How do you decorate a culturally diverse classroom?
How we decorate our classroom can often communicate who we are as teachers. If we want the message to be intentional, we can consider who spend most time there, apart from ourselves – our students. In this post, we consider how to decorate a culturally-diverse classroom and I share some
Mindset and Culturally Responsive Sustaining Classrooms: How?
In the last post on mindset, we explore the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of a growth mindset in the culturally sustaining classroom. This time, I share how I explore the topic of a growth mindset with my middle and high school students. Getting Ready to Learn About Growth Mindset in the
Back to School: The First Days of School
For many in the Western hemisphere, the holidays are ending and teachers are thinking about their back to school lessons. Whether it’s Meet the Teacher or All about Me for students to get to know each other, this post explores how to start the year strong. Back to School Priorities
Mindset and Culturally Responsive Sustaining Classrooms: What & Why?
‘Mindset’ is a word that most educators will have at least heard of by now. It comes from Carol Dweck’s book of the same name, and her famous TED Talk (with a transcript and subtitles in 43 languages) is embedded below. In a nutshell, it refers to the idea that
Blackout Poetry (Found Poems)
Many students find poetry daunting, so – for me – it’s important to find low-pressure, fun activities to use with poems. Blackout or found poetry is one approach students love. Here, I’ll share how I use this activity with students online or in person. For me, poetry is ultimately about
The Dinner Party: A Short Story
Not much is known about the American writer Mona Gardner (1899-1978), but she left us with a story that is perfect for developing teenagers’ critical literacy (and irony) skills. The story is set in India some time in the later years of colonisation (which was imposed by the British from
Voice and Choice in World Mythology
Offering students more choice and voice in the classroom can contribute to a culturally-sustaining classroom. As you design with students, you are naturally more likely to create a space where they feel valued as contributors. One way I do this in our World Mythology course is by asking students what
Diversifying the Curriculum: Shakespeare
As much as we’d love to diversify our curriculum to have more of a balance of voices from different cultures, it’s not always within our power to do so. Even if it is, there are sometimes good reasons for continuing to teach ‘classic’ texts. Not all teachers agree. Indeed, I
Culturally-Sustaining Pedagogy: PD Resources
Culturally-sustaining pedagogy (CSP) is an approach that has grown from other movements such as culturally-relevant and culturally-responsive classrooms. It is an approach that intends to promote “linguistic, literate, and cultural pluralism as part of schooling for positive social transformation and revitalization.” (Paris, D. and Samy Alim, H., 2017). In short,
Inclusive End-Of-Year Activities
For many in the Western hemisphere and beyond, the school year ends in June or July. And what a year it’s been for schools! Online, offline, hybrid…whatever you’re particular challenges have been, here are some inclusive end-of-year activities to help round off this epic 12 months. If you’re still in school,