Quality Learning Interactions

Resource Guidebook

​

Quality Learning Interactions are best implemented in a way that is culturally responsive and sustaining.

​

Cultural Proficiency is a mindset that encompasses explicit values, language, and standards for effective personal interactions and professional practices at all times.

Culturally proficient educators ensure lessons are designed to value and respect the cultural identity of the learner and her or his family and friends.

Culturally proficient educators recognize students’ cultural displays of learning and meaning making. They use cultural knowledge as a scaffold to connect what the student knows to new concepts.

Culturally proficient educators are constantly aware of the critical role that cultural identity and cultural perceptions play in the dynamics of the classroom environment.

Do Now Activity

• Respond to a Quote/Poem/Picture
• Creative Writing from a prompt
• Free Write
• Find a meme/picture/etc. that resonates with you to share

Personal Greeting & Check In

• The teacher asks a question and invites everyone to respond (including the teacher).
• Questions should be relevant (questions about something that is real and meaningful to the lives of students).
• Questions should be open-ended (not yes-or-no questions, but worded in a way that invites deeper inquiry).
• Questions should help build alliance within the classroom community.

Mindfulness Moment

• Meditation
• Hero Poses
• 3 Hugs, 3 Big Breaths
• Trace Your Hands

Group Affirmation or Song

• Reciting an affirmation or song as a group is a strategy that allows students to feel a part of the group

as they work in the virtual space

• Teachers provide, or develop with students, a class affirmation or song that the whole group recites at

the beginning of class

• An effective group recital should help reinforce behaviors we want, create a sense of belonging, and

connect students

Welcoming

Strategies

The goal is to make people feel seen.

​

Connecting

Strategies

​

Ice Breaker- Pose a question or prompt that encourages creative or thoughtful answers.

Check In/ Check Out- Pose a question that encourages students to show how they are feeling

Student Support Request Form- Create and share a student support request form that is always open and available to students to advocate for the support they need

Current Events- Provide students with time and a format for them to discuss and respond, encouraging them to share their feelings and experiences related to the event

Helper Projects- Have students identify a project based on a need they see in their home (or community)

Virtual Community Circle- Deepen your relationships with community circles

Someday Soon Jar- Pose a question or prompt that encourages students to think about something that they would like to do in the future

Virtual Tag- Pose a question or prompt that encourages students to give a creative or thoughtful answer. Call on a student to answer. They are now “it”. The student who is “it” will tag someone else by calling their name.

Rose and Thorn- In this activity, students participate by sharing ROSES—something positive going on for a student that day—and THORNS, which are negative, or at least less than positive

Share and Tell- Give advance notice so students can be prepared. Provide clear directions and parameters (such as keeping it school and subject appropriate) and examples of modifications so that everyone has access and can participate.

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

The goal is to let children know that you see them; are interested in what they are doing, saying, and thinking; and want to spend time with them so that they feel safe, confident, and open to learning.

​

Igniting Strategies

​

The goal is to grab students’ attention and orient them to the learning.

Leader and Chorus- In oral cultural traditions, learning or storytelling is started with an interactive, leader-audience, attention-getting activity

Use Novelty-

• Wear a costume
• Start with a poem
• Leverage curiosity by offering a puzzle that can be solved through engaging in the lesson
• Generate excitement and attention with an emotionally charged headline

​

Call and Response- Develop a simple back and forth chant, clap, or movement that cues the brain that something in particular is going to happen. Do the call and response in a lively, energetic way to generate mental energy and focus. Sing a song or a rhyme.

​

Provocations-

• Select an eye-opening quote with strong emotion, a challenging puzzle, or an outrageous statement.
• Create a slideshow with powerful images related to the lesson.
• Show a video clip that arouses emotions.
• Challenge dominant culture’s worldview or speak to relevant community issues.

​

Linking- Plan to help students connect to prior learning, prior knowledge, and life experiences.

​

• -Engage students in reflecting and goal setting around the learning objective.
• -Ask a question to help students connect to prior knowledge or life experiences to make the learning relevant.
• -Have students articulate the learning target and discuss what they think it means.

​

Collaborating

Strategies

The goal is for students to build understanding together.

​

Debate- Start a debate by posing a question, making a statement, or introducing an engaging topic with multiple perspectives.

Jigsaw- Break your class into groups or teams that will complete an assignment or project together.

Brainstorm- Brainstorming could be followed up by activities such as group planning, projects, or writing

Text/Book Review- Assign a common text (novel, short story, video, article, picture) for students to read or analyze.

Group Reflection- Allow students time to engage in metacognition, reflecting on their learning and the relevance to their lives.

Transference

Strategies

The goal is to transfer ideas to new situations.

Community Circle- Use a prompt to help student reflect

Whip Around- Quickly share responses to a prompt

Accolades- Reflect and celebrate something that happened during the learning today

Closing the Loop- Ask students to discuss: Key takeaways, challenging aspects of learning, or reflection on learning

Grab a Goal- Have student identify and share a goal

Appreciation, Apology or Aha- Ask students to either identify an appreciation they have, an apology they want to make, or an AHA moment they had during the lesson

Shout Outs- Invite students to give a positive comment to a peer

My Next Step- Invite students to share their next steps

​

Click here to see the full slide decks for each QLI.