Equity and Access Newsletter

The Change Process

As a teacher or adult in a child's life, you can have a tremendous impact on every stage of the change process. In Manny Scott's book "Even on Your Worst Day You Can Be A Student's Best Hope" he asks an obvious question: "If changing the beliefs of my students is so fundamental to their destinies then how do I change their beliefs?" Manny Scott recommended some steps that will help facilitate the process.

A working definition of belief: A belief is a feeling within us that something corresponds to reality-that something is true.

Change negative beliefs (about self, others, the world). Positive feelings about themselves can occur when we expose students to more positive ways of thinking and by helping them to see the potential that lies ahead of them.

Change Emotions (when students change their beliefs about themselves, it changes their emotional state and decision-making capacity which changes their destiny). On your worst day, you can act as an encourager for your students and speak hope into their lives.

Change Decisions (our student's positive emotional state can change the way they see themselves, and it can improve their decision-making process). When the decision-making process improves, new habits will develop. These new patterns can change their choices.

Change Actions (as we work towards making better choices our actions change. We develop a new way of looking at things). This new way of looking at things has a definite positive effect on our behavior.

Change Habits (as our habits and thoughts of ourselves change our life changes for the better). We become more confident and able to move forward toward our dreams. These positive changes in habits cause us to make progress toward a positive destiny. Change your thinking and change your life.

Which will Change your Destiny

Scott, Manney. Even on Your Worst Day You Can Be A Student's Best Hope. Alexandria, VA, ASCD, 2017.

Disability Awarness Month

Most of us know that Disability History & Awareness Month is in October. One way to make sure that we're promoting inclusive environments is to use appropriate language. It's important to remember that we do not let the disability define the person or their abilities; the person comes first. Here is a list to help you with some of the terminologies and a lesson plan to engage your students.

Appropriate Terms to Use

“Appropriate Terms to Use.” National Disability Authority, nda.ie/Publications/Attitudes/Appropriate-Terms-to-Use-about-Disability/. Accessed 27 Sept. 201

What is a Disability

Did You Know?

The Growth Mindset by Annie Brock

That our brain is a muscle that grows. The brain's ability to grow is called "plasticity." Every time you use your brain electrical signals are firing through a pathway called "axons." The more you learn, the more pathways you create between neurons. The more pathways you create, the more you are learning and remembering. The more you exercise your brain with brain-boosting activities the stronger it becomes.

Grades K-5

Brain-boosting Games

Brain-boosting Exercises

Brock, Annie, and Hundley, Heather. The Growth Mindset Coach A Teacher's Month-by-Month Handbook for Empowering Students to Achieve. Berkeley, CA, Ulysses Press,2016.

Celebrating Cultural Diferences throught Education

We are aware that all our students do not celebrate some holidays: in our efforts to be inclusive we want to make sure we are mindful of the activities we chose. As we teach about holidays from an academic and historical perspective, it gives us an opportunity to instill stronger values of community and tolerance in our children.

Sharing Halloween, Kwanza, Hannukah, Christmas, and all the other traditions that various cultures celebrate sends the message that all ethnicities matter. Not only is it beneficial to expose our students to a wide variety of cultural experiences it also allows them to see how closely related some cultures are from a global perspective.

What Do Halloween Costumes Say?

Activity by Teaching Tolerance

Grade Level K-2 3-5

Engaging-Relevant-Personal

Equality vs. Equity

"If equality means giving everyone the same resources, equity means giving each student access to the resources they need to learn and thrive." As educators and parents, we know that each child is different. Fair is not always equal. If we are committed to the success of every learner every day, we must acknowledge the fact that the uneven playing field is a reality. Many ELL students, special needs students, students experiencing trauma, or poverty, and students of color who confront unconscious biases about their potential are the ones that are being affected. Shane Safir in her article Equality vs. Equity, recommends six steps that will help ensure your students will receive the resources they need.

Six Ways to Walk Towards Equity

Accessed 21 Sept. 2017.Safir, Shane. “Equity vs. Equality: 6 Steps Toward Equity.”

Current Events

Many of our students will often hear about events of global importance, like the mass shooting in Las Vegas. Teachers are in a position to play a critical role in supporting students in determining facts and processing events by asking questions and taking action. The Newsela staff have developed a set of questions to help support your class by allowing them an opportunity to discuss some of their concerns.

Grades: 3-5

Set of Questions from Newsela

https://newsela.com/text-sets/246660?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWTJZMU1XRTRZVEUzTlRnNSIsInQiOiJXN3dSMmRDZHdHUCsrVFlQOHlRRHdjc3FFUHJlQjVxWHdwTTR