Samantha King6 Responses to Cultural EssaysCreating a Culturally Responsive Classroom

1.) Reading this article really opened my eyes to how a culturally responsive classroom can be correctly be implemented amongst students and the teachers facilitating it. Teachers all over the country strive to understand how students learn, think, behave, and analyze behavior in and out of the classroom. It is so important to have an understanding of each student’s background and prior learning experiences. There are many methods that teachers can use to understand the students in the classroom. Reaching out to parents is always a positive approach, although not always reliable if they are unwilling to cooperate. The first ten days of the school year are the most important and standards/expectations should be made clear to students so they can arrive at their fullest potential. The classroom should be user friendly and consist of a wide variety of learning activities for the students to be able to reflect and work positively in. In the classroom I am placed in now, there is a variety of learning centers that assist to different types of learners.

2.) Family, school, and community partnerships are essential to providing cultural exploration for students and educators. There are many different ways that a teacher can implement these strategies in the classroom and the school. A future teacher should know what resources are available to them inside and outside of the classroom. Exploring other cultures helps students understand and connect to the world and other students in the classroom. In the classroom I am in now, at least one third of the students are from another country or their parents are. Teachers should encourage student’s parents to come in and share anything that they can about their heritage to connect the students understanding to the classroom. My school offers a ESL program for adults in the community to provide whatever help they can. There are a lot of students in my school that have speech problems or are ESL Learners and their needs are accommodated. I also really liked the idea of students teaching other students some words in their native language. My Spanish-speaking students always share certain words with me each day and I have learned a lot so far.

3.) I really agree with the statement that “A major goal of effective teaching is to make learning meaningful for individual students.” In order for students to gain their fullest potential in the classroom, they must be able to connect to past experiences and content to move forward in a positive light in and out of the classroom. A good teacher should try to synchronize students’ home experiences and school environment to move forward in a positive light. This allows students to reach their maximum potential socially and academically. There have been many mixed feelings towards this type of environment. Some theorists argue that “social and economic stratification

leads to rejection of schooling by some groups when they see that schooling does not necessarily translate into social and economic gains.” (Ogbu) Researchers have found that differences between the school and home culture may undermine the students’ enthusiasm for learning and their ability/capacity to learn. (Entwisle) Making a student feel comfortable and making the learning environment appropriate takes time but maximizes the potential for student understanding.

4.) As Native American author Jameke Highwater once said, “We do not all see the same things.” In schools today, there is a high rate of diversity amongst students however that is not the same for the rate of new educators across the country. As each class grows at an alarming act in the opposite direction it creates an issue of using different methods and styles in the classroom for students. A very important strategy to seeing the full picture is to reflect our selves as educators. Recognizing the limits that we possess due to our culture, prior learning experiences, values, beliefs, etc. allows us to accept other ways to connect to students. These methods of teaching should be implemented into the daily activities in the classroom, not the overall method of teaching in the classroom. Understanding our nation as a whole helps students and educators connect with one another regardless of their beliefs. In the classroom I am in now had a student from another country and my cooperating teacher told me that the students were very accepting of her heritage and customs. Allowing students to construct their identity based on their culture is encouraged because it stays clear of a dominant view. This collaboration should start at an early age in the school system because for so long educators have viewed students who speak other languages than English as deficient. For so long, the lack of English has been has been seen as detrimental to a student’s learning career, but that theory has been disproved. Even when teachers cannot speak the language of all the students in their classroom, they can ‘communicate to the students and parents that their language and culture are valued within the context of the school.’ (Cummins, 1986) Students are presented with diversity everyday and are encouraged to take things in strides. Also, by allowing students to ask and answer questions appropriately amongst each other can increase the number and quality of answers from the class. I found it to be most beneficial when using visuals (charts, graphs, etc.), chants, poems, dance, etc. because it encourages students for social interaction while being educational in a enjoyable way. It is imperative for schools to build a sensitive environment that is responsive and demanding for students and educators.

5.) As stated before, the first ten days of the school year are the most important out of the entire year. It is imperative to make a good impression to the students and set expectations and rules ASAP. I believe in great classroom management because if the students are on task and know what they have to do when done a certain assignment, it lessens the behavior modifications and problems that the teacher has to deal with. There are many factors that help

teachers understand their students. Parental interaction is a huge factor that every teacher should take advantage of, however not all parents are willing to be as engaging as others. Parents know their students the best and it is very beneficial when parents can share their child’s information with the teacher. In the beginning of the year, the teacher should get in contact with the parents and have them fill out some sort of sheet telling the teacher about their child; information such as strengths and weaknesses, learning style, problems/successes in prior grades, etc. can help an educator on how to go about planning and implementing the school year so the students can get the best learning experience possible. There are three main goals that should be implemented early with the parents in the learning community. Help parents feel welcomed and valued: show them that you are excited to have their child in the class and want to do everything possible to help their child succeed. Welcome parents as an active role: make sure at the beginning of the year you reach out as much as possible. Providing different methods of contacting such as email, cell, personal number, etc. really shows parents that you as an educator are doing everything possible to have positive communication. Even if it is not for something negative, teachers should always reach out to the parents even if it is to praise about work/behavior. Teachers need parental involvement to successfully run a classroom all the way around. Last, make sure to build community among families. By having involvement in the classroom, it allows parental interaction that helps bring families together and promote positive classroom support.

6.) The last article that we had to read was bit of a two way for myself. The idea that schools are actually considering to ask teachers to take more education classes to expand on their “Growing concern on how to meet the educational challenge of learner diversity” is a very bold statement. I do believe that in order for teachers to be well rounded in understanding their students, they must be kept up to par with dealing with the challenges that are thrown at them in the educational setting they are teaching in. To better meet the needs of their students, an educator must explore ALL their opportunities to better understand their students and help them meet their full potential educationally and socially. Multiculturalism is such a huge heated debate topic in the educational setting because classrooms these days are not a predominant race or nationality. Many people believe that in order for a classroom to be run successfully, the background knowledge of multiculturalism should be a MUST for both the benefit of the teachers and the students. On the other side, I believe that too many educators are not equipped with this knowledge presently in their classrooms; even if they have been teaching for years hence the need for them taking this class. I believe that this sort of knowledge should be taught at an educational level before professional teaching. Over the past years I have noticed that a lot of older professionals in my classes who have to take them in order to gain the knowledge required to keep their jobs. Younger educators who have the required knowledge to maintain the classroom smoothly are replacing so

many older teachers. From personal experience, I am qualified to teach a Special Education classroom because of my Endorsement, however a lot of teachers who have been teaching do not have that certification and will have to compete with those who do. Education is such an ongoing task to maintain because one constantly has to keep up with the standards and issues that arise with the changing of students/learning in the classroom.