Ruth Lopez-Castro

Competency 4.D Reflection

The purpose of this competency is to ensure educators can effectively engage in

culturally responsive practices that empower students. The evidence I feel best demonstrates

my growth is a lesson plan from TCH_LRN 385 and a response to a cultural event I attended as

an assignment for TCH_LRN 339.

The Since Time Immemorial Lesson Plan from TCH_LRN 385 was a group assignment

created by 4 other peers and me. As part of this lesson, students would discuss local tribes,

rivers, and their significance on Native Americans. This lesson encouraged students to view

these aspects in another perspective. This lesson I created will empower students because it

will allow students to recognize differences and to embrace those differences. While creating

this lesson I knew that many students would not know the history behind rivers and the

purpose they bring to many individuals especially Native Americans. The goal was to show

students the importance behind something that they may have not thought mattered. This is an

important lesson for Native American culture.

To further develop this lesson, in the future I would include an activity that asks

students what would happen if we did not have these rivers? and how have Native Americans

and their tribes positively impacted our community? Additionally, as a warm – up students

would review a Washington map, how to identify a river, the parts, of a river, and a list of the

local Native tribes. Reviewing these components would be especially beneficial for ELLs.

In my reflection to the cultural event I attended, I discuss how I learned about the

importance of incorporating home languages and cultures and how I can incorporate them into
my future classroom. For example, I plan to include a monthly calendar for my students to view

and on this calendar, I plan to include holidays, celebrations, and birthdays that are celebrated

by various cultures. Specifically, I will include celebrations celebrated by the students in our

class. I will use this as a way for students to learn from each other and engage in inclusivity. I

will teach our students that some people celebrate different holidays. Integrating this into the

classroom will express to students that all are welcomed and appreciated. This will have a

positive impact on their school setting. Ensuring students feel welcomed and appreciated

shows that I understand the effect teaching can have on students academically and socially.

In my advanced practicum my mentor teacher explained a neat unit that all the first-

grade students take part in to engage in culturally responsive practices. This unit is done during

the month of December to learn about different celebrations throughout various countries.

There are four 1st grade teachers and they all rotate classrooms so all students in 1st grade can

learn about a different country. For example, my mentor teacher is from Puerto Rico, so she

teaches students the importance of singing and dancing around the holidays. To further engage

the students, they create a maraca. I think this is an amazing idea and I would like to do

something similar in my future classroom.

My experiences and courses at WSU have influenced how I plan to use a culturally

relevant pedagogy approach. Recently, I have been attempting to grow my personal teacher

library. While doing this I have made sure to obtain books within various levels, topics, cultures,

and languages. I plan to set these books up in my future classroom where they will always be

accessible to all my students. This will allow me to incorporate multiple culture relevant texts. I

also plan on reading at least two culture books to my class a month.