Toolkit For Bridging Gaps by OrchidFlower

Literary submerging: Teachers can start by reading age-appropriate books centering around diversity like A Bad Case of the Stripes or Our Class is a Family. These books can start the process of reflecting on one's differences, which can spark a healthy discussion about cultural backgrounds and awareness. Technique: Using the text to explore personal differences and open up moments of sharing diversities, in culture and traditions (Howe & Lisi, 2024).

orchid_heflin — 2024-11-30 18:57:20 UTC

Celebrate Culture: Teachers can also use celebrations like Thanksgiving or Christmas to broaden the minds of students to look outside of their traditions and see if any fellow students celebrate differently. Using the historical makeup of Thanksgiving to talk about Native Americans and the rich history of differences embraced during the first Thanksgiving can create an objective lesson about various practices adopted in today's society.

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Music Influences the World: Share music culturally that will help students appreciate the different ways of expression. Application: Ask students to listen an observe the differences in instruments used or the way things are sung or to pinpoint the language sung.

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Science and Math meet: Students can learn about different contributors to science and their background or Mathmeticians that made great impact to the math world and use the information to write reports in language arts.

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The Knowledge fund: Create assignments that pertain to students using their knowledge bank of culture and background to base group projects. This method brings a personal touch to the learning experience (Teach+, 2024).

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Differentiation: This is necessary in any classroom dynamic but, the cultural implication is more so in taking into consideration student needs. Students who have a learning disability need modifications or accomodations. Students who are on a higher level may need more engaging ways to learn. The lessons must be designed to meet diversity which essentially is a cultural responsive method.

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Relevant Cultural Examples: Making lessons more relatable and students being able to see themselves represented is another crucial way to provide culturally responsive teaching strategies. Pointing out a painter or poets cultural contribution may foster an interest in a particular subject matter.

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Student Directed Learning: This is where students get to sit in the driverseat and may be given options as to a preferred cultural interest. It can be seen during book reports or Powerpoint presentations. It gives students the ability to choose what they learn under guided supervision on a topic of interest.

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Classroom and Decor: The classroom is decorated with the students in mind. Posting pictures of students' artwork and assignments and having their birthdays posted is one way to celebrate and build a multicultural classroom. The diversity is represented as well in visual maps and cultural paintings that share the names and identities of famous artists, doctors, athletes, etc. A mirror in the classroom reminds students of the uniqueness that they bring to the classroom can be an added touch.

orchid_heflin — 2024-11-30 19:54:12 UTC

Guidelines of Respect: A teacher can enforce and reinforce classroom etiquete for students to govern times of sharing or giving opinions during open discussions. Students will learn how to respect others. This practice starts on the first day of school amongst the other rules and regulations to be honored and observed in the classroom. However, this particular procedure will remain a staple at the beginning of every lesson and discussion time (Edutopia, 2018).

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Cultural festivals and events: Periodically after a lengthy study or project. Students can be invited to bring cultural dishes or some form of representation of a cultural symbol or object to end a lesson. They also can take a few minutes to present ingredients or what they brought in to share with the class. A teacher can also use this time to invite a parent or guardian to talk to the class about their display.

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Language Integration: Students can be asked to share common words with the class in their native language. Teachers can also share videos with subtitles to introduce students to other cultural languages and see if they can remember certain words for common english sayings.

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Service learning projects: Otherwise known as Community based projects can be a tool used to enhance cultural diversity by inviting organizations to support student learning projects and get them involved. Projects like collaborating with establishments who train, seeing eye dogs that promote a look into the support of those that are vision impaired can foster a desire to get involved with adopting dogs for these purposes.

orchid_heflin — 2024-11-30 20:19:46 UTC

Culture Night: This inspires families to come out and fellowship and learn about cultural differences and similarities. It creates an opportunity for parent/guardian involvement. They can setup displays of their cultural background or they can come to share in other displays of the school community.

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Diverse Communication outlets: Knowing that students come from diverse backgrounds, teachers will need to provide newsletters or bilingual ways of communicating class news and updates. Taking extra time to translate materials for parents/guardians who do not speak english will translate a respect and a multicultural existence beyond the four walls of the classroom (ASCD, 2024).

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Multicultural Workshops Directed toward Parents and Guardians: This is another strategy that creates a cultural bridge. Inviting speakers to share how to's or ways to broker an inclusive cultural environment amongst many differences will help to build community and acknowledge the families who support their students from home. This can be offered in person or online, to show empathy for those that have multiple children or jobs that may hinder their ability to make these monthly meetings.

orchid_heflin — 2024-11-30 20:32:02 UTC

ASCD.(2024). 5 Strategies to Integrate Civil Discourse and Civic Action in Schools. https://ascd.org/blogs/5-strategies-to-integrate-civil- discourse-and-civic-action-in-schools

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Edutopia.(2018). 5 Keys to Challenge Implicit Biases. https://halo.gcu.edu/courses/EDU-330-O500-20241007/course-units/eeeb3135-bc69-4bcd-9f86-84c09b4c27a8#:~:text=Edutopia%20website%20(2016).-,https%3A//www.edutopia.org/blog,-/keys%2Dto%2Dchallenging

Howe, W. A., & Lisi, P. L. (2024). Becoming a multicultural educator (4th ed.). SAGE Publications. https://bibliu.com/app/bibliuMagicToken=zqol9xzKjfqhpvSaZYtk9BOuf9Mf3INy#/view/books/B1B8LHMER7WQR/epub/OEBPS/s9781071832073.i840.html

Teach+ Plus. (2024). Explore the teach plus. We grow and empower teacher leaders to create an equitable education system for students. https://halo.gcu.edu/courses/EDU-330-O500-20241007/course-units/23688ec3-b85e-4d8d-99c3-e8a5d196d889#:~:text=Teach%20Plus%20website.-,https%3A//teachplus.org/,-State%20Policy%20Network