Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Funanya Uchemefuna
Professor Inman
3 May 2018
Introduction
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The key to being a culturally responsive teacher that can effectively ensure every student
has the opportunity to learn is by establishing a classroom management plan. This sort of plan
advocates for diversity in the classroom in order to foster a caring community and promote
restorative justice. Every teacher and pre-service teacher needs to establish a classroom
management plan to guarantee that every student is accommodated, treated equitably, and
As a pre-service teacher and Teacher’s Aid I had the opportunity to observe and engage
with a 6th grade classroom from the LAUSD school district. During my fieldwork I observed
Mrs. Torres 6th grade class at Russell Elementary School. The population of this class is as
follows: there were a total of 28 students in the classroom with 11 being English learners, 2 with
LEPs, 6 struggling behaviorally, and 9 English only students working at grade level. Out of this
population of students I interacted with a disabled student, a student struggling emotionally, and
an English language learner with an ELD level of 5. The student with special needs will be
referred to as student A, the student struggling emotionally will be referred to as student B, and
the English language learner will be referred to as student C. Student A is an 11 year old hispanic
boy who struggles with understanding the curriculum being taught. He actively participates in
class discussion, but purposefully strays off topic and is persistently off task during independent
work time. Concepts are explained to him independently multiple times, but understanding of the
material is lacking during assessments. Student B is a 12 year old hispanic boy who struggles
with behavioral issues due to personal losses at home. His grades lowered tremendously between
his first and second semester of his 6th grade year due to a family loss. He suffers from high
bursts of uncontrolled anger and excitement. Student C is an 11 year old hispanic girl who
speaks Spanish fluently to peers, does not know how to write in Spanish, uses conversational
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English when speaking and writing to adults, and struggles with academic English when writing
and presenting orally. Observing these students has helped me figure out the classroom
environment I should have in order to better accommodate the needs of all my students.
The foundation of my management plan will be led mostly by engagement focus and a
This will ensure that every student in my class is constantly stimulated by meaningful and
relevant learning. The continuous stimulation allows students to be engaged and devoted to every
classroom activity. These restorative strategies that keep the students engaged assures
misbehavior will not occur. Rewards and routines are in place to correct the misbehavior that
may occur, but will be enacted in such a way that students are responsible for their own reward
success. This method allows students to take responsibility in their own achievement and
understand the difference between positive and negative behaviors. My plan will be culturally
responsive by accommodating all students’ needs whether it be learning pace, language barriers,
time, and equitable learning space are set up to assist in the achievement of all students.
I will have a morning routine that consists of a daily housekeeping list giving instruction
of what each student should be doing to prepare for the start of the school day. I will provide an
adequate amount of time for the students to complete this organizing exercise before I fully
engage with the students. The procedure will resemble these steps: step one (Students will have
all homework placed at the corner of their desks), step two (Breakfast monitors will call team
numbers to collect their breakfast), step three (Students will read brain teaser presented on the
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board and try to decipher it through collaboration with partner) and step four (Students will
independently complete warm up or Daily Oral Language packet [D.O.L.] problems that are
labeled for that day of the week). This routine will expose students to taking individual
responsibility for their learning by giving them the opportunity to put themselves on task and
transitioning signal, which Farr (2010) stated would maximize classroom efficiency. I will gain
my class’s attention by ringing a bell to gain their attention during any activity. This routine will
be implemented at the onset. Establishing this at the beginning will allow the students to
internalize hearing the bell and they will immediately stop the task they are working on, turn
their attention to me with one hand in air, quietly wait for instructions for the next task, mentally
refocus their energy on the new task given, and jump into action on new task once bell is rung
again. This procedure leads to productive transitions between lessons and activities, while
establishing respect for authority by immediately halting their movement and refocusing their
attention. The signal is a way for me to gather the entire class’ focus without needing to raise my
voice and wait for silence. This transitioning signal is also culturally sensitive because it removes
the tension of me raising my voice, which might upset or shut down some students depending on
Another routine the students will follow to gain productive management will also develop
team cohesiveness by enhancing their teamwork, leadership and self-management skills. The
procedure for this movement routine will allow students the opportunity to gain team points
through managing time effectively, maintaining cleanliness in work space area, and efficiently
collaborating with all team members. Team leaders will be assigned per week to collect and pass
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out team papers, facilitate random desk checks, and overall make sure their team members
maintain clean areas. Points will be given to the teams that show growth in these aspects and at
the end of the week, the team with the most points will be rewarded with 15 minutes of
educational free time on Fridays. If computers/tablets are not assessable students will get to play
math board games, math card games, or teacher created trivia games for the 15 minutes time
period.
Students will be given the opportunity to collaboratively come up with rules that reflect
respectful and caring behaviors. Students tend to follow rules when they have a voice in making
them. Teachers can build a bond with their students when the students feel that they are trusted.
In the beginning of the school year a form of retroactive rules will be introduced and a system
will be set up to establish more rules throughout the year (Pinto, 2013). Students will be given 5
general rules on the first day called L.E.A.R.N, which stand for Listen and follow instructions,
Enter and exit prepared, Always try your best, Respect yourself and others, and No excuses.
Students will follow these general expectations and progressively add on more rules that
personally fit the needs of the classroom setting. This method of rules gives students the basic
foundation for human decency, but allows them to interpret these rules how they feel is needed.
Rules that are not followed will be discussed with the class on how to improve it. Students will
be responsible for their learning by setting up their own atmosphere. The mistakes and
discoveries that will occur throughout this process will advance their critical thinking skills and
Student Autonomy
I plan to build the student’s autonomy through establishing classroom jobs and “Readers
Challenge” goals. These strategies will give students the opportunity to exercise their
responsibility in decision making for their own learning and decipher the difference between
independent responsibilities and responsibilities that affect them as well as their community.
I will have a chart in place with a list of classroom jobs and allow the students I call from
a stack of cards to choose which job they would like to be in charge of. Students names will be
rotated out and not be allowed to pick the same job the next week to avoid student conflict
between favorable jobs and unfavorable jobs. This tactic will also alleviate the conflict of certain
students always being able to have first pick. Students will understand that each job no matter
how big, small, desirable, or undesirable plays a contribution in fostering a caring community.
These jobs will allow each student to participate and increase their voice within their classroom
community every week. Students will gain social emotional growth from being able to
experience the responsibility each job holds throughout the year and understand that community
collaboration and involvement is what fosters a caring and productive environment. The lesson
of this strategy is for students to realize that a community must work together in order to be
successful.
My second way of building students autonomy will have a readers challenge set up for
every month. These reading challenge will be a set goal of books each individual student should
have read before the month ends. These monthly goals will allow the students to take
responsibility for their learning by motivating themselves to keep up with their readings through
setting up personal mini goals that mark their progress or any strategy that the student feels will
help them reach the required goal. Readers Challenge will not a have a discipline system to keep
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them on track, but will have a reward system to encourage their motivation to learn. Each student
will be allowed to choose any book that is appropriate and pertains to their reading level. Each
book read will be followed up by a mini quiz to determine the students completion of the book.
The students who have reached or exceeded the goal requirement by the end of the month will
get to participate in an extracurricular activity of my choosing. Students who do not complete the
Readers Challenge goal by the end of the month will continue working on unfinished work or
Use of Time
Students will gain rewards through collectively working as a class using Pinto’s (2013)
Celebrating Jar strategy. The students will take responsibility for the entire class’s behavior,
instead of individually. This strategy places responsibility on the students to correct each other’s
poor behavior and maintain class productivity. Students will play a significant role in managing
their classroom climate in order to build an efficient and caring community. This strategy will be
discussed in the beginning of the year for the students to understand that they are accepting
responsibility for their classroom community as a unit. When the entire class has gained all
marbles into the “reward” jar they will be able to collectively think of a reasonable reward to
either have or participate in. This strategy allows students to keep track of their own behavior,
stay on task and develop positive communication skills. Pinto (2013) believes that when students
are behaving appropriately they tend to use their time wisely, which I feel will result in
maximized learning time and reduced time wasted on correcting poor behavior. My students will
learn to correct their own behavior because they will learn that their actions do not only affect
themselves.
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My students will not be the only ones with responsibility for the classrooms time
learning. The lesson will be planned out in regards to materials needed, number of copies
needed, and time span permitted. The materials and copies will already be made available for the
students before the start of the lesson. Julia G. Thompson’s (2002) strategy into developing
efficient time management of the lesson will consist of sequencing the lesson to accommodate to
the difference level of pace of 3 types of students. The lessons will be designed to accommodate
the students that finish quickly, finish in the time allotted, and those who take a longer amount of
time to understand the current concept (Thompson, 2002, p. 329). An example of sequencing a
lesson would be placing independent practice time at the end of the lesson and offering
enrichment activities that are pre-planned for the fast pace students, while the slower paced
students receive help from me on the current lesson. Another example of how I will manage the
lessons are by providing checklists for long lessons to allow students to see what needs to be
completed (Thompson, 2002, p.329). This type of lesson preparation will prevent student
misbehavior for not being continuously stimulated and increase optimal learning throughout the
school day.
Since my pre-planned lessons will consist of time blocks permitted for each instruction I
will set a time block specifically for transitioning, so as to not have my schedule too tightly
condensed, which will later lead to stress on having to rush through the lessons. The transitional
time between each lesson or activity will consist of review discussion on concepts we have
recently gone over. For instance, I would call out old vocabulary words and have the class
respond with the definition or vice versa. Another example would be stating a simple math
problem or times table problem and have them solve it in their head. This discussion will take
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place as the students are getting prepared for the next lesson. This time management method
allows for me to transition to the next topic with ease, while the students stay productive and
stimulated.
Accommodations
My targeted group of students will be seen in small groups based on academic needs,
English language levels, and learning disabilities. After I have concluded my Language Arts
lesson, all students will be instructed to work independently on grammar review worksheets or
the current writing assignment. The targeted group of students will be selected to gather in the
back of the classroom in a small group setting. Twice a week I will call a select few of EL
learners, students struggling academically, and students with an IEP to review and assess
understanding of past Language Arts concepts. The other two days of the week will be
designated for select EL learners to focus on vocabulary using “Relia” and sentence
structure/subject verb agreement. If students need extra support in any other subjects I will keep
fridays open to reinforce the concepts that were discussed during the week. Each small group
meeting will last 30 minutes during the Language Arts independent time block.
Individual instruction time for students with IEPs will consist of weekly interventions
through Multi Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) to monitor and assess the progress the child is
going through and check in on their mental and behavioral well-being. These population of
students will be seated closer to my desk at all times throughout the academic year. The
population of students struggling emotionally will also have weekly interventions through MTSS
to check behavioral progress and set goals for further progress. These students will be given
access to “cool off island” where stress toys will be laid out. The island will act as a safe space
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for these students to collect their thoughts or work independently until they feel they are ready to
join back into the classroom community. English language learners and students struggling
academically will be given the same MTSS weekly interventions. These students will also have
worksheets with picture visuals and lower reading level text to raise better concept
understanding.
Peer Interaction
Student expansion in peer relationships will provide an extra resource for them to better
understand concepts after I have used physical visuals (Ex: skittles being used to explain
measures of center on a data set) (Mrs. Torres, Personal Communication, 2018), oral
taught as they take notes on worksheet), and audio representations (Ex: catchy song or video to
help students remember the concept being taught) to accommodate to an audience of diverse
learners.
Students will engage in activities that involve pairing with other students. This strategy
will enhance collaborative learning by ensuring each student is focused, better understands the
concept being taught, and quickly solves minor issues to reduce unmanageable problems
(Thompson, 2002, p. 208). I will select student pairs to dismiss unproductive partners and
increase optimal working partnerships. My selection process will consist of observing each
student’s weaknesses and strengths to find a partner that will balance and better suit their needs.
The students will be seated together and engage in a pre-planned structured activity. Students
will switch partners when the pair originally selected no longer provides a positive and
Another way to ensure students have fully understood the concept is through student
teaching. During my lessons I will give students the opportunity to teach the class. Homework
from last class will be reviewed and students will have the chance to explain a problem of their
choosing to the class whether they understood it or not (Mrs. Torres, Personal Communication,
2018). This will allow students to correct each other’s errors when a mistake has been made and
see other ways of solving the same problem for further understanding of the concept. Students
will gain confidence in their learning and presenting skills from this method and I will be able to
As student teaching helped the individual child, a rotation will help them work
collaboratively. Students will be placed in groups of 5 or 6 according to their reading level. Each
group will participate in a different activity that either teaches grammar skills through game
worksheets, the current week’s vocabulary through definition worksheets and a dictionary, peer-
editing of current writing assignment, reading comprehension and note taking, or reading
comprehension with teacher to go over syntax, context clues, vocabulary, and comprehension.
This will allow students to collaboratively work together in completing the worksheets given and
help each other in sounding out words, reading smoothly and promote a better understanding of
the material currently being worked on. The rotation also allows me to access my students
In my classroom I will promote fairness by making sure every student has participated at
least once throughout the week through use of talking sticks. Each popsicle stick will have a
student’s name on it and when a stick is pulled randomly and placed to the side that student will
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have to participate in the current discussion. Each student has the opportunity to pass once and
respond with no explanation once during the academic year, but once a student has used their
passes they must fully participate in the discussion the next time their stick is pulled. The sticks
will ensure that every students voice has been heard. Fairness is a concept similar to equity that
benefits all parties involved through accommodating to the needs of each individual.
teacher I believe that every student should be treated equitably in every way in order to increase
disability. I firmly believe that Elizabeth Bondy, Dorene D. Ross, Caitlin Gallingane and Elyse
suggests one should teach alternative behaviors” (p. 328) is key in promoting a student-teacher
relationship that will benefit a students social, emotional, and academic well-being. I will ensure
equity is facilitated in my classroom by explaining the concept of equity to them and creating an
activity called “Character Counts”, so that they can understand the concept though experience.
The lesson will demonstrate equitable success through physical activity. Students will be placed
into groups of 4 and try to figure out how to reach a string that I have tied to two poles with the
help of stepping blocks. Students will have to figure out a way for their entire team to reach
success; by reaching the string at the same time. This activity will get students to think critically
and visually see that not everyone can reach success in the same manner. Students will gain
respect for their peers differences and understand everyone has their own struggles they must
overcome whether that be physically, mentally or academically. The lesson will conclude with
restorative justice practices of students respectively discussing how the activity equates to equity
by using key sentences and words from a discussion frame that implement respect for each
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other’s thoughts and opinions and appropriately display how to thoughtfully disagree. The
discussion frame will be used throughout the year to implement tolerance and cultural
competence. Pictures of the activity will be taken and placed in the classroom with the caption
“We Think Equitably!” next to the discussion frame poster labeled, “Accountable Talk”.
The equity activity will progress into students participating in Bonnie M. Davis’s (2012)
“Friday Final Five” activity, which allows them to acknowledge each other’s differences and
similarities. Students will have the opportunity to utilize their funds of knowledge and express
their cultural differences with this activity. Every friday a topic like music, sports, art, etc. will
be assigned and students will get to sign up to speak on that day and express their expertise on
said topic with props from home. This activity will take place the last 5 minutes of every friday
class.
Students will be sent home with a classroom newsletter each month for the parents to be
notified of their child’s school and classroom activities. The letter will consist of tips on active
roles parents can play in their children’s education, birthday wishes for student’s birthdays of the
current month, what their student will be learning for the month, the “Readers Challenge” for the
month, future events for the month that will need parent volunteers, and a tear off contact
information section. The information within the newsletter will be provided in English and native
language from the student’s home-life. This method of communication with the parents will
allow them to be aware of what their child is involved in during school hours.
The newsletters will consist of events like family day for the parents to be involved in.
Students will create a formal invitation to one of their family members to participate in Family
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day as a way to reach out to the student’s community (Davis, 2012). The event will consist of
family members coming to the classroom during a specific time during the day and telling stories
to the class, then reading to their child. This method of parent involvement will develop the
students reading skills and allows students to gain perspective and pride through exposure to
their own and other cultural backgrounds. Family Day can be set up more than once during the
school year to encourage parents to get involved and share their culture with the students.
Another event to gain parent involvement with their children’s school life is through
Career day events. Students will get to see their parents and other student’s parents speak about
their job position. This event will give students motivation to succeed in school and strive for a
higher education because of the role models they will be exposed to. Students will feel confident
that they can achieve greatness because they can relate to the parents that will be speaking about
their careers. These parents will most likely resemble the students culture whether it be
community wise, socio-economic wise, or racially. The students cultural connection with the
parents will allow them to see that they can be anything they set their minds too.
In order to stay connected to the students home life I will get in contact with every
student’s parent to introduce myself either in person or verbally through phone call. I will try to
schedule a phone call meeting or a meeting in person for a future date if they would like for a
progress check. The meeting will consist of praising their child’s best attributes, letting the
parent know where the child stands academically and behaviorally, and asking the parent for
advice in getting their child more engaged in class. This method will show parents that I care for
their child more than just academically and understand that their knowledge about their child is
deemed important. I will encourage working as a team with the parents/guardian to enhance their
child’s success.
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Another way for parents to get involved in their child’s school life is through requiring
my students to write down the agenda; homework and objective for the day. Parents will be able
to see what students have learned that day and know what they need to accomplish at home. A
parent or guardian signature will be required and checked daily to ensure parents are aware of
what their child is learning in class and homework is completed. This will ensure students stay
Conclusion
engagement. Students will have the opportunity to develop the classroom setting they feel they
need to be academically successful. Reward systems will be set in place as incentive for students
to take responsibility for their own learning. Students will participate in an equitable setting that
adheres to all cultural backgrounds and prepares them for the outside world. My classroom will
provide an environment for students to feel respected, trusted, safe, heard, and represented.
References
Bondy, E., Ross, D. D., Gallingane, C., & Hambacher, E. (2007). Creating Environments of
Success and Resilience: Culturally Responsive Classroom Management and More. Urban
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0042085907303406
Davis, B. M. (2012) How to teach students who don’t look like you: Culturally responsive
teaching
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Farr, S. (2010). Maximizing the efficiency and structure of your classroom. In Teaching as
leadership: The highly effective teacher's guide to closing the achievement gap (pp. 31-
Readings/CMC_Ch3_2011.pdf
Pinto, L. E. (2013). From Discipline to Culturally Responsive Engagement. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin
Thompson, J. G. (2002). First-Year Teacher's Survival Kit: Ready-to-Use Strategies, Tools &