Describe three ways you could promote cultural and linguistic diversity in your classroom.

This week’s session deals with diversity, but not just in the way we normally think of it in classrooms, but as it relates to science instruction which can be quite challenging for a variety of groups.

Have you read anything about girls and science? Jumpstarting Jill is an article written by Dr. Nancy Heilbronner, a former acting dean of the School of Education at Mercy. Nancy is a wonderful educator and my former doctoral advisor from Connecticut’s WCSU. Much of her early doctoral research focused on gender bias in science that she conducted at UCONN.

Gender issues are huge in science. But so are cultural differences. And then there are issues with students who have deficits in learning skills such as reading and writing. Religious and cultural issues are very real. Think of the battles between creationists and those who believe in evolution! Their battles are legendary and still rage on in the more conservative areas of the United States. Book burning?? It is still happening… look at Florida and the governor’s stance on the LGBTQ community…Equality in education is in turmoil.

Following the readings in both texts and the assigned articles, formulate responses to these queries keeping these current issues in mind:

1. Describe three ways you could promote cultural and linguistic diversity in your classroom..
2. How do relationships with families and the community assist the teacher in providing instruction sensitive to cultural and linguistic diversity?
3. Does the idea of building on core concepts over longer periods of time differ from the science practice you currently use in your classroom or school? How so? If you are not a teacher presently, choose a school you are familiar with. What do you see as the benefits and challenges of teaching this way?
4. How do you see gender bias affecting young girls and science learning and outline one concrete way you would address it in your classroom?
Be specific.

Check this out: There is an AI Lesson Planning site.. Go to this site below and sign up….
https://www.magicschool.ai/
This site is specifically designed for teachers and contains a 5(6)E lesson plan creator for science and math as well. I just set up an account, and used science and grades K-6th as my grade level, and it opens up into a larger screen with many possibilities…
Try and create an AI lesson plan using this site, and then discuss the strengths and weaknesses of your plan, and how we might use it in our classrooms. An extra 1/2 point if you create a plan for the rest of us to view!!

As AI is out there anyway, future teachers should learn how to use it in meaningful ways that enrich classroom instruction. But until we practice using it, we won’t know its value to us as educators.

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