"To teach in a manner that respects and cares for the souls of our students is essential if we are to provide the necessary conditions where learning can most deeply and intimately begin."
-bell hooks
Social Justice & Equity
Culturally Responsive Teaching
Our students exist in a world of rapid cultural shifts. What is relevant to one class may be irrelevant to the next, as families and communities adapt to the demands of broader sociocultural forces. As an educator, I see my role as that of a connector—to create a learning space that invites, nurtures, and adapts to the unique cultural chemistry of the students who pass through my door each year. Culturally responsive teaching is embedded in my classroom practices through daily community meetings, end-of-day reflections, and the integration of my students’ vast funds of knowledge into our everyday learning experiences. With open ears and flexible hearts, we create a brave space where students grow familiar with the discomfort that can arise when we begin to question social injustices and inequities alive in the world around us in pursuit of meaningful, promotive change for the world and within ourselves.
"Culturally relevant teaching is about questioning (and preparing students to question) the structural inequality, the racism, and the injustice that exists in society."
-Gloria Ladson-Billings
“We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.”
–Maya Angelou
Spectrum of Intersectionality
My classroom celebrates, honors, and operates with the understanding that all people—and the contexts they come from—exist on a spectrum. Each individual is defined by a myriad of identities that are uniquely their own. Throughout the school year, my students and I practice setting aside assumptions to deepen our understanding of one another through curiosity and respect. Through dynamic conversations in our community meetings and learning experiences, we create brave spaces where the discomfort of not knowing, disagreeing, and seeking understanding brings us closer together as learners. In this way, we define our shared classroom identity as a collective shaped by the richness of our unique, intersectional identities—each individual essential to the whole.
Equitable Access to Learning
Just as each student brings their unique intersectional identities to the classroom, they also come with distinct strengths as learners. As a teacher, it is my sacred duty to collaborate with students to identify those strengths and craft learning opportunities that allow them to flourish. My lessons are designed through a universal design lens, ensuring that all students can access and achieve learning goals in ways that align with their individual learning styles. In particular, I am intentional about creating equitable learning opportunities for English Learners by incorporating language supports such as visual aids, sentence frames, and scaffolded instruction to make content both accessible and meaningful. By integrating visual tools, learning models, and encouraging the use of multiple modalities to demonstrate understanding, students are empowered with the respect that comes from honoring their agency in shaping their own learning journey throughout the school year.
“The difference between equity and equality is that equality is everyone get the same thing and equity is everyone get the things they deserve.”
— DeRay Mckesson