What instructional models or strategies, specifically from the reading and viewing, seem effective to you? Why?

By Nicki Williams Rucker

    According to Nicki Williams Rucker, author of Getting Started with Culturally Responsive Teaching, teachers need to do an internal audit in order to create a culturally responsive classroom. Teachers must understand how their implicit affects how they assess learning and create lesson plans. My school conducted several professional development sessions that explained how to analyze our implicit bias. We also took Harvard University's online test to help us examine our implicit bias. This really helped me examine my own bias so that I could work towards having a more culturally responsive classroom.    

By Jay McTighe

    Author McTighe provides quick formative assessments to improve student learning in his article. My favorite strategy for assessing students is called 'Picture It.' Visual representations, especially ones that students created themselves, are helpful for remembering key concepts and vocabulary. My multi-language students greatly benefit from concept maps and visual graphic organizers. These visual aids help them comprehend and remember content.