Wall Space

This morning I worked in my new classroom for a bit. Aside from the mess that is hidden behind the closet doors, the room really doesn't need all that much more work. 

It doesn't look like much, but I got the walls covered today so they are ready for student work.

Unlike in years past, I really think I am going to start the year without any posters/visuals on the walls. I've been pouring over my new book on culturally responsive teaching and the brain and the final chapter discusses how to create a culturally responsive environment for learning. 

The author's message:

Think carefully about what visuals are displayed on the walls.

They send a non-verbal message about what and who is valued in the classroom. 

Rather than prepackaged "multicultural" bulletin board cut-outs or standard ethnic "heroes" posters, find authentic cultural elements that add real value to the classroom.

I am really taking this to heart this year.

I want to authentically create a working and learning environment that represents my students. Therefore I want the walls to be covered in their photos and their work.

While I definitely love me some super cute TPT purchases, I am holding off for now and keeping the canvas clean. 

I'm going for "minimalist, yet relevant."

In no way am I trying to be a Debbie Downer, but I am kind of over seeing so many classrooms that are decorated to the gills and theme-based. To each their own, but given my new role, it has just really been on my mind that my students should be able to look around the room and feel as though they are represented, not inundated with tons of thematic chotchkies. 

Also, this article mentions how children actually learn better in classrooms that are not as heavily decorated. 

So, this year, the beauty of the room will emerge slowly and unfold as I get to know my students and what's important to them. 

I do like bright colors and no, my walls are not completely bare, but it's a lot less "decorated" than in prior years. 

What's your classroom style? Are you a fabulous decorator or a minimalist? 

Summer Reading-Part 1

Now that my assessment course has come and gone, I finally have some free time to enjoy some summer reading. I previously posted about two books that were on my summer reading agenda, but I ended up reading a third book that I am excited to talk about. 

It's called Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

For the past few years, my personal bible on culturally responsive practices has been Geneva Gay's Culturally Responsive Teaching

I recently came across another great resource that is a very teacher friendly guide to culturally responsive practices.  

What's new about Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain is pretty evident in the title. This text connects the research on culturally responsive instruction with "cutting-edge neuroscience research" which is really impactful and interesting. 

I majored in Psychology at Villanova University, so the content of this book brings me back to those days of learning about neural pathways, dendrites, axons, and myelination. I remember writing my first cover letters for education jobs after graduation and trying to leverage my degree in psychology by mentioning how connecting new content to students' background knowledge resulted in the activation of more neurons and therefore increased the likelihood students would remember the new content. 

It's been awhile since I have actively studied the brain or research on brain functioning, so this book has been very interesting to read. 

"Neural pathways are important because when we go back and forth along this pathway when thinking or problem solving, it helps drive new learning deeper into long-term memory until it becomes automatic or deeply understood."

I think the idea of background knowledge is pretty basic to teachers, yet the idea of funds of knowledge is more specific to the literature on culturally responsive instruction. We don't just need to have access to what students have experienced, we also need to understand their cultural knowledge and ways of thinking and learning in order to ensure that we are not putting forth culturally biases curriculum and assessment. When we fail to truly relate to students or activate their prior knowledge/background knowledge/cultural knowledge, they are certainly at a disadvantage in remembering the content due to the way in which the brain connects new information to already stored information. 

Another key point is that strong memories are highly charged by emotion because of the way that the brain responds to emotional experiences (particularly emotionally negative experiences). Our brain utilizes the fight or flight function and the stress hormone cortisol then inhibits all other cognitive functions such as learning, problem solving or creative thinking. 

What this means for teachers is that we need to put forth our best effort to connect with students. 

"Too often though, we ignore the quality of our interactions with students and instead focus primarily on the curriculum."

I am guilty of this....anyone else? 

"In culturally responsive teaching, the relationships are as important as the curriculum."

I have read Geneva Gay's work extensively and I have even published a few articles myself on the topic of culturally responsive instruction. I know how important it is to build relationships with students in order to generate trust, but reading specifically about how these relationships affect the brain is fascinating! 

"Neuroscience tells us the brain feels safest and relaxed when we are connected to others we trust to treat us well."

The brain will certainly be more productive and ready to learn when being flooded with feel-good Oxytocin rather than stress-induced Cortisol! 

The book's author, Zaretta Hammond also identifies 6 principles she calls 

"Culturally Responsive Brain Rules"

1. The brain seeks to minimize social threats and maximize opportunities to connect with others in community. 

2. Positive relationships keep our safety-threat detection system in check.

3. Culture guides how we process information.

4. Attention drives learning.

5.All new information must be coupled with existing funds of knowledge in order to be learned.

6. The brain physically grows through challenge and stretch, expanding its ability to do more complex thinking and learning.

I have not quite finished reading this book, but I plan to do so as soon as I am done writing this post. I think the concept of culturally responsive instruction is definitely worth reading up on, but this book in particular has been very informative and motivating. 

Everything Assessment

Next week I am teaching a 2 credit course called Assessing Language and Content Learning for K-12 English Learners. I have spent ALL of my free time lately getting ready for this class and I honestly can't wait until it's over. So far it feels like my summer break has consisted of preparing for and teaching college and I am ready to just have a break. I am currently on vacation with my family and my parents are even with us all the way from Connecticut, but my free time (when the little sneakers nap and after they go to bed at night) is consumed with creating slides for the lecture portions of my class. 

I haven't written much about my college courses, but I love love love this new work. Even though the preparation is really time consuming, I really enjoy it. I love incorporating strategies and activities with adults that they can then turn around and use with their own students. I am all about making sure that they get the most bang for their buck and leave the course knowing the content but also armed with ideas of how to practically apply the content with their own students. 

In the course I taught, I used interactive notebooks as a way to help my students process the course content and also as a way to model why interactive notebooks are great to use in their own classrooms. I also used several cooperative learning models from this book...

The appendices alone are well worth the cost because they detail different attention getter strategies, describe many different culturally responsive cooperative learning strategies, and list books that represent different cultures. It is an excellent resource on culturally responsive instruction with very easy to implement ideas for teachers. I provided my students with little paper slips describing the cooperative learning activities I used in class so they could create a separate section in their notebooks for teaching strategies.

A few of my favorites...

Inner Outer Circle

Line Dance

Connect Two

Give One, Get One

Sort & Mingle

Are you interested in knowing more about those cooperative learning strategies?