My future classroom…
What will culturally relevant pedagogy look like, sound like, feel like, in your future classroom?Â
Well firstly, creating a culturally relevant classroom involves me discovering and planning for the demographic in my classroom and ask myself: 1) what do my students need?, and 2) what do I want my students to learn? I hope to choose a variety of cultural and age appropriate resources that reflect societal problems in the community in which I am teaching, and encourage students to reflect upon and critically engage with the content with the goal to raise awareness of said problems. I also hope that the readings and discussions I have elicit a larger understanding of the issues minorities groups face and that they will hopefully work towards a solution. An idea I loved from this week’s reading was journal writing, as it creates a safe space for students to put down their thoughts without judgement, but allowed the student to see the growth they made throughout the year.
In terms of what my classroom will look like, it is important to ensure that everyone in your classroom is represented in either the texts you use, posters you put up, or multimedia aspects to show that all of your students are welcome and respected in the classroom.
How will you, as teacher, contribute to the sense of place for your future students?
Although I have not developed specific strategies to provide a sense of place, my personal goal as a teacher is to get my students involved in the community to establish the importance of place and give back whether that be through a town clean up, fundraisers for town causes or a family in need, reading at nursing home, volunteering if possible, etc… I hope to create opportunities for my students to explore the area around them through field trip opportunities (like to a farm or local small business). I want every student to have a sense of belonging in both my classroom and their community (so if you have any ideas please comment them below!).
My opinion is that most young teachers, and education students, today chose this career path, not because they thought making lesson plans would be fun or because of the summer’s off, but because they wanted to make a difference in students’ lives and give them a place where they can make new discoveries about themselves and the world around them.
2 thoughts on “My future classroom…”
Hey Hailey! I think the two questions you state, “What do my students need?” and “What do I want my students to learn?” are very important questions that educators need to ask themselves in every situation. When creating a lesson plan or activity, developing new teaching strategies or setting up your classroom, you should focus on your student’s needs and how they will affect what you want and need them to learn.
I love the idea of being active in the community with your class (i.e. volunteering or fundraising) and using that to help contribute to a student’s sense of place. In my blog, I talked mainly about the kids’ relations to the land and places around them but not so much about the people and businesses. Although think about it now, they definitely influence a child’s sense of place.
Thank you for your great ideas!
I really like how you have described your hope for developing a space where students can engage critically with different content related to where they live. I think that in doing this you will also create a sense of place as the students will be more aware of what has and is occurring within their communities and this can help them have perspective on their impact and what they can do. I notice you mention journaling as an option you liked for personal reflection in your students. Do you think you would do a prompted or unprompted journal with your students? What do you think would be more beneficial for them?
I agree that those of us in education today are here to make a difference in students’ lives and from reading your blog post I can see that you will excel at creating a safe place for those who enter your classroom.