Culturally Relevant Teaching & Learning Engagement
- James Dzichko -
COMPETENCY 2 - Identify, Deepen Understanding of, and Take Steps to Address Bias in the System
With the students in the middle of the PSSA testing season, I saw the perfect opportunity to reflect upon the biased nature of the assessment and to explain that it grants an unfair advantage to students in possession of particular learning styles and intelligences. I emphasized how, despite being important, standardized tests were an incomplete representation of student ability and personal intelligence. I placed a great deal of focus on Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences in order to shift student perspectives on their own abilities and the role of school as an institution. I asked questions centered around what intelligences they believed they possessed, the intelligences that they felt as though they struggled with, and even prompted students to share instances in which they felt as though the system had failed them as well as their recommendations for how they would change things if they could.
COMPETENCY 2 - Identify, Deepen Understanding of, and Take Steps to Address Bias in the System
This approach meets and applies the parameters of CR-SE Competency 2 by addressing the imperfect nature of standardized assessment and how it presents itself as a privilege to some learners and as unfair critique to those that do not possess heightened intelligence in the areas that support test taking strategies. This mini lesson also touched upon CR-SE Competency 5 given that students were tasked with self reflection and setup to appreciate their own ability and the abilities of others that fall into the realm of intelligences outside of what schools often assess. As a safeguard to students who struggled to identify forms of intelligences in which they excelled, I explained that a lower intrapersonal intelligences could mean that they are unable to see their own ability clearly and in essence sell themselves short.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1A9Be7XBw6U8gUR25H1-KPRO_ZY7EKmRa?usp=drive_link
COMPETENCY 6 - Collaborate with Families and Communities through Authentic Engagement Practices
As part of my SLO assignment I outlined two separate measurable goals, the first strove for students to reach a final score of 70% or higher and the other emphasized the importance of a growth mindset through desiring students to improve their pretest score by at least 5%. I am ecstatic to say that many students met or exceeded these parameters! While I only deep dived into one data pool, I decided that it was my responsibility to call home to those that proved to be in the top 25% of growth across all of my classes. I saw several students shoot far beyond the goal of a 5% increase by demonstrating performance growth in the range of 10% increases all the way up to 45% from their pretests! This facilitated my first real connection to the greater school community and I felt it imperative that I make it one of celebration and appreciation!
COMPETENCY 6 - Collaborate with Families and Communities through Authentic Engagement Practices
While a lot of the numbers I called resulted in voicemails, the core intention of my actions remains the same. That being said, the families I was able to get a hold of seemed to be happy to receive a positive phone call from school. One students’ mother went so far as to say that I had made her day and that she agreed with my sentiment that it is important for teachers to call home about the good things and not just the bad. Despite not speaking to every family directly, I take pride in the fact that I reached out and hope that the positive impact that the students have had on the classroom can in turn echo over into their home lives. Students of all backgrounds and ability deserve to be celebrated for the efforts and supported for wins both big and small. If more educators can adapt this mentality, our relationship with the school community will improve.
COMPETENCY 8- Establish High Expectations for Each Learner and Treat Them as Capable and Deserving of Achieving Success
As my 9th graders progressed through the chapters of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, I tasked them with thoughtfully completing one of two open-ended questions in a half page reflection within what we referred to as daybooks. The first check encompassed chapters 1-11 and I quickly realized that I had failed to establish strong enough parameters and expectations. Half a page was roughly 11 lines within the small notebook provided to them, and yet a number of students wrote fewer lines, modified formatting to make it look as though they wrote more than they actually did, or got exceedingly off topic from the original point of a question in order to fill space. Rather than harshly grade students, I approached the first check with a degree of leniency. After all, I was the one who should have been more intentional in my directives to them and clear regarding my expectations for the quality of the work submitted. In trade, I took the time lay out all of the specific concerns that I saw in their work.
COMPETENCY 8- Establish High Expectations for Each Learner and Treat Them as Capable and Deserving of Achieving Success
Given that these students were in honors, my expectations were reasonably high for their performance. Prior to the submission of chapters 12-21, I addressed that many of their submissions gave off the impression that they rushed and gave a half-hearted effort. I made it clear that I graded generously, but that moving forward anything less than 11 lines was not going to get full credit. I pointed out how some students were writing with giant margins on both sides of their text and explained how they needed to be writing from one corner of the page to the next due to the already small stature of the notebooks. Others were writing with unnaturally massive gaps between their words, filling up space by stretching out their sentences. Finally, I addressed how off topic filler would not be counted towards the overall line count of my grading. These books were graded purely on completion, but it was my job to ensure that they were completed meaningfully so that students could grow from their engagement with the text. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TcGK5SeCLsx1V4f5iKvlXuknLeXZrXzyF-Iug_V883E/edit?usp=sharing
Summarize what you see as your areas of strength and linger questions, and what do you look forward to about your learning.
I believe that my areas of greatest strength are within my ability to think critically and wield compassion. The combination of these skills allows for to wield firm expectations while also meeting students where they are at. I try and look at education from the lens of the big picture, and actively strive to make the learning environment welcoming and enjoyable for students of all backgrounds. As for lingering questions, I suppose I both curious and excited to see the capacity in which this will apply in the coming future and how I will need to be dynamic in my approach to students, the classroom community, and my own self-reflection based on how the world and social climate change.