Equity, Diversity, and Design Principles
Put it to Practice
This assignment was designed to investigate the questions:
How can we draw upon our understanding of diversity to make our classrooms, and our classroom practice, more equitable?
How can we work together with colleagues to create equitable learning environments?
Equity Summary and Setting
In my fifth grade classroom, one significant issue of equity that I have noticed is in participation. I think this is an issue faced by almost every teacher, especially in a classroom where student discussion drives much of the learning.
In my classroom there are many opportunities for students to share their thoughts and ideas. Occasionally there is mandated participation, for example in “share” time in our morning meeting each student takes a turn to respond to a prompt by the teacher such as, “share something you are proud of,” or “share a struggle that you are facing and how the class can support you.” During this time, the students listen and may ask questions or share comments with the sharer.
At other times, participation is done through picking popsicle sticks in a cold call format. This method is usually used when there are many people wanting to participate or if it feels like a low-risk share situation. I sometimes worry that the method may lead to some anxiety for some of the more apprehensive students.
For this specific issue of equity, there are a few times that I would really like to focus on. The first being discussions around literature. As a read aloud, we are reading a book called Wonder. After reading a few chapters to the whole class students are told to “turn and talk.” We have discussed in depth the expectations about how they should sit, what kind of language they should use, and that they are expected to talk for the full time allotted. As I observe the pairs or triads, I notice that there tend to be dominant voices in the conversations. We are hoping to transition to book clubs using the same format soon, but I worry that the same voices will take command of the conversation and monopolize the time.
So, my question going into this work is, why student do or do not speak up in class and what can I do to ensure each student feels comfortable and eager to share their thoughts and ideas?
What I’ve Done So Far
At the start of the year students brainstormed what they needed to do to make sure everyone feels safe and important. From that list they created a classroom constitution that establishes the norms for our classroom. It includes things such as actively listening and taking care of each other by helping, sharing, encouraging and including. The class does really care about each other, so I hope to use that concern they have for each other to encourage more equal participation
In attempts to hear all voices, some of the approaches I’ve taken are popsicle sticks with students’ names, writing feedback on sticky notes and posting those as a written discussion, pair shares and small groups.
The Plan
Using inspiration from a conversation with a colleague and the reading I’ve done, I plan to survey the students in regards to their classroom participation (see attached survey). The information that I’m trying to extract is why students choose to participate or not and what their feelings around class participation are. I also am hoping to get some suggestions from the students to improve discussions in the classroom and to find our what format they are most comfortable participating in.
The Outcome
Students were given approximately thirty minutes to complete the survey. There was a large range of responses, but the most common reason for choosing not to participate was simply not knowing the answer. Additionally, many students said that there is just not time for everyone to get a chance to participate. When asked what size and type of group they are most comfortable sharing in, most said that they like being groups of about four people.
A response from a few students that surprised me was that they often chose not to participate because they felt as though their classmates would reject their ideas or make them feel bad about their responses.
I also asked the students how they felt about feedback and it was interesting because most said they really appreciate the feedback that their classmate give them about their work, which seems to me to be a contrast to the concern about classmates rejecting their ideas.
Next Steps
In response to the feedback from students, I will be making some modifications to how our class shares with each other. The first will be offering more opportunities for small group discussion since the majority of the class expressed that is how they are most comfortable sharing.
Another thing that I am going to work on is my language around time in class. I often note to the students that we are behind schedule in the hopes that students will transition more quickly, but I am afraid that my attempts to speed up some parts of the day, like getting lunches and lining up outside, has transferred to other times and that students may not participate in order to move things along. That is definitely not the message I want to send to my students, I want to take the time for all of them to participate fully without worrying that they are taking up class time.
Work with Colleagues
I have spent time working with two colleagues to refine my plan for increasing student participation. The first is an ongoing conversation with a fellow fifth grade teacher from High Tech Elementary. She is facing similar issues in her classroom and together we are collecting information about our classes that, I hope, we will be able to reflect on together and discuss our next steps.
Another colleague that I am constantly working with is my teaching partner. I have the benefit of being a part of a teaching team that affords me the opportunity to plan with and observe a teacher with a lot of experience in the teaching field. She has given me feedback along the way in regards to identifying the equity issues in the class and the survey that students will take.
Works Cited
Gabriel, T. (2011, May 12). Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media. New
York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/education/13social.html?pagewanted=all
Ruff, J. (2009). Lila Speaks. Unboxed, Issue 3. Retrieved from
http://www.hightechhigh.org/unboxed/issue3/lila_speaks/Participation Survey
Survey:
Mrs. Kuhl and Miss Zimmer would like to know more about when, how and why you participate in class so that we can make everyone’s voices heard as often as possible. Please answer the following questions as honestly and completely as you can.
1. About how many times a day do you raise your hand to participate? ______________
2. How do you feel about sharing your work and ideas with the class?
3. What size or type of group(s) are you most comfortable sharing in?
4. When you choose not to participate, what are the reasons that you choose not to participate?
5. Are you comfortable receiving feedback about your work from your classmates? If yes, what do you find most helpful? If not, how would you prefer to receive feedback?
6. Do you feel that everyone has the opportunity for their voice to be heard? If yes, what is going well? If no, what could we do differently to allow everyone to participate?
How can we draw upon our understanding of diversity to make our classrooms, and our classroom practice, more equitable?
How can we work together with colleagues to create equitable learning environments?
Equity Summary and Setting
In my fifth grade classroom, one significant issue of equity that I have noticed is in participation. I think this is an issue faced by almost every teacher, especially in a classroom where student discussion drives much of the learning.
In my classroom there are many opportunities for students to share their thoughts and ideas. Occasionally there is mandated participation, for example in “share” time in our morning meeting each student takes a turn to respond to a prompt by the teacher such as, “share something you are proud of,” or “share a struggle that you are facing and how the class can support you.” During this time, the students listen and may ask questions or share comments with the sharer.
At other times, participation is done through picking popsicle sticks in a cold call format. This method is usually used when there are many people wanting to participate or if it feels like a low-risk share situation. I sometimes worry that the method may lead to some anxiety for some of the more apprehensive students.
For this specific issue of equity, there are a few times that I would really like to focus on. The first being discussions around literature. As a read aloud, we are reading a book called Wonder. After reading a few chapters to the whole class students are told to “turn and talk.” We have discussed in depth the expectations about how they should sit, what kind of language they should use, and that they are expected to talk for the full time allotted. As I observe the pairs or triads, I notice that there tend to be dominant voices in the conversations. We are hoping to transition to book clubs using the same format soon, but I worry that the same voices will take command of the conversation and monopolize the time.
So, my question going into this work is, why student do or do not speak up in class and what can I do to ensure each student feels comfortable and eager to share their thoughts and ideas?
What I’ve Done So Far
At the start of the year students brainstormed what they needed to do to make sure everyone feels safe and important. From that list they created a classroom constitution that establishes the norms for our classroom. It includes things such as actively listening and taking care of each other by helping, sharing, encouraging and including. The class does really care about each other, so I hope to use that concern they have for each other to encourage more equal participation
In attempts to hear all voices, some of the approaches I’ve taken are popsicle sticks with students’ names, writing feedback on sticky notes and posting those as a written discussion, pair shares and small groups.
The Plan
Using inspiration from a conversation with a colleague and the reading I’ve done, I plan to survey the students in regards to their classroom participation (see attached survey). The information that I’m trying to extract is why students choose to participate or not and what their feelings around class participation are. I also am hoping to get some suggestions from the students to improve discussions in the classroom and to find our what format they are most comfortable participating in.
The Outcome
Students were given approximately thirty minutes to complete the survey. There was a large range of responses, but the most common reason for choosing not to participate was simply not knowing the answer. Additionally, many students said that there is just not time for everyone to get a chance to participate. When asked what size and type of group they are most comfortable sharing in, most said that they like being groups of about four people.
A response from a few students that surprised me was that they often chose not to participate because they felt as though their classmates would reject their ideas or make them feel bad about their responses.
I also asked the students how they felt about feedback and it was interesting because most said they really appreciate the feedback that their classmate give them about their work, which seems to me to be a contrast to the concern about classmates rejecting their ideas.
Next Steps
In response to the feedback from students, I will be making some modifications to how our class shares with each other. The first will be offering more opportunities for small group discussion since the majority of the class expressed that is how they are most comfortable sharing.
Another thing that I am going to work on is my language around time in class. I often note to the students that we are behind schedule in the hopes that students will transition more quickly, but I am afraid that my attempts to speed up some parts of the day, like getting lunches and lining up outside, has transferred to other times and that students may not participate in order to move things along. That is definitely not the message I want to send to my students, I want to take the time for all of them to participate fully without worrying that they are taking up class time.
Work with Colleagues
I have spent time working with two colleagues to refine my plan for increasing student participation. The first is an ongoing conversation with a fellow fifth grade teacher from High Tech Elementary. She is facing similar issues in her classroom and together we are collecting information about our classes that, I hope, we will be able to reflect on together and discuss our next steps.
Another colleague that I am constantly working with is my teaching partner. I have the benefit of being a part of a teaching team that affords me the opportunity to plan with and observe a teacher with a lot of experience in the teaching field. She has given me feedback along the way in regards to identifying the equity issues in the class and the survey that students will take.
Works Cited
Gabriel, T. (2011, May 12). Speaking Up in Class, Silently, Using Social Media. New
York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/education/13social.html?pagewanted=all
Ruff, J. (2009). Lila Speaks. Unboxed, Issue 3. Retrieved from
http://www.hightechhigh.org/unboxed/issue3/lila_speaks/Participation Survey
Survey:
Mrs. Kuhl and Miss Zimmer would like to know more about when, how and why you participate in class so that we can make everyone’s voices heard as often as possible. Please answer the following questions as honestly and completely as you can.
1. About how many times a day do you raise your hand to participate? ______________
2. How do you feel about sharing your work and ideas with the class?
3. What size or type of group(s) are you most comfortable sharing in?
4. When you choose not to participate, what are the reasons that you choose not to participate?
5. Are you comfortable receiving feedback about your work from your classmates? If yes, what do you find most helpful? If not, how would you prefer to receive feedback?
6. Do you feel that everyone has the opportunity for their voice to be heard? If yes, what is going well? If no, what could we do differently to allow everyone to participate?