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Culturally relevant education is a conceptual framework that recognizes the importance of including students’ cultural backgrounds, interests, and lived experiences in all aspects of teaching and learning within the classroom and across the school (Ladson-Billings, 1994, 2009; Milner, 2017)  We begin by developing awareness
―Zaretta Hammond We must also identify our own biases
― Sandra C Bibb We commit to fostering an inclusive and equitable learning environment
― Geneva Gay
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For coaching to be effective, the component of trust needs to be present. For this, it is imperative that coaches begin building and cultivating authentic relationships early on. The following interactive board provides resources and tools that help in achieving such an important aspect of coaching. Feel free to share your thoughts or comments below.
 Planning We continually talk about the importance of purposeful and intentional planning because, when effective, it provides structure throughout the lesson, it ensures the teaching-learning progression is taking place, and it allows for learning to be maximized. From my years of experience (15 and counting), I've come to the conclusion that creating an outline of the TEKS is the best way to begin planning as it will assist the teacher in covering all the skills and in designing instruction so that it incrementally builds on the previous learning. It also allows the teacher to pinpoint when to assess student learning. And, as it is not set in stone. We can use it to re-adapt our planning by reflecting and making changes and improvements when necessary. Now, planning should not be an overwhelming process if we are focused on the end goal, the objective, which defines the learning expectation, and how the objective will be measured, the assessment(s), which will determine mastery of the skills, and in the case of formative assessments, it will also determine the need for adjustments. What do you need to make planning a smooth process? ~ The essential components (designed to support and facilitate standards) including: *TEKS- based on curriculum and progression (YAG) *Content Objective- for students to understand what they will learn. Specific and TEKS aligned. *Language Objective- how students will demonstrate mastery of the objective through communication skills: language domains (listening, speaking, reading, writing). *Tier II, Tier III Vocabulary- to increase student achievement as it enhances comprehension *Lesson- coherent, tied to objective, with scaffolded activities designed to reach learning outcome, and with instructional strategies that will reinforce the objectives and prepare students for the assessments *Questions- to develop critical thinking skills, and to assess acquisition of knowledge and skills *Resources/materials- appropriate, meant to facilitate learning and meet objective, differentiated *Formal/informal assessments- to determine progress, course of action, and mastery of skills *Accommodations-a change in the way a teacher presents information, assesses students, and how students practice skills ~Consider: *Relevancy-interests, real-world application *Rigor-developing critical, creative, and problem solving skills *Best Practices-research based effective pedagogical practices *Learning Styles- how a student processes and learns new information and skills *Questions- Blooms, DOK, stem questions  Assessing To ensure mastery of knowledge and skills, students should be assessed consistently and in multiple ways through formative assessments. By conducting these formative assessments throughout the beginning, middle, and end of a lesson cycle and right before the summative assessment, the teacher will be able to gather reliable data on students' progress, provide immediate feedback, clear misconceptions, and adjust instruction. Formative assessments are the evidence of students' learning in progress. Formative assessments come in many forms, and I hope to provide a plethora of examples here, but the most important aspect of it should be that it is aligned to the objective and it measures the skill or knowledge being taught. Only then, will the grades reflect the learning and vice-versa. EXAMPLES of Formative assessmentsAs I listened to Dylan Wiliam, I was suddenly shocked when he said, "Every teacher fails on a daily basis." Immediately, my defense mechanism kicked in just as he continued, "Every teacher has difficulties. Every teacher fails on a daily basis. If you're not failing on a daily basis, you're just not paying attention." And he is right. We must pay attention in the form of reflecting because to reflect on your teaching is to grow from within. So, what does it mean to reflect and how do we reflect? Well, I will define reflect in the context of a mental activity as the action of seriously thinking, critically examining, and coming to a judgement of our previous actions (e.g. practices). He continues by saying, "Every one of us needs to accept the commitment to carry on improving our practice until we retire or die." Well, we strive to do just that. With every staff development we participate in, we embrace the idea that we are lifelong learners and that we must continually change, modify, and adapt if we aim to improve. Now, we may not agree with everything he says but regardless of his ideas, is the idea of reflecting to achieve improvement that I want to expand on.
Some areas we could reflect on are classroom management, differentiation, integration of technology, use of data, and rigorous instruction to mention a few. I believe we must be specific to a situation, a day, or maybe a week rather than asking ourselves how effective was our classroom management last school year.
When we are able to conduct those internal conversations, our level of awareness raises and we become more receptive to feedback. Now, it takes both courage and humility to reflect because you will have to recognize failure, but as challenging as it may be, we need to look back to be able to move forward for our teaching to match our level of commitment. So I invite you to think about your thinking and I end with a quote to reflect on. "By three methods we may learn wisdom: first, by reflection, which is noblest; second, by imitation, which is easiest; and third, by experience, which is the most bitter." -Confucius |
AuthorI am an educator with a Masters' Degree in English as a Second Language and over 22 years of experience in bilingual education, coaching, and professional development design and facilitation. 
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