Envisioning Practice Theories

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Envisioning Pracitce Theories

This presentation is to show a variety of practices and the importance of involving students and parents to create a healthy, engageful, and respectful environment where students can flourish and learn not only the content but also about their peers.

What Will I be doing?

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Theory 03

Theory 2

Theory 01

Practice 03

Practice 02

Practice 01

Table of Contents

Monthly Newsletters are a way to connect with legal guardians by showing them what students are learning and seeing pictures of them interacting with peers/materials and engaging with their peers, teacher, and assignments. I want to be realistic when I do them, I know I am a teacher with already multiple responsibilities so I can't do them weekly but I feel like monthly is achievable. I can create an easy, reusable template with a few differences and have a list of kids' names to ensure every student is in at least one picture. I will have them accessible in Spanish and English, through email and print in case some families don't have access to a computer at home.

Practice 01: Monthly News Letters

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Examples:

What to include:

• Teacher Name
• A positive note
• What we did
• Reminders
• Upcoming Events
• Contact information
• Pictures every now and then

At the start of the year it is important to have a set of rules and expectations everyone follows. I would love to have my students develop that with me so they can understand what should be expected in the classroom (with peers and materials) and that way they can feel included and more responsible for following the rules. There are rules that should automatically be on there but if you can guide students towards that answer they can feel as if they created the chart on their own and not only are they setting their goals but you also are getting a view on their priorities. Afterwards I would hang it on the wall so we can be reminded of it everyday.

Practice 02: Creating rules together

Examples:

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• be respectful to materials and peers
• Communicate when there’s a problem
• Raise hand to talk or ask questions
• 5 minute brain breaks every Friday

Example rules:

Students are allowed to give feedback and express their feelings while in the classroom, that's why I believe check-ins are an important practice to have in the school. A check-in allows teachers to see how their students feel or do in class. I would love to do a monthly check with each of my students for about 5 minutes. I believe doing check-ins allows the learner to be comfortable, understand their importance in the classroom, and want to engage more. If I have already met with a student but they would like to meet again I would create a little slip "check in" that could either allow me to meet with them sooner or meet with them a second time and discuss any concerns or questions they may have.

Practice 03: Check-ins

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What the check-ins can look like

• How are you doing?
• Is there anything you would want more help with in class?
• Here are some things I noticed
• Is there anything you want to talk to me about?
• is there anything you think I can do to make our class better?

The box gets checked every Tuesday, Thursday and the I will make sure there is a little poster above the box saying the days it get's checked.

Monthly newsletters create that relationship from classroom to home. They are a great way for guardians to better understand their children's learning and feel comfortable speaking with the teacher about any concerns or comments they may have.

Theory 01

“Fighting deficit views of students means actively choosing to see their inherent strengths, capacity, and potential. It also means understanding the sociopolitical and historical context that creates barriers and challenges for our students.” (Page 89)“Equity-Centered Trauma-Informed Education,” Ch. 6-7

Monthly newsletters demonstrate the strengths and reassure that guardians can trust the teachers with their children. Having parents know what their student is doing can allow them to help their child flourish and see what they may need to imporve on . Seeing what they can do and what is still challenging can allow communication to be open where they can respectfully and securely talk about how to help the student (teacher,guardian, & student all involved in the plan making process.

Creating that guardian-teacher relationship can strengthen a teacher's mind to be more open and accepting of different cultures. Teachers should communicate with families and ask questions about their home life this is a great way to create that close relationship and where you will be able to have that comfort of sending notes home to a parent and even making calls home for more so positive things.

“ Eurocentric middle-class values displace or ignore the home values of students who may come from a different culture. That is, we find ourselves in a troubling situation in which a normalized Euro-American model of caring may usurp the model of motherly caring in the child’s home” These kids are out of control (Chapter 1)

The newsletters are a great way to begin developing a safe and healthy relationship between the student's guardians and find more interest in the monthly newsletters as a bridge between more common communication

By creating rules as a class we can eliminate the issue of student-teacher power dynamic. This practice creates a sense of equality in the classroom and can allow students to work together to create those rules allowing them to understand how to create a safe and healthy environment together.

Theory 02

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"Each student-teacher relationship is a unique pedagogical space; it is a one-on-one teaching situation, a partnership of sorts, that can lead to learning exchanges that enliven both individuals" Relational Pedagogy by Mary Jo Hinsdale

This quote supports my practice of allowing students to create rules together with the teacher. The idea that the classroom has a partnership with each other and creates a comforting and healthy relationship

This would be good to include in my classroom because when students create the rules, they feel like they have a voice and will better understand what is expected from me, their peers, and themselves. Creating rules can build a stronger relationship and there will be fewer complaints about rules since they did make them. Giving them the responsibility of coming up with rules also gives the students the teacher's perspective and allows them to develop responsibility

Theory 03

The check-ins allow teachers and students to be on the same page and gain a better relationship and understanding. This practice can allow students to use their voices and be able to not fear the teacher-student power dynamic. The check-ins can foster positive and healthy relationships to create a safe classroom environment where students feel comfortable sharing their emotions/needs/wants with their teacher.

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“In addition to effective instruction, classroom management is also about creating caring learning environments. Caring learning environments are spaces where all students feel fully seen, heard, respected, and cared for. To build caring learning environments, educators must develop a classroom culture that is both nurturing and rigorous” (page 97)These Kid's are out of control (Chapter 4)

The quote illustrates the importance of fostering a great environment and students can create that important setting students need to grow and feel safe by coming up with their own rules.

Check-ins can build strong relationships within the classroom and with the teacher. Through check-ins they do feel "respected and cared for"

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“In other words, engagement in critical reflective practices allows both students and teachers to think about themselves, their own beliefs, and their actions as all in the classroom work to improve the social context” (Page 61) These Kid's are out of control (Chapter 3)

When doing the check-ins they can reflect on how the teacher is doing as well as how the student is doing in class to be able to build an improvement and growth both ways

The quote can discuss the importance of reflection on their own character and with check-ins they can better enhace their relationship and feel more comfortable sharing critical feedback (teacher to student and vice versa)

Hinsdale, M. J., & Ljungblad, A.-L. (2023). Relational pedagogy. Milner, H. R., Cunningham, H. B., Delale-O’Connor, L., & Kestenberg, E. G. (2019). “These kids are out of control”: Why we must reimagine “Classroom management” for equity. Corwin, a SAGE Company. Venet, A. S. (2024). Equity-centered trauma-informed education. Routledge, an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group.

References