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Critical Thinking in a Culturally Responsive Classroom
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This document is an action research project that follows my growth as an educator over my time in the Western Oregon University Masters of Arts program. I wanted to see what the current best practices were for teachers and then analyze how I can best align my teaching to match those. First I researched the best practices in the field of teaching that related to culturally responsive pedagogy, discipline specific literacy, and sourcing in a social studies classroom. This gave me an understanding of how I wanted to teach once in a classroom, and what I wanted to focus on, and best practices, for improvement while there.
Once teaching in a classroom I recognized the need to focus on two questions: how can I get students to display critical thinking in their responses to questions, and how can I plan lessons to best display culturally responsive practices in the classroom? These were both aspects of teaching I prioritized in my philosophy of teaching, and wanted to make sure I could excel at once in a career. During the process of research I attempted different strategies that attempted to answer the first question with varied results. I eventually came to the conclusion that asking students questions about the factual information before asking them to respond to prompts with more in depth thinking provided better results than going straight into in depth questions. For my second question I found that I was far more inconsistent in making lessons that were appropriately culturally responsive. Although not entirely negative, I was disappointed in the consistency and depth of the culturally responsive pedagogy that I taught. Fortunately this was only one year of student teaching, and this project provided me with the ability to study and adjust my teaching for the better in the many years of my career to come
Effective Lesson Planning for First Year Teachers to Encourage an Equitable Learning Environment
Get PDFAction research is a process of inquiry, design, and data collection used by professionals in any field. It is a branch of research whereby an element of one’s work is examined and reflected upon to yield knowledge and relevant information pertaining to the topic of study. I am doing this action research project because I value the importance of self-development and believe that I can start teaching on a stronger note through this research. In addition, it is great practice for me in the future to test my teaching strategies. Through this research, my connection to the material has grown and developed for the appreciation that it takes to take on a well-researched strategy into the classroom. I became fascinated with the importance of building an equitable learning environment for a diverse group of students. From the Masters of Arts in teaching program at Western Oregon University my interest in the lens of students with IEP/504 plans, ESL learners, and the backgrounds of indigenous people has grown. For example, for IEP/504 students using a web based system there are some advantages and disadvantages that the teacher should be aware of before beginning. Ensuring the system will be effectively achieved in paying attention to the student’s growth and development (Kowalski, 2009). In relation, INTASC is an acronym for Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium. States, districts, professional organizations, teacher education programs, and teachers use the INTASC Standards as an additional resource to develop policies and programs to prepare, license, support, evaluate, and reward today’s teachers. states, districts, professional organizations, teacher education programs, and teachers. Through the INTASC standard that explains how the teacher can understand students that come from a diverse culture, background, ability, or community to ensure an inclusive learning environment that enables each learner to meet high standards
Improving Accessibility of Food Resources in Polk County
Get PDFThis project sought to increase awareness regarding food insecurity and available food resources in Polk County to bridge the gaps of food availability for residents. The SOAR (strengths, opportunities, aspirations, results) model was used to facilitate change. Research on available food assistance agencies and Community Health Assessments (CHA) proved a greater need for available food resources throughout Polk County. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, a need was identified for increased awareness and access of food resources. A survey of Polk County residents indicated a gap of knowledge regarding food bank and food pantry locations and a recurring trend of inaccessibility (Polk County Family and Community Outreach, 2020). Additionally, a majority of the surveyed residents responded that they would “absolutely use” a food box delivery service and indicated evening hour preference for accessing food banks and food pantries (Polk County Family and Community Outreach, 2020). Barriers to combating food insecurity included: pandemic restrictions, limited communication between food banks, and volunteer-run agencies that limited hours of operation. From this research it was concluded that Polk County residents would benefit from an increase in food resource availability with additional volunteers, extended hours of operations, communication between food assistance agencies, use of food delivery services, and more accessible marketing of the available resources.
Keywords: food insecurity, food resources, food accessibility, Polk County, food bank, food pantry
References
Polk County Family and Community Outreach. (2020). Access to food in Polk County [Unpublished raw data].
Stavros, J. M., & Hinrichs, G. (2009). The thin book of SOAR: Building strengths-based strategy. Thin Book Publishing
