celebrating diversity in the classroom
Culturally Relevant Teaching:
Because classrooms are so diverse, it is important to recognize and meet the needs of all students. Understanding how diverse classrooms truly are is a critical aspect in understanding the lives of students. Below are some resources about culturally relevant teaching, and resources that can be utilized within the classroom to help students understand the importance of recognizing and celebrating diversity.
Culturally Relevant Teaching Strategies
https://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Special-Education-Services/Documents/culturally%20relevant%20teaching%20strategies.pdf
Lies My Teacher Still Tells by Gloria Ladson-Billings:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.577.7551&rep=rep1&type=pdf
Mellody Hobson: Color blind or color brave?:
https://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave#t-182825
Mixed Me by Taye Diggs and illustrated by Shane Evans
Building a Community of Respect:
Creating respect between students within classrooms is incredibly important in order to create a safe learning environment. By allowing students to get to know each other, this is creating respect between them and ultimately a respect for diversity.
Respect Activity:
This activity will allow students to better understand what it takes to create a community of respect both inside and outside of the classroom. The idea of respect may differ from student to student, and this will allow everyone to understand that. In Chocolate Me!, readers are able to see a lack of respect from the African American boy’s white peers. Ultimately, this caused a great deal of harm to the boy’s self esteem. This activity will help to create a community of respectful learners.
Common Core Standards:
SL.68.2b: Communicate the main ideas and supporting details of information presented in diverse formats.
SL.68.3b: Describe a speaker’s point of view or purpose.
SL.68.4b: Communicate effectively to present information sequentially about a selected topic.
L.68.3c: Use language to share an idea with others.
Works Cited:
Getting Started--Respect Activity. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017.
Because classrooms are so diverse, it is important to recognize and meet the needs of all students. Understanding how diverse classrooms truly are is a critical aspect in understanding the lives of students. Below are some resources about culturally relevant teaching, and resources that can be utilized within the classroom to help students understand the importance of recognizing and celebrating diversity.
Culturally Relevant Teaching Strategies
https://www.gadoe.org/Curriculum-Instruction-and-Assessment/Special-Education-Services/Documents/culturally%20relevant%20teaching%20strategies.pdf
- This resource will give teachers an understanding of what culturally relevant teaching is, and different teaching strategies that can be implemented within their classrooms. The chart is divided into three categories. The first category is "preconditions for culturally relevant teaching." These are aspects that teachers must achieve within themselves before teaching. The second is "culturally relevant teaching characteristics." This section discusses aspects of culturally relevant teaching in the classroom. And the third category is "culturally relevant teaching strategies," which are forms of instruction and strategies that can be used within classrooms.
Lies My Teacher Still Tells by Gloria Ladson-Billings:
http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.577.7551&rep=rep1&type=pdf
- Gloria Ladson-Billings wrote a piece about African Americans represented within history textbooks, and how these representations are often times not accurate. She stated, "However, they will not leave their history course with any sense of a coherent history of Africans in the Americas. In social studies courses other than history, African Americans are virtually invisible" (Lies My Teacher Still Tells, p. 3). Lies My Teacher Still Tells is a valuable resource for teachers that will give insight into the representation of African Americans within history textbooks, and what students are actually learning about African Americans within Social Studies classes.
Mellody Hobson: Color blind or color brave?:
https://www.ted.com/talks/mellody_hobson_color_blind_or_color_brave#t-182825
- In this Ted Talk, Mellody Hobson talks about how race is seen and discussed within our society. Often times, race is ignored. Hobson discusses how race is a "touchy subject." She exclaimed, "the first step towards any form of action is awareness." With that being said, Hobson wants to promote the idea of being "bold" and being "brave" when it comes to conversations about race.
Mixed Me by Taye Diggs and illustrated by Shane Evans
- Mixed Me is about a young boy who is mixed. The book discusses his experiences with having parents who are different races, and his own experiences with being mixed. This includes his experiences with other children at school. In the book, he talks about how he is "down for fun with everyone." Mixed Me is about self acceptance, and accepting others for who they are. This is a great companion resource for Chocolate Me! Like Chocolate Me!, the text and illustrations work together beautifully to create a meaningful story that teaches everyone to be accepting of others.
Building a Community of Respect:
Creating respect between students within classrooms is incredibly important in order to create a safe learning environment. By allowing students to get to know each other, this is creating respect between them and ultimately a respect for diversity.
Respect Activity:
- Students will find a peer that they do not know well within the class to pair up with.
- Once the students are in pairs, they will as discuss the idea of “respect” and what “respect” means to them.
- After discussing this idea with a peer, the class will come together for whole group discussion.
- Was there a universal idea for “respect?”
- Did the idea of “respect” vary from person to person?
- Why is “respect” important?
This activity will allow students to better understand what it takes to create a community of respect both inside and outside of the classroom. The idea of respect may differ from student to student, and this will allow everyone to understand that. In Chocolate Me!, readers are able to see a lack of respect from the African American boy’s white peers. Ultimately, this caused a great deal of harm to the boy’s self esteem. This activity will help to create a community of respectful learners.
Common Core Standards:
SL.68.2b: Communicate the main ideas and supporting details of information presented in diverse formats.
SL.68.3b: Describe a speaker’s point of view or purpose.
SL.68.4b: Communicate effectively to present information sequentially about a selected topic.
L.68.3c: Use language to share an idea with others.
Works Cited:
Getting Started--Respect Activity. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 May 2017.