Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Nakkula Chapter 7

Hello everyone, I am attempting to play catch-up on my blogs.  I miss you all and I am so looking forward to June when we can celebrate at Rachel’s house that we all finished our four ASTL core courses!!

I found Chapter 7 to be enormously difficult to get through.  I don’t know if it was because of all the tables or if I was just annoyed about being sent back to Delpit and her views that white teachers find it difficult to teach black students and that black students don’t think white teachers can relate to them.  However, what I did like was when Nakkula said, “We can and should seek to have racially diverse students and teachers work with one another, but we also need to be aware of the ways in which those relationships are influenced by racial identity development and be prepared to respond in an informed manner when we recognize the need” (pg. 138).  So, of course we should be able to “all get along” but there will be times when teachers need to meet their students half way and remember students are still developing beings that need guidance in order to see the world through many lenses.  I think good lesson plans that focus on essential questions that don’t have a single answer, that spark inquiry, and that lead to “big ideas” are ways in which kids can try on multifaceted identities in a safe environment.   It is important to really know our student population because as they are differentiating between social groups and racial groups we have a unique opportunity (responsibility) to guide them through the process.

The following is a great lesson plan by Linda Christensen that allows students to think about who they are and where they fit in this big, bad world.  It also gives the opportunity for them to see, through peer review and classroom discussions, where their classmates are coming from as well.  This is a great lesson with which to start the school year.


1 comment:

  1. Wow, cool lesson Madonna! Hang tough, we'll see you soon!

    ReplyDelete