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To ensure that I am teaching in a culturally responsive way, I start by getting to know my students and their families. Once I know more about my students, I take the time to learn about their cultures and interests and incorporate that knowledge into my teaching.  I currently have a student in my class that does not take part in holiday celebrations, so whenever we do activities around holidays, I always make sure to get permission for the student to participate from the family first.
The teacher from Freedom Writers had the students keep diaries from their perspectives and she compiled all the diaries into a book.

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I start by making a concerted effort to learn about the students' individual cultures and interests: language, sports, music, and so on. To achieve this, I use surveys and questionnaires, or build relationships by informally talking to students and asking about their interests.
Tammy

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In order to teach with a cultural responsiveness mindset, we must first analyze our own culture and beliefs. When we do this, we are able to see how we analyze the world and our perspective on things. This helps us to understand how we might see our students. We then must learn about the culture and beliefs that our students hold close to them. It is important to allow time for students to share their experiences with other students and you so that others may learn from each other. They might find that they have common connections or experiences or even learn something new from each other. This allows for a safe classroom climate. This also helps guide instruction so that students may be interested in what they are learning.

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In my classroom, I spend the first several weeks building a rapport with my students through about me projects, setting goals, and making breakfast. Once a week, we choose what we are going to make or eat, make it, and then correlate it with a social skill, and goals. This provides me the time to really get to know my students. Once my students are comfortable with me they share almost everything. This allows me to make home visits, understand where the students come from and their needs, and connect with them on bigger levels besides just grades. This coming school year, I have been given permission to hold cookouts, and holiday meals for my families. If parents do not feel comfortable then we work around this. All of this helps guide instruction. Sometimes, you are their biggest fan and they come to school because of you. In Freedom writers, she showed them how important they were and connected standards to meaningful curriculum.

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I've tried very hard to really get to know my students and the students that are in the grade levels that I interact with the most. Every morning there is about 5-10 minutes before announcements begin that my students and I sit around and we talk to one another. Most often it's just silly stuff but sometimes students open up and want to talk about something rough that's going on in their lives. I think it has helped me, who grew up in an affluent area, get to know the struggles my students deal with on a daily basis.

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I think I do a good job of community in my classroom. All of my students seem to understand they they all have a purpose and they all matter to everyone. I think this is exactly what the teacher in Freedom Writers did. She made them realize that they were important to someone and they should be proud of themselves. Will they ever be president? Probably not, but that doesn't mean we should down play their accomplishments. Another way I ensure I am teaching in a culturally responsive way is to keep my biases in check. Even when I disagree with some part of their culture, I don't let it impact my teaching.
Cecilia

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I think its important to understand that every person/student has different values, and we need to be respectful of them.  We all have different thought, beliefs, feelings, and cultures.  Understand our students strengths, not just their deficits.  Its important to make a home/school connection and get to know our families and the communities in which they come from.  We need to use a variety of teaching strategies because we all have different modes of learning.  Its important to be present and listen to what our students have to say.

The teacher in the video clip from Freedom Writers had her students keep diaries throughout the class and at the end of the semester she wanted them to type them up on computers that were donated to the class, and took their words and put them into a book.  She also had them decide on the title of their book, in which they chose "The Freedom Writers Diary".
Patti

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In order to ensure that you are teaching in a culturally responsive way, we first have to reflect and realize that we have biases and preconceived notions. Once we know that, we can then be culturally responsive. I don't know everything. That's okay! There are so many strategies, some that have already been listed, in order to be culturally responsive. It's about being sensitive with language. You have to communicate with families and build an inclusive and accepting classroom culture where the child belongs. You can't ostracize a learner for being different. She was culturally responsive because she built an environment where learners felt safe, were able to have opinions, respectful discussions with one another, and share about what was going on in their life. When we leave school, it's easy to turn off what our learners are going home to. We can't make assumptions.

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The classrooms I work with send home a questionnaire to find out more regarding the child’s culture. This includes things like: what they cannot eat, holiday’s they do not celebrate, etc. The teacher did a great job of teaching self determination by putting their thoughts into a book.
Morgan M.

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In my classroom I contact families and attempt to learn about their culture. When delivering lessons, I ensure to incorporate students culture especially during cooking lessons..
The teacher in the video used self determination through writing and putting their thoughts into a book. This is a great idea.
Taylor

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In my classroom my students complete an All About Me poster at the beginning of the school year. I also send home a questionnaire and ask parents to complete to give me information such as best way to contact family, who I should speak with, food restrictions, ect. I also try making connections with the students.

The teacher in the video taught the students the importance of self-determination by having the students, through a writing project, put their thoughts and voices mattered into a book.
Tiffany

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In my classroom, I relate what we are learning to their experiences, encourage/ motivate the students, have high expectations and hold the students accountable for their actions.

In the movie, the teacher held expectations for the students and encouraged them to be the best they could be. She wanted them to succeed and move forward to graduate. She took into account their culture by allowing them to write whatever they wanted and didn't make them turn it in to be read; eventually, they trusted her to read some of their stories. This lead her to have them create their own book as a class.

Hilari

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Positive attitude about each student-each one has the ability to succeed.
Real-life connections-connect what you're learning to life outside of school.
Get to know students-and their families

In the video, the teacher held positive expectations for each student and fully believed in the potential each child held.

Alysha

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-Label common classroom items with words/pictures
-Variety of classroom books from different cultures
- Connections throughout lessons to student lives outside of school
-Getting to know students/families personally
-Personal research about various cultures
-Students share artifacts/stories from home

In the clip, the teacher had a positive attitude about her students and stated high expectations demonstrating that she truly believed in the potential of each student. She put together a writing assignment that gave students the choice to incorporate their own lives and experiences.

Tori