Personal Journal Entry #6 : Chapter 11 p.175, Going Deeper

What will you do with your pebble of influence?

From the knowledge I have gained from my teachings on cultural proficiency, I plan to toss my pebble of influence towards making a difference in my students and colleagues educational and professional development. I plan to continue to research techniques and skills along with content knowledge to accommodate my diverse learners. I plan to inspect my own teaching practices and reflect on what worked and did not work, while making adjustments were deemed necessary in my instructional practices.

 

Professional Growth Plan

 

My personal growth plan includes a need for the recognition of diverse learners and communication within my community of practice, which includes students, families, and colleagues. I know my classroom will contain diverse learners. Some may have special needs, some may be from another country, others will have parental or guardian situations at home. I believe all these circumstances create a diverse teaching environment. I have to know my students, understand their needs and scaffold their learning.
In my efforts to develop my culturally responsive teaching practices, I plan to continue to promote student engagement through the use of cooperative learning groups. Secondly, I plan to use various forms of formative assessments within my lessons to gain more insights on my students’ strengths and weaknesses. In addition, I plan to develop a collaborative partnership with parents in order to get a better understanding of their expectations and desires for their child. Furthermore, I am planning to use more frequently, resources other than texts books for developing learning activities that are more relevant to students’ cultural background.  Lastly, I am planning to incorporate a new social media program called Engrade into my teaching practices that will enable me to have active discussions with my students and their parents. In regards to support of my colleagues I plan to implement and facilitate various Professional Development Sessions and multi-cultural luncheons and assemblies to engage my colleagues further with developing their cultural competency skills.





The study of cultural responsive pedagogy has given me an opportunity to really think about how I envision my teaching practices. This reflection process has allowed me to revisit my thoughts and views on students’ cultural diversities. I have acknowledged opportunities in my teaching practices for the need to deconstruct and reconstruct in order to respond effectively to the diverse needs of my students.

 

Reference:

Robins, K.N., Lindsey, D. B., Lindsey, R. B., & Terrell, R.D. (2006) Culturally Proficient Instruction: A Guide for People Who Teach (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc

Personal Journal Entry #5 : Chapter 10 p.175, Going Deeper

Community of Practice

 

 

Identify some of your own communities of practice. Are you currently in a psychosocial community in which you can explore your culturally proficient praxis? Observe yourself for a few weeks, and notice how (or whether) you invite the learners in your classroom to engage in culturally proficient behavior. What aspects of your community of practice are you considering changing after reading this chapter?

 As stated by Robins, (2006), a community of practice is “any group to which you belong that has specific knowledge unique to that group, a particular way of doing things, and members who are identified by behaviors reflecting this knowledge and way of doing things” (2006, p. 18). The school in which I teach, we explore culturally proficient praxis. It is stated in our schools’ mission that we are a school who hold community as a core value.  My school is organized by teams/committees, in which each team is assigned a lead person by grade-level. Each week teams have three hours of planning time to collaborate with one another. We also have at least one professional learning community meeting each week, where teachers, and administration collaborate and share either in person or virtually through podcasts, various curriculum, and project ideas across our school. We meet five times each year for a faculty meeting to address critical issues and plainly to teach values such as community.

In my classroom is where the strongest sense of culturally proficient behavior praxis displayed.  In the early mornings I meet and greet my students at the door of our designated waiting area. We start off the day by sharing and collaborating on what they learned from the day before and hope to learn from today’s lesson. Sometimes our morning meetings lead into discussions along the lines of diversity and cultural related topics. Second my students are organized in learning groups/communities in which they work cohesively on group projects. Also within my classroom we have small group meetings where we address issues, or concerns about their performance. Sometimes group meetings are just fun meetings where students would share and collaborate with me on things they want to do, or to see me do differently.  

After reading 10 Chapter on Adapting to Diversity, I am considering changing various aspects of my community of practice. In particular, I am planning to use more frequently, other resources other than texts books for study and develop learning activities that are more reflective of students’ background.  Lastly, I am planning to incorporate a new social media program called Engrade into my teaching practices that will enable me to have active discussions with  my  students and their parents. As a culturally proficient teacher, I embrace the concept community of practice because it provides opportunities for my colleagues, students, and me to become more connected.

Reference:

Robins, K.N., Lindsey, D. B., Lindsey, R. B., & Terrell, R.D. (2006) Culturally Proficient Instruction: A Guide for People Who Teach (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc

 

    

 

Personal Journal Entry #4 : Cooperative Learning

 

          “Cooperative Learning is the structuring of classes around small groups or high performance teams, each of different levels of ability that work together in such a way that each group member's achievement is reliant on the group's success” (Felder, 2007). In addition, a variety of learning activities are performed in each group to develop students’ comprehension of a subject.  Each member of a team is accountable for his or her learning taught as well as for helping each team member learn while creating an environment conducive of learning.

 

           Johnson (1989, 2005), describes Cooperative Learning “as instructional use of small groups where students work together to maximize their own and each other’s learning goals”. Cooperative Learning entails the execution of the five Essential Elements for full effectiveness, which includes “interdependence, individual and group accountability, promotive interaction, appropriate use of social skills, and group processing” (Johnson 1989, 2005, p.6) http://www.co-operation.org/home/introduction-to-cooperative-learning/.  Incorporating the five essential elements into cooperative learning groups supports a culturally competent setting for a group of diversestudents.

 

The use and development of the cooperative learning practice can support a more culturally responsive environment for student learning because it promotes positive relations among different ethnic groups and establishes environments in which academic accomplishments and students values are respected. For example, when students are working in cooperative learning groups it allow students to bridge their cultural differences through effective communication while working with other students on  projects and course works that are both culturally related to them.

 

In reviews performed by Felder and Johnson, I find both studies to be useful in identifying what cooperative learning is for the reasons that they both include various methods of implementing cooperative learning groups effectively in a classroom setting. They also suggest ways to master and increase the benefits of the cooperative learning method so that one can manage the complexities that may occur when cooperative learning is put into practice.

 

 





 

 Reference:

Felder, R. M. (2007). Cooperative Learning. Retrieved from http://www4.ncsu.edu/unity/lockers/users/f/felder/public/Papers/CLChapter.pdf 
 

Johnson D. W., & Johnson, R. (1989, 2005). Introduction to Cooperative Learning: A Overview of Cooperative Learning. Edina, MN: interaction Book Company. http://www.co-operation.org/home/introduction-to-cooperative-learning/

 



 

Personal Journal Entry #3 : Chapter 5, pg. 59, Getting Centered

 

Cultural Barriers

 

Think about the last time you were frustrated in your classroom. What was keeping you from doing your best work? What barriers may have kept the learners from doing their best work?

According to, the text Culturally Proficient Instruction (2006), the chief barriers to cultural proficiency are, “a lack of awareness of the need to adapt, a sense of entitlement, and institutionalized systems of oppression” (2006, p. 61). Through my past years of teaching I have been confronted with classes characterized by cultural diversity for which I have been unprepared to service their needs. There was a disconnect between my students’ cultural values and my teaching practices. This gap was a hindrance to my students learning and my ability to reach and teach them effectively. There were uncertainties over my students’ level of background knowledge, and their reluctance to participate in class. Initially my lessons were presented as a whole group, there were very limited resources and materials to address my lessons, and I never took the time to learn about the students’ culture. In my experiences, I can say I have not been successful in providing guidance and support to my diverse students, but today I can say I have resulted in expanding life opportunities for my English learners. I have adapted changes in the way I teach that incorporates a wide variety of instructional strategies that include tools I would use to respond appropriately to any English Learner issue that comes up now or in the future.

 

Reference:

Robins, K.N., Lindsey, D. B., Lindsey, R. B., & Terrell, R.D. (2006) Culturally Proficient Instruction: A Guide for People Who Teach (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc

Personal Journal Entry #2 : Chapter 2, pg. 25-26, Getting Centered

 

Culturally Proficient Instruction

 

  

Can you remember a time when you realized that even with your education and training, you did not know enough? Can you remember the last time you asked yourself, why didn’t anyone ever tell me about this? Have you ever looked across a classroom of learners and wondered to yourself whether you had what you needed to reach each of them?

 

My first two years of teaching was the most difficult times I have ever experienced in my teaching career.  I thought teaching was going to be a breeze, standing before a group of 20 students and lecturing all day, sharing of what I knew about a particular content area.  Sadly did I know my students were still just as confused as they were from the beginning of my lectures to the end. I wondered to myself what am I doing wrong? Why are they not showing any learning gains?  Later, from trainings and  through experiences, I learned that I needed to create a culturally responsive classroom, an environment that fosters culturally proficient instruction, in which I would be able to connect effectively, myself, the content of the instructional material and students together.  According to Robins (2006), a culturally proficient instructor is one who “creates an environment in which you and your students become a community of learners engaged in culturally proficient practice—assessing the diversity of the classroom and the individuals in it, valuing diversity, managing the dynamics of their differences, adapting to those differences, and institutionalizing new ways of interacting as you and they learn more about yourselves and about one another” (2006 p. 32). The first step in my development processes was to self-reflect on my culturally based teaching practices and beliefs. Second, I had to adapt a caring attitude so that my students would feel respected and are respectful to my directions and rules. Last I had to incorporate interactive teaching practices and materials in my teachings that could help me respond appropriately to my students’ diverse needs. After incorporating these changes into my teaching system, I notice my students’ demeanor about learning in my classroom had begun to change in positive way.  I would observe greater communication in the classroom, better on task engagement, increased responsiveness to my expectations and instruction, and enhanced academic performance. This I can say honestly was a vast improvement from my earliest teaching experiences.

Reference:

Robins, K.N., Lindsey, D. B., Lindsey, R. B., & Terrell, R.D. (2006) Culturally Proficient Instruction: A Guide for People Who Teach (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc

 

    

Personal Journal Entry #1 : Chapter 6 pg103, Reflection

Reflecting on organizations in which you have been employed, describe

an organizational policy or practice that illustrates cultural proficiency.

Describe a behavior or value of yours or of someone you know that

illustrates cultural proficiency.

 

According to Robbins (2006), cultural proficiency includes the ability to support, assist, and interact with diverse students and to work successfully with colleagues from diverse cultures. Teachers who possess these qualities in their teaching can impact student’s success because they make allowances for students to work in a welcoming and respectful environment.
There is one particular colleague who illustrates cultural proficiency throughout all aspects of learning. She is my 4th grade team leader. She has a keen ability to recognize the importance of including students of diverse cultures. My team leader and I teach in a dominant culture of African American and Haitian populace. From working with her for seven years, I have gained a great deal of insight as to how to support and interact with students of diverse backgrounds. On many occasions I have witnessed her restructure her lessons to accommodate her Haitian students.  She would develop activities outside the basal textbooks, and have students create research projects related to their culture. During her writing block, instead of assigning her students to write to a prompt, she would have her students write about different aspects of their culture, real-life experiences. I would also mention that her interaction with her students is mind-blowing.  She set high expectations for her students and her concerns for the students seem to be so genuine. When she communicates to her students, she expresses a sense of sympathy over failure. She constantly praises them for the simplest tasks. I like that none of her students appear isolated from the others. When I go in to observe her class, I get a sense of unity from her students. They are always working and collaborating among each other in groups. They all seem so happy. One would never know that a diverse cultural of students exist in her class. These characteristics of cultural proficiency that she displays in her classroom, I have adopted and implemented in my very own teaching practices.

Reference:

Robins, K.N., Lindsey, D. B., Lindsey, R. B., & Terrell, R.D. (2006) Culturally Proficient Instruction: A Guide for People Who Teach (2nd Ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, Inc