Discussion

Reflect on your own procedures How are your own culture (assumptions/ norms) reflected? How
could a miscommunication between student and teacher result in classroom issues? Give specific
examples. Respond to 2 peers.
Outline:
 Intro
 My culture
 My current procedures
 Miscommunication
 How I want to run my classroom
 Conclusion
A responsive classroom is one where relationships are key. This is something that I have
already held near and dear to my heart, and the resources from this week only expanded my
connection to this idea. I want to create a positive classroom environment where we both have a
sense of classroom culture and also individual cultures welcome and represented.
I am the stereotypical teacher. I am lower-middle class, white female who has the means to
receive higher education. I grew up in an area that was not incredibly culturally diverse. While I
did have some home issues, at least through my elementary school experience, I was in a home
with two loving, married, and working parents. I was always in the top of my class and succeed
with learning. I want to be culturally inclusive and understanding with my students, I recognize
that there are many experiences they may have had that I may never be able to understand since I
come from a different culture. I try my best to be a culturally responsive teacher, however, I
know in inevitably fail from time to time because I teach according to my own bias and what
makes sense to how I learned at their age. Sometimes, I may make assumptions that all my
students go to a stable home like I did. I may forget that many of them struggle with learning and
aren’t always excited to learn because they are worried, they may fail. Therefore, while
consciously I know my students are not all like me and I want to celebrate that, when I start to
teaching, I may begin to teach the way that would be best for me, and not always the best for
them.
Any miscommunication between the teacher and student could cause classroom issues. First,
there could be an issue with celebrating holidays and birthdays. If there is a student who just sees
their teacher celebrating all of these traditions and not celebrating anything important to the
student, this could cause conflict. Another student could be raised where they feel as if they need
to do things on their own and not ask for help. The teacher may see this as the student either fully
understands or that they don’t care enough to ask for help. Then the student would feel like the
teacher didn’t care, and this would cause a conflict in their relationship.
 To be a culturally responsive teacher, I want my students to feel respected and valued in my
classroom. As the resources discussed, the morning plays a huge role in the rest of the student’s
day. So from the beginning of the day I want to greet my students and start building a culture and
relationship with them. From the time they walk into my classroom, I want them to know that I
want them there and am truly excited to see them.
In my own classroom, I want to create an environment that is built on culture and respect.
Some simple ways to help create this environment will be through modeling the actions I want to
see for the students. First, I learn all of their names as quickly as a possible and use the name
they prefer to be called by to show them that their sense of self is important to me. I will make a
social contract with my students so that they understand the ideas of respect that I want to
promote in the classroom and feel as if they had a part in creating out classroom culture.
As a teacher, being a cultural mediator for my students is incredibly important to me.
Throughout my education to become a teacher, I have always regarded culture as something that
is crucial to understanding the students you are working with. Teachers should make sure that
their student’s feel as if their culture is represented and accepted in the classroom and should get
to know their student’s culture to get to know them better and understand where they are coming
from and how to teach them.
Making a personal connection to the student’s, their families, and their home lives is
necessary in order to effectively teach a classroom of children. As simple as it sounds, I would
work to start an open dialogue and just show an interest in my students. As I’ve seen in my field
experiences, simply showing and interest, asking questions, and allowing students to talk about
their home and culture goes a long way. This is how I’ve learned so much and made such
personal relationships with the students I have worked with. Since with some students this could
be difficult if they are at a low proficiency, I would try to be as kind and understanding as
possible utilizing either other students/facility who speak the same language or an online
translator to help initial communication and getting to know the student. I will make sure to
reach out and more an effort to get to know all of my students regardless of background,
proficiency level, behavior struggles, and any other possible factors. Making a connection with
every single student is important.
Creating a respective and supportive learning environment is one of the most important
aspects of classroom management. Students will not effectively learn in a place where they do
not feel respected and like their best interests are truly accounted for. Therefore, for me
personally, having a plan to create this welcoming classroom environment is of upmost
importance.
I believe a classroom should be student-oriented. Instead of just teaching to accomplish task
after task, or just to fulfill all the content required for the course, teaching to the students is
crucial. While goals, tasks, and learning the required content is important, reaching the children
is more critical. I don’t want to teach children how to take a test, but rather how to understand
the material. Organization is important, but the overall structure of the classroom should not be
held to a strict schedule. If students don’t understand or really love a topic, you should be able to
spend more time on it rather than moving forward just for the sake of the schedule and therefore
losing students in either their understanding or level of engagement. Therefore, I want to work to
create an environment where students feel as if their concerns truly matter and that they can truly
learn in.
As long as the class is following a loose structure and going through the required content for
the class while getting work done and not completely derailing, the activities should be able to be
flexible and the material should come from what the students want. The teacher should serve as a
facilitator for the students while helping them learn. I don’t believe the teacher is there just to
regurgitate material from a textbook to students. A teacher is not an expert in a subject that they
teach, and as teachers we should learn and grow with our students. My approach for the
classroom environment and the teacher’s role is that it should be a flexible environment of
constant learning that changes based on what the students want and need day to day.
My main classroom goal is to build a positive learning environment for my students. There
are many steps I believe I will need to take in order to accomplish this. First the positivity must
start with me the teacher. I need to make my lessons engaging and make sure all my students
know that I am excited to see them and learn alongside them. Then I would implement strategies
to help create this as well. If there are language errors, I would correct the students to help them
learn, but make sure to do it in a kind way and make sure to not embarrass them. I would make
sure the students knew that if I corrected them it was not because I was upset that they got it
wrong, but out of an effort to help them get it right in the future. Depending on the type of error,
I would probably address it in front of the whole class so that everyone understands, but I would
wait to mention it until it was at a moment where it would not be calling the individual student
out but rather teaching everyone.
I feel as if all families should feel like a welcomed part of the classroom. Therefore, I would
start by sending a letter home to the families, translated into whatever language is needed for
them. I would not only introduce myself and tell them more about me so that they feel like they
know me and how I run a classroom, but I would provide questions to learn more about them.
First, I would obviously start with some basics such as names and contact information, and a
preference on who to contact if needed. Then I would ask some questions regarding the student
such as “What are some things your child loves?”, “What language(s) are spoken at home?”,
“Where does your child struggle in learning?”, “What are some cultural aspects that impact how
your child lives day to day?”, and “Is there anything I must know about your child?” I feel as if
this would create an open dialogue between myself and the families of my students while
allowing me to understand some cultural and background information about my students that
will help me meet their needs.
Then, I would often work to connect culture into the lessons I taught as well as provide
opportunities for students to share their culture. One way to bring culture into a classroom is
through music. There are many ways that music can be incorporated to help students learn
material, but it can also be used to have a conversation about culture and learn more about the
students. Music is such an important aspect of culture where it can be introduced alongside a
lesson and then conversation can be turned to the culture behind it.
 Another great way to incorporate culture into the classroom is through readings and passages.
Instead of choosing passages that focus on things like baseball or dogs, I can choose passages
that focus on a culture. Then students will be able to discuss and learn about culture while
learning the content knowledge as well. Creating a welcoming classroom environment will be
accomplished much easier if I am able to have the students make personal and real-world
connections to what we are learning. Students who feel as if the learning has a real effect on
them will want to learn more and will create a better environment.
As a teacher, I want to make my classroom a cultural place where students feel respected. I
will try to make as many opportunities for culture to be in the classroom and invite the student’s
families to come and share. Culture affects how all of us go through life every day and look at
things, this is no different for our students. Students learning will be affected by their culture,
and as a teacher I want to acknowledge that to meet their needs and create a sense of community
in the classroom. I want to work towards creating an environment where all students feel
welcome, ready to learn, respected, valued, supported, and like they are able to express
themselves.
To me, diversity in the classroom is incredibly important and crucial. All of my students will
bring diversity in the classroom and I will look at this as a benefit. The concept of diversity
encompasses acceptance and respect. It means understanding that each individual is unique and
recognizing our individual differences. These can be along the ideas of race, ethnicity, gender,
sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political
beliefs, or other ideologies. Diversity in the classroom is the exploration of these differences in a
safe, positive, and nurturing environment. It is about understanding each other and moving
beyond simple tolerance to embracing and celebrating the rich dimensions of diversity contained
within each individual. Each student has their own culture that will diversify the classroom.
Culture is a learned and shared behavior by a group of people empowering them with a distinct
‘way of life. It is something that every single person has, and it affects the ways they behave and
think. As a teacher, understanding that every student has a diverse culture is important to
connecting with and teaching them.
I will work to create an inclusive and multicultural classroom in many ways. I will utilize
culturally responsive pedagogy in my classroom. This is an effective instructional practice and
model that promotes student achievement, supports students’ cultural identity and helps students
to develop the critical perspectives needed to challenge inequities in schools and society. By
using this pedagogy in my classroom, I can create an inclusive classroom. The method of
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy can be used for kids that we may have in our own classrooms to
help them be successful. Teachers need to be doing everything they can in the best interests of
the students. Every student’s culture is extremely important to their behavior, learning, and
thinking. Teachers need to be able to incorporate culture in their teaching so that they can meet
their student’s needs. Teachers can support students in the classroom that are from other cultures
by first, learning about the cultures that they represent. By understanding these cultures, teachers
can accurately show support for the students and their diversity that they represent. As well,
teachers can apply different aspects of each student’s culture into their teaching which will help
the students feel more comfortable within the classroom. Teachers also need to be aware of the
fact that differences in a student’s culture will directly impact how they learn and act in the
classroom, and the teacher should work to find multiple options so that every student can
succeed.
 I expect to have many different types of diversity in my classroom. My students will differ in
terms of gender, race, age, maturity, home life, family dynamics, interests, physical capabilities,
mental strengths, religion, politics, social groups, family economics, outside learning
experiences, learning disabilities, and behaviors. These are just some of the ways my students
may differ. I may have a 9-year old, Asian-American female who lives an upper middle class life
with both parents in the house and is well taken care of, and next to her sits a 10-year old,
Mexican-American male, who was been held back, does not know where he is sleeping each
night, is often hungry, and helps his single mother take care of his five siblings. Just in looking at
these two hypothetical students, I can see how immensely diverse my students can be. Since my
students will be so different, I must may sure to do everything I can to meet all of their needs.
In order to be a culturally responsive teacher, I will have to work to build a sense of culture
in my classroom with my students. I will build a relationship with my students so that when
conflicts arise, we can resolve them in the best way. I want my classroom to be responsive to my
students needs and their cultural differences.
 References

Hawkins, J. (2019). Classroom Management Plan. TEFB - 371 - 502.

Responsive Classroom. (n.d.). Research. Retrieved from
https://www.responsiveclassroom.org/about/research/.
Responsive Classroom. (2010, June 12). In a Responsive Classroom. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttO-nPfivu8.
Weinstein, C. S., Tomlinson-Clarke, S., & Curran, M. (2004). Toward a Conception of
Culturally Responsive Classroom Management. Journal of Teacher Education, 55(1),
25–38. doi: 10.1177/0022487103259812