Unit 6 Questions
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School
Minnesota State University, Moorhead *
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Course
456
Subject
Information Systems
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
Pages
3
Uploaded by EarlElectron12972
Allie Bondy
Unit 6 Questions
1. How might cultural factors influence decision-making relating to
identification in our schools?
The macroculture of the school personnel that holds the decision-making
power determines the “normed” behaviors, learning, and overall student
expectations. What I mean is that the macroculture, or the core culture of the
Euro-American lens, determines how students should behave, speak, and what
they should learn in schools. If students display cultural characteristics outside of
these determined ways of being, they are identified as belonging to a microculture
or subculture. These students could then, unfortunately, be set up for higher rates
of suspension, judgment, and lower expectations for academic success because of
their differences. The adults in most schools are members of the macroculture, so
they could determine experiences outside of their main characteristics as bad or
inappropriate.
2. How can assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse students be
fair and accurate?
Fair and equitable assessments of culturally and linguistically diverse
students begin with understanding the student. The teacher or specialist working
with the student needs to determine their level of language proficiency in both their
home language and in the English language. Research has demonstrated that if
students can read, speak, and write in their home language, they will have
improved chances of developing high proficiency levels in their second language.
Understanding where the student’s abilities are currently then allows for
appropriate accommodations to be made. For example, the assessment could be
read aloud if the student has lower reading proficiency. Another example could be
decreasing the writing demands on an assessment using graphic organizers or
sentence starters. These accommodations support the student demonstrating their
content knowledge while supporting their language needs. Another way to ensure
assessments are fair and accurate is to create opportunities for collaboration
between general education teachers and ELL teachers. The ELL teachers could
preview an assessment and help the content teacher make changes to ensure
equity and accuracy.
3. As a new teacher, how can you practice culturally responsive teaching
and promote best practices for culturally and linguistically diverse
students in your classroom and school?
I have been involved with co-teaching for six of my nine years of teaching. My
co-teaching has involved working with an ELL teacher to support our learners in the
required science courses. I have co-taught our Sheltered Physical Science class for
all ELL students and developed our Co-taught Biology class, which has a mix of ELL
and general education students. I have worked hard over the years to create a
welcoming environment that is culturally responsive and meets the needs of my
linguistically diverse students. My first step is to create supportive, positive
relationships with my students. I make sure to connect with every student
one-on-one every single day. This could be a check-in of how their weekend was,
how their event was (I keep notes on the activities for all of my students), or how
they are doing that day. During our group or independent work time, I circle
throughout the classroom, touching base with everyone. I have had great success
by prioritizing these connections with all my students. They know I am there for
them and care about their success.
I also work extremely hard to modify our science curriculum to meet
students where they are at. I create manipulatives and visuals that support
learning. I have had great success with students sorting, matching, and finding
connections between words and images in my Biology class. I have also created
differentiated levels of learning for the Sheltered Physical Science class. Students
can choose which level to accomplish to practice content like chemical bonds and
physics calculations. Giving my ELL students choices helps them grow in their
confidence. I also use different ways of grouping students. I use grouping strategies
like letting students with the same home language work together. This allows them
to support each other through the content and helps them realize that their first
language(s) are valued. We also take time to share translations or cognates of our
science words. For example, we just started discussing cells in Biology this past
week. Our warm-up for the day was to share translations and cognates of “cell,” it
was a fun experience for all of my students.
These are a few examples of what I already do. I will continue improving my
abilities to modify and adapt our science curriculum. I also prioritize culturally
responsive teaching. I always reflect on my practice and seek resources to expand
my thinking. I am committed to this important area of education, and I know I will
only improve.
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