Culturally Responsive Teaching Reflection

When doing the Where I Am From photo story and poem it allowed me to look at my life, what I want people to know about me, and what I find important. I think this activity also made me appreciate the life that I have and just how truly blessed I am. (When I got to comment on other people’s stories even those who I thought I knew fairly well I learned even more.) I think if I had a group of older students this activity would also be very good to do not just for myself but also for the other students to get to know each other on another level.

This activity hit upon many of the different culturally responsive teaching characteristics such as designing instruction appropriate to students’ stages of development, learning styles, strengths, and needs. “The more people write, the easier it gets and the more they are motivated to do it. Writers who write a lot learn more about the process because they have had more experience inside it.” (NCTE Beliefs about the Teaching of Writing) Writing a poem which children will find enjoyable is a good way to help with their writing skills and make them not hate to do it. Making a photo story did not put anyone on a developmental level because it allowed everyone to be creative and do whatever they felt was good for them. By asking the parents to assist their child with an assignment like this it allows them to bond over the child’s interests and maybe the child will learn more about their family and surroundings. “Parents are the child’s first teacher and are critically important partners in the education process, teachers should engage in dialogue with parents as early as possible about parents’ hopes and aspirations for their child, their sense of what the child needs, and suggestions about ways teachers can help. Teachers explain their own limitations and invite parents to participate in their child’s education in specific ways.” (Principles for Culturally Responsive Teaching) This learning style I think is very good for some since it gets away from the paper, pencil, and lecture classroom and allows for creativity, honestly who doesn’t like talking about themselves? I know that I do, I like to somewhat show off and tell about myself that most people do not see when you’re stuck inside a classroom all day long. Many times children feel a cultural deficit in school because it is negative about their home life being different than others but doing this activity allows them to have a cultural capital about their life. A majority of the time a cultural deficit is developed from peoples judgements on others, these are before getting to know someone. Telling about yourself in a poem and/or photo story it gives you a sense of power and something to be proud of. “In attempting to explain the widespread underachieve-ment among students of color and students from lower socioeconomic strata in schools, many teachers, administrators, school agents and others locate the problem within the students, their families and communities.” (Cultural Deficit Model) I know that I live my life everyday but not always do I take a step back and appreciate what I have. When talking about your family it shows the different funds of knowledge that you bring with you each day to school, everyone has different home lives, one is no better than the other just different. All of these things are examples that go along with culturally responsive teaching strategies.