Commitment to Equity
On Monday, April 2, we had two great presentations that left us, as teachers, with a lot to think about. The first presentation by Dr. Kathleen Budge was about addressing the needs of our students who experience and live in poverty. The second presentation by Dr. Maya Evans and Ms. Micah Evans was about addressing bias and equity in education.
Both presentations had great information that served to get us thinking. It also served to call us to action. The three of us, Dawn, Lee Ann, and Ann, decided that as a first step to making these presentations come to life in our classrooms was to make commitments.
Check them out.
Ann’s Commitments:
I will work to build great relationships with my students and facilitate great relationships in my classroom.
I think that I already do this. But is there room for more? Absolutely!
I first asked myself, “how am I building relationships with my students?” At the beginning of the year, I ask students to make me a short video about themselves, including the correct pronunciation of their names as well as information about who they live with and anything that they want me to know about them. I find that the activity gives me a wealth of information, but thinking about it also made me realize that I don’t continue doing this throughout the year. After the presentations, I think that I could easily continue these video-type questions to check in with my students and learn more about them.
I then asked myself, “how am I building relationships with my students’ families?” At Open House in September, I usually pass around a notecard and ask the people that attend to tell me something about their students. I’ve learned a lot of valuable information about my students this way; however, upon reflection, I realized that I was only learning something about the students of those that attended Open House. This made me think about it being an inequitable practice because I really want this information from all families, but was limiting myself to only learning about a very specific group of students. So here’s my commitment - next year I’ll do this activity, but after Open House, I’ll reach out to families who don’t attend. Not only will this give me some information about my students, it will also initiate a relationship with those families as well.
I finally asked myself, “how am I creating opportunities for my students to know each other?” This is my most open-ended step in the list. I’m not sure that I facilitate intentional activities for class bonding. And I’d like to. So the work begins...
I will continue to grow in my understanding and empathy for others.
I have been fortunate in my life to have traveled to a number of places where I met people different from me. These experiences have helped me to think about my own identity and also to recognize my biases and as Dr. Budge said “sit with discomfort” while processing those biases. It has also led me to realize that when I “seek to understand before being understood,” I am able to grow and learn. My personal commitment is to continue this journey. While traveling is harder in my life right now (because children), I can still look for opportunities through speakers, movies, reading, listening to others, etc. to learn about personal identities, especially those with which I do not identify personally.
I will continue to work with my PLT to evaluate the equity of our grading practices.
We’ve already started this discussion…and my gut tells me that we have more work to do. Like this previous commitment, this one can also create some discomfort (or a lot of it), but I think that it’s worth it for us to talk, process, research, and grow with each other.
Dawn’s Commitments:
I will commit to learning more about my students at the beginning of the year and having them learn more about each other.
I will continue to build trust with my students.
I will commit to working on setting high expectations for my students.
Lee Ann’s Commitments:
Along with building caring relationships and holding high expectations for students of poverty, Dr. Kathleen Budge also calls for a commitment to equity within our classrooms. She encourages teachers to reflect on their practices surrounding homework and grading in order to gain insight on their stance towards equity. After doing this, I realized I have a lot of work to do in these areas.
Homework
I have never loved homework. As a student, I was always anxious about it and overwhelmed by it. As a teacher, I constantly wonder if what I ask students to do outside of class is truly moving their thinking forward. I also struggle to find homework that meets all students where they are with respect to the learning process and personal relevance. So, after reading, “Shift This,” by Joy Kirr, I have decided to implement “Choice Boards” in my classroom next year. With “Choice Boards,” students can choose 3 - 5 tasks from 9-10 options that they will complete outside of class. They can work on them at their own pace, with the hope that they are completed by the end of the unit. I will try to incorporate a variety of activities - from tasks that focus on the important concepts of the unit to activities centered on growth mindset or data analysis to podcasts about science in our everyday lives. By doing this, I hope to instill a sense of ownership and control in my students, as they are allowed to decide what they work on and when they work on it. And, along the way, I hope that they find something about science that interests them and excites them.
Grading
It’s not that students of poverty can’t do school. I think it is that too often, they don’t know how, and traditional grading practices only exacerbate the problem. The mere mention of the word, grading, can make a teacher’s palms sweat. How can we assess students’ level of understanding in an equitable manner at any moment in time in a manner that provides meaningful insight to students, their parents, the teacher and the school? I don’t know, and I am not sure if anyone does, but I know there are a lot of people out there who are making great strides in the right direction. There are teachers who have implemented grading practices that truly help students “become advocates for their own learning...and understand themselves as learners” (Budge, Parrett, 2018). I have decided to try some of these practices in my own classroom next year.
Next year, I am going to try to grade students’ classwork and homework (the Choice Boards) using a 3-category single-point rubric. The categories would be: Exceeds expectations; Meets expectations; Not YET. I would provide descriptions of what it would look like to “Meet Expectations.” Students can then self-assess to see if they think they have met or exceeded the expectation or if they aren’t quite there yet. By using the words, “Not Yet,” I hope to convey the message to my students that they WILL achieve this at some point in the future. And with this distinction, we can work together to find a way to help them get there.
I would also like to create a Behavior Assessment with my students. In the past, at the beginning of the year, I have had my students create the expectations for the class. I want to take it one step further next year. I would use these student-created descriptions to create a Behavior Assessment. Using a single-point rubric format, students can assess themselves on where they are with respect to academic behaviors. They can identify the areas in which they feel they have mastered or perhaps, the areas in which they need to improve. This then gives them something concrete and tangible to work on. I think this would also be extremely valuable information to share with parents. By making these changes in my grading practices, I hope to give my students a sense of confidence in and control over their own learning.
What are your commitments to equity? Please share them below or get in touch with us so that you can guest blog!
As always, if there is something you would like to see in the blog, let us know!
Both presentations had great information that served to get us thinking. It also served to call us to action. The three of us, Dawn, Lee Ann, and Ann, decided that as a first step to making these presentations come to life in our classrooms was to make commitments.
Check them out.
Ann’s Commitments:
I will work to build great relationships with my students and facilitate great relationships in my classroom.
I think that I already do this. But is there room for more? Absolutely!
I first asked myself, “how am I building relationships with my students?” At the beginning of the year, I ask students to make me a short video about themselves, including the correct pronunciation of their names as well as information about who they live with and anything that they want me to know about them. I find that the activity gives me a wealth of information, but thinking about it also made me realize that I don’t continue doing this throughout the year. After the presentations, I think that I could easily continue these video-type questions to check in with my students and learn more about them.
I then asked myself, “how am I building relationships with my students’ families?” At Open House in September, I usually pass around a notecard and ask the people that attend to tell me something about their students. I’ve learned a lot of valuable information about my students this way; however, upon reflection, I realized that I was only learning something about the students of those that attended Open House. This made me think about it being an inequitable practice because I really want this information from all families, but was limiting myself to only learning about a very specific group of students. So here’s my commitment - next year I’ll do this activity, but after Open House, I’ll reach out to families who don’t attend. Not only will this give me some information about my students, it will also initiate a relationship with those families as well.
I finally asked myself, “how am I creating opportunities for my students to know each other?” This is my most open-ended step in the list. I’m not sure that I facilitate intentional activities for class bonding. And I’d like to. So the work begins...
I will continue to grow in my understanding and empathy for others.
I have been fortunate in my life to have traveled to a number of places where I met people different from me. These experiences have helped me to think about my own identity and also to recognize my biases and as Dr. Budge said “sit with discomfort” while processing those biases. It has also led me to realize that when I “seek to understand before being understood,” I am able to grow and learn. My personal commitment is to continue this journey. While traveling is harder in my life right now (because children), I can still look for opportunities through speakers, movies, reading, listening to others, etc. to learn about personal identities, especially those with which I do not identify personally.
I will continue to work with my PLT to evaluate the equity of our grading practices.
We’ve already started this discussion…and my gut tells me that we have more work to do. Like this previous commitment, this one can also create some discomfort (or a lot of it), but I think that it’s worth it for us to talk, process, research, and grow with each other.
Dawn’s Commitments:
I will commit to learning more about my students at the beginning of the year and having them learn more about each other.
- I love this list of first week openers that I found doing an internet search. I really want to do this!
- After talking with Jim Murray on institute day, he had a great idea that I would like to try. The students would start the year with a name card that they would design. On the inside of the name card, they would section off 4 different areas. At the end of each class I would ask them to do a reflection in one of the areas for four days. The reflection would include asking them questions about themselves, the subject matter, and goals. I would collect the name cards at the end of each class and reply (give feedback) to each student and return the card the next day.
- An example of one writing prompt: I want you to describe the person you want to be someday. I'm not looking for that person's job description; I'm looking for the way that person's friends and family members will talk about her when she's not around. What kind of impact do you want to have while you've got air in your lungs? What kind of person do you want to be remembered as?
I will continue to build trust with my students.
- I loved this paragraph in the book, Disrupting Poverty: “.... three rules for building relationships with students: (1) take nothing personal (and don’t take myself so seriously), (2) always converse with students but never argue, and (3) always be genuine (never use sarcasm).
I will commit to working on setting high expectations for my students.
- I will continue to build a growth mindset in my classroom.
- I will continue to look for opportunities to add inquiry in my classroom and foster creativity.
- I will continue to improve on the level of feedback that I give my students.
- I will work to make sure my expectations are known and give students time to reflect on their progress towards meeting those expectations.
Lee Ann’s Commitments:
Along with building caring relationships and holding high expectations for students of poverty, Dr. Kathleen Budge also calls for a commitment to equity within our classrooms. She encourages teachers to reflect on their practices surrounding homework and grading in order to gain insight on their stance towards equity. After doing this, I realized I have a lot of work to do in these areas.
Homework
I have never loved homework. As a student, I was always anxious about it and overwhelmed by it. As a teacher, I constantly wonder if what I ask students to do outside of class is truly moving their thinking forward. I also struggle to find homework that meets all students where they are with respect to the learning process and personal relevance. So, after reading, “Shift This,” by Joy Kirr, I have decided to implement “Choice Boards” in my classroom next year. With “Choice Boards,” students can choose 3 - 5 tasks from 9-10 options that they will complete outside of class. They can work on them at their own pace, with the hope that they are completed by the end of the unit. I will try to incorporate a variety of activities - from tasks that focus on the important concepts of the unit to activities centered on growth mindset or data analysis to podcasts about science in our everyday lives. By doing this, I hope to instill a sense of ownership and control in my students, as they are allowed to decide what they work on and when they work on it. And, along the way, I hope that they find something about science that interests them and excites them.
Grading
It’s not that students of poverty can’t do school. I think it is that too often, they don’t know how, and traditional grading practices only exacerbate the problem. The mere mention of the word, grading, can make a teacher’s palms sweat. How can we assess students’ level of understanding in an equitable manner at any moment in time in a manner that provides meaningful insight to students, their parents, the teacher and the school? I don’t know, and I am not sure if anyone does, but I know there are a lot of people out there who are making great strides in the right direction. There are teachers who have implemented grading practices that truly help students “become advocates for their own learning...and understand themselves as learners” (Budge, Parrett, 2018). I have decided to try some of these practices in my own classroom next year.
Next year, I am going to try to grade students’ classwork and homework (the Choice Boards) using a 3-category single-point rubric. The categories would be: Exceeds expectations; Meets expectations; Not YET. I would provide descriptions of what it would look like to “Meet Expectations.” Students can then self-assess to see if they think they have met or exceeded the expectation or if they aren’t quite there yet. By using the words, “Not Yet,” I hope to convey the message to my students that they WILL achieve this at some point in the future. And with this distinction, we can work together to find a way to help them get there.
I would also like to create a Behavior Assessment with my students. In the past, at the beginning of the year, I have had my students create the expectations for the class. I want to take it one step further next year. I would use these student-created descriptions to create a Behavior Assessment. Using a single-point rubric format, students can assess themselves on where they are with respect to academic behaviors. They can identify the areas in which they feel they have mastered or perhaps, the areas in which they need to improve. This then gives them something concrete and tangible to work on. I think this would also be extremely valuable information to share with parents. By making these changes in my grading practices, I hope to give my students a sense of confidence in and control over their own learning.
What are your commitments to equity? Please share them below or get in touch with us so that you can guest blog!
As always, if there is something you would like to see in the blog, let us know!
Comments
Post a Comment