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| Gorgeous fall tree near Midvale Elementary School |
One big question is:
Am I meeting the needs of each of my students?
We have many ways that we are responsible to our students. The resource linked below by Paul Gorski is a great reminder of how we can meet the needs of our students. Gorski describes 20 Things I Can Do to Be a Better Multicultural Educator. Some are things we can do for ourselves as professionals and humans; some are things we can do for our students. All are vital. Which strategy will you focus on?
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| Click the image above to read the document |
In addition to the challenge of meeting students' needs, we often begin thinking about our teacher language:
Am I consistently using language that builds children up and validates who they are?
It's common to fall into patterns of language that are easy and comfortable. Without intending to, we might use language that devalues students, or places us at the center instead of our students. While we strive to be proactive, sometimes it's just not possible; we are often reacting to moments in our classrooms throughout the day. This, too, can be done in a way that values the student and stresses the deed instead of the doer.
In the document linked below, from Developmental Designs, you can see examples of "raindrop language" -- this is what we want to avoid. There are also great examples of desired language(Reinforcing, Reminding, Redirecting). Changing our language has a profound impact on children and our relationship with them. Think about the language you use with students. How can you focus on Reinforcing, Reminding and Redirecting language? Challenge yourself to be conscious of your language choices with students.
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| Click the image above to read the document |
