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Allowing students from many different backgrounds to speak openly about their understanding of the topics we discuss in history class can illuminate new perspectives for other students as well as my own teaching!

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Something as simple as having posters and materials on the walls that are both in English and Spanish can go a long way. I have taken to having English, Spanish, and if I can get it the original writing of a historical document in the original language. It helps students normalize to the fact that other languages exist even if they may not experience other languages when speaking the family and friends!

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My students are a diverse group of people with different backgrounds, interests, and skill levels. I'm sure yours are too! So, make your materials a diverse as they are! When students see themselves in their work they perform better and are more engaged according to research!

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Often Students from a culture that is not the majority in a room can feel social pressure to hide elements of that culture in order to fit in. Embrace the differences in your students and create an environment where they feel comfortable being their true selves for the best results!

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While history class is full of dates and places. Kings and great generals. Queens and political relations. It is also full of everyday people who are not that different from us today. Learning about the everyday lives of the many rich cultures around the world helps to create an environment of learning and acceptance that is unique to history classrooms!

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Giving students the opportunity to share their family heritage and cultural practices are a great way to know our students and friends on a deeper level and if done early in the school year can open to door for more conversations down the line.

Warning!

Just because we have students that are from a different cultural background than a majority of the class, they do not need to be the historical source for or a mouthpiece for their culture. That is 100% unfair to them and is a form of othering that is unproductive. Be careful!

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I have noticed that history books have taken to a bias towards the English and American perspectives, focusing on them more than the other sides. If we want to be truly multicultural and understand historical events how they happened, we need to set aside those biases and dig deep to find out how the different sides of a moment in history responded to the events. Keep those biases in check!

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Using culturally relevant examples and demonstrations can go a long way towards keeping students engaged and on task. Sometimes you just have to reference current pop culture or mention the new Bad Bunny song to keep the kids on their toes. Not to mention you look cool!

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Sometimes stepping outside of our comfort zones as a class and learning something completely new can be a great way to bring everyone together. I have found that learning our names and a few basic signs in ASL has worked really well. It gives all of us a chance to learn each other's names and you can even play a game that is like charades where you work together to figure out what someone is describing in sign language. Using a format foreign to everyone removes biases and preconceptions.

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One of the really cool things about being a history teacher it that you get access to a bunch of maps, and no one questions anything. So, one of the things that was actually suggested to me by a student was a map where everyone could put a pin in to mark where their families are from. I thought it was such a cool idea that a tapped a map to a quark board and had everyone do a deep dive on their family history. Talking to family elders, using ancestry trackers, the works. Everyone tried to be as exact with their pins as possible. Seeing how far families had traveled to all be here in one classroom was a bit eye opening for everyone I would say! You all should try it out!

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I have mentioned language a few times already but to put a final dot on the I, words of encouragement are more helpful that scoffs and scorn. What do I mean? Kids can be mean. They will attack each other for no good reason, and it is our job to cut that off. We can debate our ideas, our opinions and interpretations all we like! Sometimes those conversations can get animated but it's important we only discuss our ideas and not each other.

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Some people need to work with their hands. Taking things apart, manipulating objects to learn. Some people really prefer to listen to someone explain something to them or to hear someone talk and pick up what they are saying. Others want to watch and to look over charts or other visual media. While a lot of this preference is tied to the individual it is important that we as educators acknowledge the cultural and social ties that lead to different learning styles. So keeping a good mix of mediums to work through while on a topic helps to keep everyone involved and learning!

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Some families will inevitably have values or sensibilities that differ from our own and the line of communication can be fuzzy if left up to the student. This is why it is important to keep parents in the loop about all the things we are going to explore in our history classes. Sometimes parents have good input on something that should be mentioned or reservations about a topic. It is important for educatiors to work with parentss and guardians to help them understand why we cover topics in the way we do and why its useful.

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Having involved parents and guardians plays a major factor in how students perform at school and what their ambitions look like after high school. Students with involved families have lower rates of delinquency and are more likely to graduate than those who do not. If parents have encouraged it consistently, they are even more likely to pursue a secondary education! Keep families involved!

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Attending events while unpaid can be fun and is certainly beneficial for a students and wider school community. When a school feels connected to its community and students' education outcomes soar. It is a way to organically interact with students and parents alike. That connectedness improves trust in us teachers and increases student attendance and participation. What could be better!?

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Getting to know our students and our community grants us a lot of trust as educators. We get to see deeper into a student's life than most other people they interact with ever will. Sometimes seeing that deep can alert us to struggles or issues a student may be facing. The repour we build with parents and guardians give us the chance to advocate on behalf of the students and work alongside school staff and parents to get students the resources they need to succeed.