DCA 6: Thinking Back, Looking Forward
My non-CS email
laura.kirklin@gmail.com
www.kirklinhsela.pbwiki.com
Books and Film referenced in this session:
The Hobart Shakespeareans- PBS documentary
There are No Shortcuts- Rafe Esquith
Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire- Rafe Esquith
What do you have to believe?
•
As you watch these few clips of Rafe Esquith’s 5th grade classroom, I
would like you to consider the following questions:
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What do you have to believe about students to make this a reality?
•
What do you have to believe about parents to make this a reality?
•
What do you have to believe about each other to make a classroom
like this the rule, and not the exception?
•
And finally?
•
Did you/ do you believe that your students this summer could do this?
Why or why not? How can the diversity competencies help us sustain
this belief?
Gallery Walk- 10 min.
•
Grab a writing utensil and visit our “gallery” posters
around the room.
•
In response to the guiding word or question, write a
sentence or two that (honestly) conveys some of your
greatest learning this summer.
•
As you move around the room, you may also add to or
respond to another person’s reflection.
•
You do not need to sign your name to these reflection
posters.
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Why this Session?
•
We need to reflect on how the influence that our biases,
archetypes, and the diversity competencies have had on
our actions this summer.
•
This session is going to build heavily on the extension
exercises that you have been completing for the last four
weeks.
•
Throughout your teaching career, you are going to work
on your own and with others—like your program director
and your colleagues—to continuously increase your
effectiveness as a teacher.
•
This process basically involves thinking about the
Academic Impact Model in reverse.
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outcomes
others’ actions
teacher’s actions
teacher’s underlying
knowledge, skills, mindsets
gather data to examine the outcomes you are
reaching with your students, their families,
and your administrations.
figure out what student habits (or
parent or administrator actions) are
leading to these outcomes.
isolate the actions that you’re taking
that are leading to these student habits,
parent actions, or administrator actions.
Are your biases, archetypes, and the
diversity competencies—suspending
judgment, asset-based thinking, locus of
control, and interpersonal awareness -the underlying factors that are affecting
the actions?
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Andrew’s Story
•
How this summer’s diversity programming (and all of the
other programming) has made me reevaluate (and gain
new insight into) a past experience that I’ve had inside my
classroom.
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The Academic
Impact Model
outcomes
others’ actions
teacher’s actions
teacher’s underlying
knowledge, skills, mindsets
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Solidifying or Changing Mindsets
•
We may enter the classroom having internalized hidden, negative
mindsets about children of color and children in low income
communities.
•
We also all have archetypes for how motivated, capable students
look.
•
The outcomes of situations can have the potential to solidify—in our
heads—our biases and the “right-ness” of our archetypes.
•
For example, if our students underperform consistently, they might
confirm our mindsets that all children are not capable of achieving.
•
On the other hand, outcomes of events can lead us to change our
initially negative mindsets. If we have negative mindsets about our
students’ potential, and our class performs beyond our expectations,
it can have a tremendous effect on the subsequent actions we take.
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Using the diversity competencies to respond to and reflect on tough
moments allows us to be highly effective at setting ambitious goals,
investing our students and their families, and working with our colleagues.
Reflecting through
the lens of the
diversity
competencies..
Am I focusing on my
locus of control in
this situation?
Am I trying to
understand the other
person’s point of
view?
Am I suspending my
judgment?
Am I looking for the
assets in this person
or situation?
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Key Idea
Operating with the diversity competencies all of the
time is difficult, but it can have an enormously
positive impact on me and my students.
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Key Idea
Thinking about how biases, archetypes, and the
diversity competencies affect my work is not a
judgment on my character; it’s a way to make me
more effective.
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Thinking Back (Choose-Your-Own-Reflection)
Try it High-Tech on http://750words.com/
Activity Instructions (6 minutes)
• Take out your DCA extension exercises from this summer and
give them a quick skim.
• (DCA 1: pg. 180-181; DCA 5: 481-482; DCA 3: 617-615; DCA 4:
675-676; DCA 2: 764-765)
• Pick a challenging moment that you want to focus on during this
session.
• Take a look at Part I of Handout 1- pg. 771
• In the left hand column, write about the incident in neutral
language.
• In the right hand column, name the unspoken thoughts and
feelings that emerged during this situation.
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Thinking Back (Choose-Your-Own-Reflection)
Activity Instructions (4 minutes)
• Turn your attention to Part II of Handout 1: pg. 772.
• Take a moment to think and write about the impact this incident
had on you and your students.
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Thinking Back (Choose-Your-Own-Reflection)
Activity Instructions (16 minutes)
• On your own or in a pair, use Handout 2: pg 773-775 to think
some more about this incident.
• You’re going to reflect on:
• how your biases and archetypes may have influenced your
initial read on the situation
• the extent to which you used the diversity competencies.
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Thinking Back (Choose-Your-Own-Reflection)
Activity Instructions
• If you choose to work in a pair, you will focus on each person’s
situation for about 8 minutes.
• Partner 1 will start the conversation by describing the incident
s/he just wrote about, how s/he understood the situation at the
time, and how s/he saw biases, archetypes, and the diversity
competencies affect the way s/he reacted to the situation.
• Partner 2 will then react—adding other ways s/he thinks the
competencies may be affecting the “speaker’s” interpretation
of the events. Partner 2 may ask questions to learn more
about the situation or how the “speaker” is interpreting it.
• Then, you will switch.
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Looking Forward
Activity Instructions- 6 min.
• Using Handout 3: pg. 776, think about:
• Looking back: What has this experience taught you about
the way that biases, archetypes, and the diversity
competencies might affect your understanding of (and
reaction to) challenging experiences in your region?
• Looking forward: How do you plan to monitor your thoughts
and actions ongoing to ensure you’re making the best choices
for yourself, for your relationships with families and
colleagues, and for your students?
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The Group Debrief
• Is anyone willing to share:
• your experience
• what you learned from this experience?
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Key Idea
My response to difficult situations this summer
provides a window into how I might handle
challenging moments in the fall.
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Key Idea
I head into my classroom having demonstrated
strengths in some of the diversity competencies
and areas for growth in others.
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Key Idea
I need to find a way to monitor the impact of
biases, archetypes, and the diversity
competencies on my thoughts and actions in a
way that works for me.
Everything that I think, believe, or don’t believe
affects what my students are able to achieve.
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Closing
Activity Instructions- pg. 777
• We’re going to close this session by listening to an excerpt of an
interview of a Teach For America corps member who was taught
(when she attended high school) by another Teach For America
corps member.
• As you listen, think about the power you have (with the help of
various diversity competencies and our core values) to positively
influence the trajectory of your students’ lives, regardless of the
various lines of difference you’ll have to cross as you work to
make this happen.
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