Keep On Mixing

Keep On Mixing

Author: Teaching Tolerance Staff

Source: Teaching Tolerance

Published: November 3, 2016

Keep On Mixing Article

Key Points:

• Briefly discusses the National Mix it Up Lunch Day that previously happened on October 25. On this day, students are encouraged to sit with other students they do not usually sit with during lunch and learn something new about them or their history, ethnicity, race, or culture. The idea is to address pervasive social divisions and help others learn more about what varieties and types of people exist in our own communities.
• The goal of the article was for schools and teachers to continue mixing it up in the classroom all year. Students should constantly be mixing it up and learning about

We Should Teach "Banned" Topics...

• Title: Ban? No, Teach the Topics.
• Source: Teaching Tolerance Website and Blog/Hoyt J Phillips III/9-26-16
• URL: Here's the Link to the blog post.
• Key Points: Mr. Phillips noted two key themes from the list of 10 most challenged books of 2015- Gender/Sexuality themes, and Religious themes. He understands why they are challenged, but believes that it is critical to have students "engage" with texts like these because it can "serve as mirrors of their own experiences and as windows into those of others." In honor of Banned Books Week, he encourages educators to use a book that deals with controversial themes in their curriculum.
• Relevance: I believe that in the society we are living in now, it is more critical than ever for us as teachers to find ways to challenge our students to develop empathy and a perspective of "the other". Banned Books Week is a reminder that there will always be people who want to shelter our youth from the hard issues we face in the real world. However, if they are not taught about struggles and life experiences different than their own, are we really creating consious members of their communities committed to making it better than when they encountered it?

Embracing Differences

I'd like to share two articles I found that are both related to the idea of embracing cultural differences. They both have excellent ideas for integrating a variety of subjects and tools into a balanced lesson of identity and culture.

First Article:

Celebrating Skin Tone: The Science and Poetry of Skin Color
Rethinking Schools Vol. 29 No. 3
Spring 2015
By Katharin Johnson

Making Connections: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain

Making Connections: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain

Edutopia/Elena Aguilar/Feb. 25,2015



Making Connections: Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain



Key Points:



Being Culturally Responsive is simply a process that a teacher goes through learning the "cultural capital and tools" students of color bring to the classroom.  Teachers can mirror these tools in their classrooms thereby increasing learning. It is suggested that teachers use tools such as music, repetition, physical manipulation, etc to reach the students. The neuroscience comes to play in the recognition that there is a connection between stress and cognition.  Culture is also the software used to program our brains. Our parents cultural values and learning processes are transmitted to us and guide how the brain wires itself to process information.



Intended Audience: Teachers, Administration



Relevance: This is a highly relevant article since our classrooms are made up of many different cultures.  In the article it says that minorities are now the majorities in our schools and we need to be able to understand and use this in our teaching.