Equity and Access Newsletter
Elementary Edition- January 2017
Happy New Year!
Our Children all Need Great Teachers Like You
You once had a choice
And you chose to teach
And every day
It's our children you reach
You make the difference
In the life of each child
Those that are quiet
And those that are wild
It's the way that you teach
You do it so well
They look up to you
And think you are swell
You teach from your heart
That's plain to see
They think you're divine
And we all agree
Please never forget
And remember it's true
Our children all need
Great teachers like you
We appreciate you
And we value your time
And if you should forget
Please re-read this rhyme
- Felicity Luckey
Welcome back and thank you for all that you do for our students!
Did You Know....
Chinese New Year's Day falls between January 21st and February 20th. In 2017, the first day of the Chinese New Year is on Saturday, 28 January. It is the most important traditional festival in China and a time for families to gather together in celebration, much like Christmas in the United States.
Celebrations include the color red, a symbol of energy, happiness, and good luck in the Chinese culture. It is common to send gifts wrapped in red packets to send good wishes and good luck. In China, the red packet is called yasui qian (压岁钱 /yaa-sway chyen/), which means 'suppressing ghosts money.' Those who receive a red packet are wished a safe and peaceful year.
Traditionally, the Chinese New Year includes a parade with two people dressed in a huge lion or dragon costume. Your students might enjoy making a dragon to celebrate the new year.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1EDbID7OhpEH56B-NbfzMUm1rz20zBFgNX1cFkyXMfDE/edit
A Moment In History...
Let's Do More
How could you help your students think about making Springfield a better place to live?
Book Of The Month
My Brother Martin: A Sister Remembers Growing Up with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by Christine King Farris
Long before he became a world-famous dreamer, Martin Luther King Jr. was a little boy who played jokes and practiced the piano and made friends without considering race. But growing up in the segregated south of the 1930s taught young Martin a bitter lesson -- little white children and little black children were not to play with one another. Martin decided then and there that something had to be done. And so he began the journey that would change the course of American history.
Students may enjoy listening to My Brother Martin on You Tube.
https://www.learningtogive.org/sites/default/files/TeachOne%20for%20MLK%20Day.pdf
Service project on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Engaging-Relevant-Personal
The movie Hidden Figures tells the incredible untold story of Katherine Johnson, Dorothy Vaughan, and Mary Jackson. These brilliant African-American women worked at NASA and served as the brains behind one of the greatest operations in history. The three of them were instrumental in the launching of astronaut John Glenn into orbit, a stunning achievement that restored the nation’s confidence, turned around the Space Race and galvanized the world. The visionary trio crossed all gender and race lines to inspire generations to dream big.
The movie provides an opportunity to highlight the accomplishments of diverse Americans.
Who else do your students need to be inspired by to #seeit2beit
Defiance Non-Compliance and Insubordination
Noncompliant behavior is not a new phenomenon it has been a long-standing concern in our schools. Educators have suggested that noncompliant behavior can result in damaging life outcomes and detrimental effects on academic achievement.
Students who are confrontational seem to get to the root of our fears as teachers. They make us second guess our abilities and provoke feelings of insignificance. It is important for us to rise above our personal feelings and develop appropriate ways to respond to these students.
We should model positive methods that will help them learn to negotiate the path to success. Some of the techniques that we can use are:
- Give the student positive teacher recognition (negative recognition is better than NO recognition).
- When you must intervene with a misbehaving student, convey the message to the student that you will not tolerate the problem behavior—but that you continue to value and accept the student
- Remember that the ultimate goal of any disciplinary measure is to teach the student more positive ways of behaving. Punishment generally does not improve student behaviors over the long term and can have significant and lasting negative effects on school performance and motivation.
- If a teacher is faced with a confrontational student and does not know what triggered that student’s defiant response, the instructor can ask neutral, open-ended questions to collect more information before responding.
- Have the Student Participate in Creating a Behavior Plan
“I, Too, Am America”
The new year provides another opportunity to remind your students that they belong—in your classroom, in your school, and in this country. Teaching Tolerance's latest One World" poster, featuring a quote from Langston Hughes’ classic poem “I, Too,” is here to help: Download it, print it, hang it up and read the full poem with your students.
"One World Poster." One World Poster | Teaching Tolerance - Diversity, Equity and Justice. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Dec. 2016. <http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/tt54-fall-2016/department/one-world-poster>.