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I am consciously making an effort every day to advocate and hear from all of my students, but especially those who have been (and still are) marginalized in our society. It is something I will likely be working on my entire education career because we all have implicit biases about different groups of people ,and it's our job as culturally responsive educators/people to unlearn those biases and actively work against them so all of our students feel included, respected and heard.

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Kamara: I will try to connect content to students' culture to boost their engagement. When  the work they do is connected to their lives, content is more relevant to them, and they become more engaged. For activities and assignments, l will try to include a variety of authentic resources from cultures that represent my students.

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I will consciously highlight diverse peoples in my curricula, to model that all types of people, no matter the race, ethnicity, gender, orientation, ability, etc, can excel and be amazing in their field. I find that my curriculum often highlights the work of "Old Dead White Guys" and I am consciously trying to put more diversity there instead

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One thing that I will work to make my practice more understanding is by reading books that will increase my understanding of other cultures and races. I grew up in a small town in Montgomery County that was primarily white. I feel that it is my responsibility as a white woman to listen and learn about how other cultures feel and what they need. I think by taking my time outside of the classroom to learn will help me be more understanding in the classroom.

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Throughout our Benchmark curriculum, SEL lessons, Leader In Me lessons, I am trying to provide my students with a balanced approach to personal growth and accepting each other for our strengths and needs.  The students love watching/hearing stories online that I may not have access to as a book.  

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Throughout our Benchmark curriculum, SEL lessons, Leader In Me lessons, I am trying to provide my students with a balanced approach to personal growth and accepting each other for our strengths and needs.  The students love watching/hearing stories online that I may not have access to as a book.  

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I will try to make sure I leave space in my classroom (like in morning meetings) to allow me to learn about my students and allow them to learn about each other. I will also work to replace and enrich the curriculum with read aloud books that actually reflect the students and cultures I see in my classroom.

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I want to continue to find ways to embrace the diversity of my students. Making students' experiences and voices a resource in class and encouraging discussions in which they can share their views respectfully is important. I am heartbroken to hear stories from some of my English language learners about how they have been shamed for their English proficiency, both by classmates and teachers/administrators throughout their educational journey. The term "emerging bilingual" has always appealed to me because it just seems so crazy to see people speaking more than one language as anything other than a benefit. Likewise, students who work many hours a week and still make it to school every day (or don't always) inspire me because I just had no concept of that when I was in high school and they bring with them valuable skills that can absolutely transfer to class activities and assignments. Student voice is so important to enriching the classroom and diversity of experiences is valuable to the learning process.

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I will try and find read alouds that have characters that represent our student population. It is important for students to see themselves in the readings.

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For our assignments in class, I will try to include sources of all different kinds from a wide range of cultures and backgrounds to better represent our student population.

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Anchoring the Curriculum in the Students’ Lives

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Anchoring the Curriculum in the Students’ Lives

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In order to better engage students in their work, I will create assignments and projects that are connected to their lives and interests.  I will also make sure that the books we read are relevant to and representative of the students I teach. I think this will be especially impactful in writing.

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I will research and read more books and articles on cultural proficient teaching and inequalities in education.

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I will build relationships with all students and families, so that they feel safe coming to me if they need anything and I can advocate for their needs. Especially for my non-English speaking families that feel intimidated to speak up for their child because of the language barrier.

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I will talk to all of my students parents, whether they are struggling or thriving, in order to learn more about their lives. I will ask, "Does____ make art at home? Are their any artists in the family? Is there anything I should now about ____ so I can be an effective teacher?" I can make 3 phone calls a week, and whittle it down.