Part 1 Digital Portfolio

Sarah Hefington
1. Identify and discuss one (or two) disposition(s) in which you believe you've
made the most personal growth this semester:
Two of the most important dispositions that I have had personal growth in this semester
is having an Affirming Attitude toward Difference and being Sociocultural Consciousness.
Being social-culturally conscious means that one Recognizes that there are multiple ways of
perceiving reality and that these ways are influenced by ones location in the social order
(Lucas and Villegas, 2002). Having an affirming attitude toward differences includes, Seeing
resources for learning in all students rather than viewing differences as problems to be
overcome (Lucas and Villegas, 2002).
2. What will culturally responsive teaching look like in my classroom? How
will I embody at least one of the principles from CRT (Academic
achievement, Cultural competence, Critical consciousness)?
I will use critical consciousness and cultural competence in my classroom to see myself
as both responsible for and capable of bringing about educational change that will make
schools more responsive to all students. I want to understand how learners construct
knowledge and be capable of promoting learners knowledge construction of what they
already know. I vow to be intentionally aware about the lives of my students and to the best
of my ability, construct my content around what is already familiar to them in relevance, to
be able to go into in depth knowledge about each subject.
3. How will I use professional competencies to drive the relationships that I
have with students, parents, and colleagues? (Please discuss all)
I will use professional competencies to drive the relationships I have with students by,
Understanding that peoples ways of thinking, behaving, and being are deeply influenced
by such factors as race/ ethnicity, social class, and language (Banks, 1996). I want to get
rid of as many sociocultural boundaries as I can without putting an unnecessary boundaries
due to my ignorance or unwillingness to see outer perspectives. By understanding the lives
of my students, I hope to use professional competencies to drive the relationships I have
with parents by understanding their lives. That means understanding the socioeconomic
culture I am going into, and knowing that there will be those that fall below and rise above
that line. I will be empathetic to single parent homes, or homes where there is disunity in the
family, etc. I will use professional competencies to drive the relationships I have with
colleagues by being a teacher as an agent of change.
4. Identify two examples within your content where you can create
learning opportunities consistent with Culturally Responsive Teaching.
One of my main goals as a teacher, the If you learn nothing else, remember this would
be to teach my students to be culturally aware/sensitive, educated in their beliefs, while
having high regard for others. For example, I want my students to be rooted in whichever
religion, political party, sexual orientation, etc, but I dont want their reasoning to be, Well
my parents are, so I am. I want to teach my students how to have solid reasoning for their
beliefs while maintaining a judgement-free, inclusive classroom.

My students will be able to collaborate with people that may not have the same beliefs
or ideas as they do with maturity and respect. I want to teach my students to make adult
decision and own those decisions. We will use our mistakes as opportunities to learn. Two
examples of teaching with culturally responsive teaching will be in our fish bowl activities
and debates. As we read and learn about different topics, we will alternate between fish
bowl discussions and debates. We will make the rules of how we should act and treat each
other as a class during both of these activities. I will facilitate this discussion as the students
choose how they should treat one another. References
Villegas, A. M., & Lucas, T. (2002, January/February). PREPARING CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE
TEACHERS: Rethinking the Curriculum. Journal of Teacher Education, 53(1). Retrieved
November 27, 2016.