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How to Craft a Culturally-Responsive Teaching Approach

As a student-centered instructional method, culturally-responsive teaching is focused on catering to the social, emotional, and educational needs of the student.  Among the first goals that teachers must achieve in order to successfully create a culturally responsive environment is convincing their students that they genuinely care about their cultural, emotional, and intellectual needs. Get their names right. It may sound simple enough, but a teacher who does not take the time to even know the names of his or her students, exactly as they should be pronounced, shows a basic lack of respect for those students. Teachers should learn the …

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Can Big Bird really close the achievement gap?

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.** A guest post by Sam Chaltain Don’t get me wrong: I love Big Bird as much as the next guy. But when people start talking about how Sesame Street is just as effective at closing the achievement gap as preschool, I start to worry that we’re becoming enamored with a seductively simple characterization of a …

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A diverse perspective: Breaking perceptions and stereotypes one day at a time.

**The Edvocate is pleased to publish guest posts as way to fuel important conversations surrounding P-20 education in America. The opinions contained within guest posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion of The Edvocate or Dr. Matthew Lynch.** A guest post by Justin Aaron Foster As one of only two black male educators in a school district of over 400 employees times can get very interesting, not to mention lonely. As an educator now for over fifteen years being the only minority employee in a district is something not exactly new to me. …

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