Who's In My Classroom?. Tim Fredrick
to helping students heal from stress and trauma, and how teachers and schools can implement trauma-sensitive practices in ways that benefit all students.
In Chapter 7, we discuss the role that DCRT can play in improving school climate and culture, and how DCRT can serve as a tool for advancing broader goals related to educational equity.
Finally, in Chapter 8, we show how the stories by teens at Youth Communication can be put at the center of teaching and professional development.
Other Things to Know about This Book
Student Stories: All student examples in the book are from stories written by teens in the Youth Communication writing program. We describe a bit more about that work in Chapters 1 and 8. We give the age of the student at the time he or she wrote the story. All of these stories originally appeared in Youth Communication's print and digital magazines. As you will see, some of the students choose to be anonymous and others chose to have their names on their stories.
Language: Who are I, We, and You? When you see I in the text, it mostly refers to me (Gess LeBlanc) and my experiences. At times, it also references the experience of Tim Fredrick and other Youth Communication staff. Tim and I are both teachers who have experienced many of the challenges that all teachers face, so we often switch to we when writing about common issues that we all face in teaching.
You, of course, are the reader. The primary audience for this book is educators, including teachers and out-of-school staff, students who are studying to be teachers, and school and district administrators. Regardless of your race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or other demographic or cultural descriptor that is important to you, if you are a teacher in today's increasingly diverse America, you are going to have students whose backgrounds are very different from your own. Thus, this book is for all educators.
Pronouns: In recent years, in our work with students and colleagues, we have learned not to presume someone's preferred pronoun or that a person fits into the male/female gender binary. Though it is stylistically inconsistent, in this book, we go back and forth between he, she, and they.
Resources: We refer to many resources that you can use to implement ideas in the book in your own classrooms, your school, and your district. If you are reading an electronic version of this book, you can just follow the link. Otherwise, we've given enough information to search for the resource. You will note that our references to the resources are suggestive; we don't describe the resources in detail. We encourage you to access the ones that fit the needs of your school and community.
However, we do offer professional development, which can include exploring and practicing many of the ideas in the “What Teachers Can Do” and “What Schools and Districts Can Do” sections of this book. (See the following chart for contact information for Gess LeBlanc and Youth Communication.)
Academic Research: We also refer to many academic studies and briefly summarize the key points that are relevant to DCRT. You are, of course, welcome to follow the footnotes to learn more about the findings and the nuances of the studies.
We hope this book will spur you to think about your teaching and to make changes in your classes, your school, and your district. We know that identifying practices that improve classroom teaching and district policies so students are more likely to achieve the best possible outcomes is a never-ending process. Our teaching and professional development work is part of that process, and we are always eager to improve it. We invite suggestions about the ideas in this book and welcome opportunities to work with school districts.
| Gess LeBlanc | Tim Fredrick |
| Hunter College | Youth Communication |
| School of Education | [email protected] |
| [email protected] |
References
1 Bredekamp, S. and Copple, C. (1997). Developmentally Appropriate Practice in Early Childhood Programs (Revised Edition). National Association for the Education of Young Children, 1509 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-1426.
2 Gay, G. (2000). Culturally Responsive Teaching. New York: Teachers College Press.
3 Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The Dreamkeepers: Successful Teachers of African American Students. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
4 Nieto, S. (ed.). (2005). Why We Teach. New York: Teachers College Press.
5 Rogoff, B. (1990). Apprenticeship in Thinking: Cognitive Development in Social Context. New York: Oxford.
6 Venables, D. R. (2011). The Practice of Authentic PLCs: A Guide to Effective Teacher Teams. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
CHAPTER ONE An Introduction to Developmentally and Culturally Responsive Teaching (DCRT)
I may not be the smartest in the class, but I am generally ambitious and hard-working. For a long time, though, math and science classes were an exception. I was content to get by with lower grades in them. That mindset changed thanks to my sophomore year physics teacher, Mr. Stevens (not his real name).
Taking physics seemed like some type of punishment. I brought a poor attitude with me to class each day, just wanting it to be over.
I ended up failing the first marking period. I convinced myself that it wasn’t a big deal and continued with my sour outlook throughout the second marking period. I guessed that my teacher could see I didn’t care and would be happy to keep failing me. But one day at the end of the second marking period, something unusual happened.
When the bell rang, I hopped out of my desk and started gathering my things. Just then, Mr. Stevens called my name.
I looked up. He said, “I’d like to speak to you once you’re ready.” I nodded. Great! He was going to give me a boring lecture on how I should take advantage of the free education I had been given or start asking why I didn’t care about school. Blah, blah. He didn’t know me; he just knew my performance in this one class, so I wouldn’t let his aggression affect me. What could he do? Threaten to call my parents? So with my head up high I walked over to his desk, ready for anything he was going to throw at me.
Right away, he gave me a welcoming smile and asked how my day was going. Surprised at his friendly manner, I told him I was actually a little stressed about a geometry exam, but other than that, I was all right. I assumed it was small talk before he landed the big speech, but what he had to say next surprised me even more.
“I just wanted to let you know that I know you’re not doing as well as you could be in your class. I’m positive you are capable of way more, Neha. I picked up your transcript from the guidance counselor’s office today and I see you have good grades in your other classes. Physics is a little difficult for you, huh?”
I couldn’t answer. I was trying to digest the fact that he actually went and reviewed my transcript. I wondered if it could be that he was actually curious about me as an individual.
But part of me was just defiant. He said I was struggling in “my” class—Hello? Physics