Rochelle Lee Teacher Award Study Groups are school-based professional learning communities. Study groups develop a goal to guide their learning throughout the school year, and meet monthly to discuss instruction and push their practice to reach their goal. Learn more about Sidney Sawyer Elementary School’s study group and what they learned about culturally and historically responsive teaching.
School: Sidney Sawyer Elementary School
Text: Culturally Responsive Teaching and The Brain: Promoting Authentic Engagement and Rigor Among Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students by Zaretta Hammond
Study Group Leader: Abbi Eichhorn
Study Group Members: Niamh Burke, Margaret Steber
Goal: Our focus this year was about culturally and historically responsive teaching. It was about getting equity for our students through our teaching practices.
Each study group member had the opportunity to reevaluate their approach to lesson planning and classroom management. We chose to engage in different applications depending on the teacher.
Each one of us had the opportunity to apply different aspects of newfound knowledge about equitable practices to our instructional styles. What that looked like in each classroom was varied, but each one of us was able to try a new concept with our students and push the limits of what we thought our students would be capable of achieving.
This book advises teachers to look beyond their own assumptions and see the genius of the students in front of them.
