Equity Training

Hi bloggie friends! First off, I apologize for how long it has been since my last post! I keep thinking that I want to write something, but when it comes right down to it I just have dropped the ball! New goal is to blog at least a couple of times a week (since I've been once if lucky lately! haha) Hopefully you'll all still stick around ;)

So today we team was out of the building for an equity training. This was my first time with a sub and my new class, which always makes me nervous at first. However, I talked with the kids with it a lot before I left and I am very confident in the teacher who was in for me today. She is a retired teacher at our school and has been one of my main subs since I began teaching. She is wonderful :) I'll be out at least 4 more times for these training's, but for the rest of them I am going to be having my mom sub (she lives in another state now, so she drives down and stays at our *her* house when she subs for me. Aren't I lucky??) I am so blessed to have so many amazing master teachers who can step in for me when I am out. I don't know what I would do without them!

Now onto the training...my kinder team has been invited to be a part of the CARE team (collaborative action research for equity). We are on the team with one of the special education teachers at our school and our principal. This is my first experience on a team like this (besides committees) and I must say I really enjoyed the seminar today!! It was lead by an extremely charismatic woman who has a passion for deepening our own understanding of race and culture and making a "space" for all children to be on a level playing field in the classroom. Our district has been focusing on Courageous Conversations about Race for 2 years now, and this years cohort is going to be completing action research and implementing culturally relevant instruction in our own classrooms.

While I consider myself to be continuously learning about my own understanding of race and culture as it applies to my own teaching, I think that I have a lot to learn. especially when it comes to applying this to a scripted curriculum like we are expected to teach now days. I am really excited to have the chance to focus with my peers on such an important topic, and can't wait to reflect back on this as the year progresses!! I'll be writing more about this later i'm sure. But for now I want to leave you with two of my favorite phrases our instructor taught us about her own culture today:

1. "We all add our own 'pop and shine' to a lesson. what works for her might now work for you"
2. "Don't make me 'catch a case'!" - Loved this one :)

Does your district do something similar? What does culturally relevant instruction look like in your classroom? I'd love to hear more about your experiences and am excited to share my own soon!!

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