on each culture in a positive way.

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I  think as  educators  we should have a connection with our students.  So they can feel comfortable to have any discussion  with their teachers.

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The scorecard seems to be a bit difficult, but I do understand the reasoning for it.  April

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The scorecard seems to be a bit difficult, but I do understand the reasoning for it.  April

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Even though some of the statements on the score cards were a little difficult to answer it was interesting to compare it to the book of the month to be able see if all the points are being met.

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Even though some of the statements on the score cards were a little difficult to answer it was interesting to compare it to the book of the month to be able see if all the points are being met.

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The score cards are a good tool to identify what books are going to be effective in teaching students about their culture and giving them characters/scenarios they can relate.

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The work with the scorecard is long and difficult. I thought it would get easier or that I would be come more efficient at using it -- the more I did it. However, I'm now thinking that's probably not going to happen. The conversation around each statement on each section of the card is important and it takes time and great care to respond to each statement as thoughtfully and accurately as possible.

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Using the scorecard really stretched our minds to look for things that we wouldn't normally look for when choosing a text. 

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Using the scorecard really stretched our minds to look for things that we wouldn't normally look for when choosing a text. 

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This was an opportunity for all staff members to experience the work we started earlier this year.  It allowed all stakeholders to see the direction we are moving toward to cultivate genius at CS 300.  It also allowed all stakeholders to be a part of the work.

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This was an opportunity for all staff members to experience the work we started earlier this year.  It allowed all stakeholders to see the direction we are moving toward to cultivate genius at CS 300.  It also allowed all stakeholders to be a part of the work.

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I learned that we have an amazing staff and work so hard to make all of our students feel included, cared for and loved. These new books are wonderful to help us reach all of our goals for everyone,

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I learned that the scorecard is intense and requires true teamwork to analyze the books we read to our students. 

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I learned that the scorecard is intense and requires true teamwork to analyze the books we read to our students. 

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The scorecard activity allowed for me to take a deeper look at the text and to see if it cultured-centered.

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I love that the book had different characters from different cultural backgrounds.

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The scorecard is full of deep/difficult/intense questions. It gave me anxiety and a headache.