• My goal is to not be a friend, a parental replacement, or teacher but to be an adult community member that children could trust. While teachers encompass many different roles in the classroom and school community, often the importance of a trusted adult is overlooked and forgotten in the midst of the roles of educator, social worker, advocate, and disciplinarian. This overlooked role of teachers is so vital to creating a safe space to develop and explore how and why to build, maintain, and repair relationships. But what does this all have to do with education? By modeling this with students and developing appropriate relationships with each student, students will have access to fulfilling the belonging and love hierarchy of needs, thus allowing safety and capability of achieving esteem and self-actualization. I must acknowledge that healthy relationships don’t appear magically; they take a great deal of thought and effort. The reward of student motivation, achievement, and confidence, in my opinion, is worth all a great deal of the aforementioned thought and effort. 
• Teachers give their students life-long lessons when they help them discover what they can do when they're going through hard times. Things that won't hurt themselves or anyone else. Children need to know that putting their feelings into words, whether by talking with a caring listener or by writing journals or poetry, really can help. They need to know that painting, drawing, listening to music, or playing an instrument also can help. We all must find our own ways of coping with life's stresses. Helping children begin to do that will serve them their whole lives (Vinopal, 2019).  I believe and showed that if a child doesn’t sense that the teacher cares for him or her, then that child will not be able to learn very much. 

• My goal is to recognize and allow space for children to arrive with feelings, concerns, anxieties, and joys. Children who do not feel accepted and valued or feel they are flawed in some way can feel shame, a sense of unworthiness, and disconnection from others, thus denying themselves the potential to succeed as scholars. The theory that guides this practice in education and child development was presented to Rogers by Margaret McFarland, a developmental psychologist, whom he studied under at the University of Pittsburgh. McFarland worked closely with the highly regarded child psychologist Dr. Spock and Erik Erikson (Vinopal, 2019). Unfortunately, McFarland did not publish very much of her work, instead focusing her efforts outside of the classroom as a mentor to many. One of her many legacies is the tenant that attitudes are not taught, they are caught (Bafile, 2002). In essence, if the attitude of the teacher toward the material is positive, enthusiastic, committed, and excited, the students get that. This is a practical, timely, and effective application of modeling.
• It's through relationships that children grow best and learn best. In Darling-Hammond, & Cook-Harvey. (2018) studies of at-risk children, it is shown that what most helps make them resilient is having someone who cares about them. For our most troubled children, the teacher could be the only truly nurturing person in their lives. To develop a culturally responsive pedagogy, I must recognize my own biases, develop an inclusive curriculum, and value the different modes of teaching and learning that exist in students’ communities. By creating an environment that respects cultural diversity and affirms each student’s unique personhood, teachers are, in effect, telling students, “I care about you” (Hammond, 2015).

• Affirm differences rather than deny them to promote multicultural perspective. Develop lesson plans that incorporate the theory of multiple intelligences. Accommodate learning preferences of all students. Stay attuned to children’s cultures to improve academic achievement. Visit student’s families to understand family and neighborhood cultures. Healing informed rather than trauma informed classroom practices. 

“Cultural differences in learning may be apparent in three areas: learning styles,or preference, interactional or communication styles, and language differences. (Nieto, 2008, p. 176)

• Systemic change to embrace ethical and supportive environments to reframe schools as a compassionate and empathetic culture and a place of growth for the holistic learner. Openness and honesty within process and curriculum. Fits goal closing the achievement gaps between marginalized, disadvantaged, or excluded student populations that grow wider each year. Recognition that there is often conflation of hopefulness and desire to impact marginalized populations without addressing systemic problems (Wrigley et al., 2012). The intention feels good, but lack of longitudinal outcome analysis leads to the increased achievement gap. Idealism leads to false hope. (Hodson, 2004).

“The assumption that culture is the primary determinant of academic achievement can be o ver simplistic, dangerous, and counterproductive because, although culture may influence, it does not determine who we are. “ (Nieto, 2008, p. 175)

• What will be the major themes in student selected reading goals?
• How will this new practice increase reading minutes, accuracy, or level?
• How does repeating a positive affirmation impact perceived competence and feelings about reading?
• What does the students home reading environment look like? Does it support literacy? How does the home environment influence a student's reading ability and growth?
  • supportive
  • appropriate
  • language
• How will positive affirmations impact challenging attitudes towards reading (defiant, faux/overconfidence, indifference, etc.) ?
• What are the literacy practices that my students are in engaging in? Which ones do they need?