Supporting New Teachers The Extra in Teaching Culturally

Supporting New Teachers: The “Extra” in Teaching Culturally Diverse Learners Dr. Desha L. Williams & Scholars Ian Frame, Santhi Prabahar, & Bonnie Roydes Kennesaw State University Kennesaw, GA

Why is content and pedagogy not enough? 6/30/11

What do you see? 6/30/11

Traditional MAT program • 18 hrs. - graduate mathematics content • 9 hrs. – educational foundations • 6 hrs. – educational research methods and application • 6 hrs. – mathematics methods • 9 hrs. – field experience 6/30/11

Increasing Mathematics Teachers for ALL Students • Voices from Principals • Faces of Homelessness • Voices from Teachers • Culturally Responsive Mathematics • Using Manipulatives in Secondary Classrooms • Safe Spaces for LGBTQ Youth & ALL Youth • Social Justice Mathematics 6/30/11 • Working with ELLs and Their Families • Working with Refugee Students

• State Mathematics Conference • National Mathematics Conference • State TESOL Conference • University TESOL Conference • TESOL Endorsement 6/30/11 • Books on Teaching Mathematics to ELLs, for Social Justice and through tenets of Cultural Responsiveness • Regional Noyce Conference

Culturally Relevant/ Responsive Teaching Santhi Prabahar 6/30/11

Levels of Multicultural Change Exclusive Lesson It teaches minor aspects of diversity at the lowest level 6/30/11 Inclusive Lesson It adds diversity content but retains the traditional structure Transformed Lesson It challenges traditional views and encourages new reconceptualization and new ways of thinking Kea, C. & Campbell-Whatley, G.

Which lesson is Culturally Relevant? 1. Teen Gun Statistics • Is it Culturally Relevant Teaching? 2. Credit Card Debt • Can they be changed? 3. Polar Graph Project 4. Tower of Hanoi Game 5. M&M Math 6/30/11

What is culturally relevant /response teaching? • "that empowers students intellectually, socially, emotionally and politically by using cultural referents to impart knowledge, skills and attitudes” (Ladson. Billings. G. , 1990) • “In order to teach to the different learning styles of students, activities would reflect a variety of sensory opportunities-visual, auditory, tactile” (Gay, 2000).

Culturally relevant teaching in mathematics classroom What? • Recognition of presence of Mathematics in every culture since we have had societies • Effect of mathematics on any culture and its people • Why? • It is an effective way to reach the intellectual and social needs of the students from different culture • Academic success Math instruction would • incorporate everyday-life • concepts, such as economics, employment, consumer habits, of various ethnic groups. Cultural competence Ability to critique the existing social order

What are teacher’s role? • Treat students as competent • Provide students instructional “scaffolding” in order for students move from what they know to what they need to know • Extend students’ thinking abilities • Possess in-depth knowledge of both students and subject matter • Teachers need to be reflective

How do we do that as teachers? • Acknowledgement of different ethnic groups’ heritages to be taught in the formal curriculum • Building bridges between home and school • Using wide variety of strategies that connected to the students’ learning style • Teaching students to praise their own culture and others • Implementing multicultural information, resources and materials as a teaching routine

How do we do that as teachers? • Student-centered teaching • Self-regulated learning • Teacher as a facilitator Know your students heritage and include their beliefs in the curriculum • Teaching social justice using math

What are some strategies we can use in mathematics curriculum? Examples • Using movie clips or TV episodes to engage students learning. • M&M (fractions, percent, statistics etc. . ) • Jelly beans (fraction, percent, statistics etc…) • Hershey's Bar (fractions) • Using grocery shopping to find unit price • Include social problems like obesity , credit card debt and teen gun problems

Poverty & Homelessness in the Classroom Ian Frame

Financial Definition of Poverty Number of People in Just what is. Household the Poverty Threshold? 1 2 3 4 5 6 Source: United States Census Bureau Estimated Poverty Threshold ($) 11, 491 14, 667 17, 922 23, 018 27, 274 30, 841

Poverty in Atlanta • Atlanta is the poorest city in the US for children • 44. 9% of children aged 6 -17 in femaleheaded home with no spouse are in poverty • HUD 30% rule - $250/month on rent Source: Metro Atlanta Taskforce for the Homeless

Defining and Identifying Homeless Students • Lack regular and adequate nighttime residence • Increased sleepiness • Regularly wearing same clothing • Deterioration in school work • Isolated or disconnected from classmates • Absences Source: National Association of School Psychologists

Defining and Identifying Homeless Students • Our address is new; I can’t remember it. • I don’t know where we live. • I’m living with relatives/friends right now until we get settled. Source: National Association of School Psychologists

Remediation Steps • Relationship with students • Basic necessities • Attendance & grading policy • Peanut Butter & Jelly Club

Peanut Butter & Jelly Club Academic support Quiet and safe workplace PB & J and Milk Total Startup Cost: $10. 89

Creating Safe Spaces for LGBTQ Students Bonnie Roydes

A Few Statistics • 24% of lesbian, gay, and bisexualidentified youth in Massachusetts reported having attempted suicide at least once over the course of a year compared to 5% of their peers (Mass. Dept. of Ed. , 2005) • In a nationwide survey, 85% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed and 40% physically assaulted in the past year based on their sexual orientation (Kosciw, Greytak, Diaz, & Bartkiewicz, 2010). • 30% of LGBT students in Massachussets reported missing at least one day of school in a month due to safety concerns (Kosciw et al. , 2010). • According to a nationwide survey, 2040% of homeless youth identified as LGBT (Ray, 2006). 6/30/11 Some Encouraging Findings üA positive school climate reduces the negative effects of homophobic teasing (Robinson and Espelage, 2011). üLGBT students in schools with Gay. Straight Alliances (GSAs) are less likely to hear homophobic remarks daily or miss school because they feel unsafe (Georgia Safe Schools Coalition, 2009).

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Who Are LGBTQ People? Lesbian: a woman whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attraction is to other women. Some lesbians may prefer to identify as gay, or as gay women. Gay: the adjective used to describe people whose enduring physical, romantic, and/or emotional attractions are to people of the same sex (e. g. , gay man, gay people). Bisexual, Bi: an individual who is physically, romantically, and/or emotionally attracted to men and women. Transgender: an umbrella term (adj. ) for people whose gender identity and/or gender expression differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. Transgender people may identify as female-to-male (FTM) or male-to-female (MTF). Transgender people may or may not decide to alter their bodies hormonally and/or surgically. Questioning: the adjective used to describe people who are unsure of their sexual orientation 6/30/11 Source: GLAAD, 2010 but wait, there’s more…

LGBTQQIAAP… Queer: traditionally a pejorative term, queer has been appropriated by some LGBT people to describe themselves. However, it is not universally accepted even within the LGBT community and should be avoided unless quoting or describing someone who self-identifies that way. Intersex: describing a person whose biological sex is ambiguous. There are many genetic, hormonal, or anatomical variations that make a person's sex ambiguous (e. g. , Klinefelter syndrome). The term intersex is not interchangeable with or a synonym for transgender. Asexual: an individual who is not physically, romantically, or emotionally attracted to others. Ally: a person who is not lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning, intersex, asexual, or pansexual but who supports the LGBT(QQIAAP) community. Pansexual: a person who is attracted to others without taking gender or biological sex into account. 6/30/11

Steps ALL Teachers Should Take 1. Never assume heterosexuality 2. Starting the first day of school, establish your classroom as a supportive, welcoming, inclusive environment for all students 3. Immediately and directly intervene in teasing and bullying and address ignorant comments such as “That’s so gay” 4. Be a positive role model by using respectful language and not discriminating against LGBTQ students 6/30/11

LGBTQ-Inclusive Math & Science Lesson Ideas ØWhen teaching about sex chromosomes, discuss Klinefelter Syndrome (XXY) ØWhen teaching statistics, use a data set about LGBTQidentifying people ØFrame word problems around diverse social scenarios 6/30/11

Make Your Classroom a Known Safe Space Step up and let your classroom be a known safe space for all students. Go to www. glsen. org for a Safe Space Kit (free download) that includes stickers, a poster, and more information on being an ally to your LGBT students. Also look for a Safe Space training session at a university near you. NOTE: I am not a representative of GLSEN and do not intend to advertise GLSEN or any organization 6/30/11

More Inclusive Classroom Decor From www. safeschoolscoalition. org 6/30/11

Take Action at the Whole-School Level ü Help to found or get involved in sponsoring an existing Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) at your school – straight allies are especially needed & encouraged to do this! ü Make sure your school anti-bullying and anti-discrimination policies contain LGBTQ -inclusive language. If not, lobby to have them changed. ü Correct other faculty and staff members if they make ignorant comments like “That’s so gay” or discriminate against LGBTQ students 6/30/11

Videos "That's so gay“ PSA -- Hilary Duff "That's so gay" PSA -- NBA Student-Made PSA "That's so gay" -- teacher/student discussion 6/30/11

All links and resources found at: http: //urli. st/4 q. Y (Case sensitive) 6/30/11