LA 2.1 (30 min) You need to bring chart paper and markers for students to post a visual that explains their student. Students studied a VideoEthnography student in last week’s homework. The students are Vanessa Gomez, Ascuncion Valdez, and Xuan Machado. They need to sit in groups of 4. They discuss their student and then create a visual with the materials based on their discussion about the student. Be sure that all the visuals for each student are posted in the same area. After these are posted, they look at other visuals on the same student they studied as well as visiting the other students. You should lead a discussion about what they discovered about the lives of these students.
LA 2.2: (20 min) Share Your Asset Map. This activity concerns the asset map. They were to add to their asset maps in homework and now will post the maps in an area marked for their school or groups of feeder schools. Please designate where each area is. They study the maps for their own school or feeder group, and then move to the others. They should look for items noted in some maps that they may have forgotten to put in their own maps. Then they return to their seats to add places in their own maps. In homework, they were to write an explanation to guide someone looking at their map to learn about the efficacy of the different locations found there. At the end of this session, they will turn in to you their asset map and its explanation.
LA 2.3: (20 min) Home Visits, Cultures, and Practices. Students will watch a video as per instructions in the learning activity. They take notes on the note sheet. Then they discuss in their groups chapter 6, La Visita, in Funds of Knowledge, that they read for homework. You should read it as well to hold a class discussion. Remind them to set the appointment for the first visit to the family, as well as having someone come with them, arrange for a translator if needed, and don’t let the student act as translator. They should turn in their viewing guide from the video seen tonight and also turn in their notes from reading La Visita.
LA 2.4: (20 min) Community Partners. Students watch another video and use the worksheet to take notes. Then you have a discussion about possible topics for their own partnership plans. Remind them that both the family profile and the partnership plan are both due to be presented in session 6.
LA 2.5: (30 min) National PTA Standards. Students now sit in their groups of a school and/or the feeder schools that feed it. They use the National PTA Standards and the questions from Homework 1.5 and share their learning from both. They determine which of the 6 PTA Standards their school is doing best at and your evidence for that opinion. Then determine the PTA Standard they think is a problem for their school. Then they brainstorm possible plans that would enable their school to improve in that area. End the discussion with creating a list on the board of ideas from all teams.
LA 2.6: (45 min) Title 1 Law. Students now sit in groups of four students. One pair in the group reads the first article and the other pair reads the second article. Each pair takes notes on important points and then teachers the other pair about what they learned. Then the group discusses how each of their schools are doing in relation to the two readings. You then hold a whole class discussion regarding what all groups have discovered. Then students fill out the questionnaire in the last link. This questionnaire is from USBE and asks for an evaluation—true or false—whether their school does each of the questions or not. The hope is that they will discuss the results with other teachers and colleagues at their school to build awareness.
Explanation of Homework
HW 2.1: Reflection on Actions Taken and Learning. The weekly reflection.
HW 2.2: Identifying White Privilege. This one is called Identifying White Privilege. Students read Unpacking the Invisible Backpack/ We know this was written in 1989 and is old, but it’s still a very good way to realize the thinking of dominant people who don’t recognize that they are dominant in society. The article is printed directly below the instructions, so there is no link. As each person finishes the article, they write about some advantages they have over others. Next session, as a class, lead a discussion about who has privilege in America. Then students create a list of at least 10 privileges they have over other people. Have them reread the last part of the article beginning with “I see a pattern” and have a discussion with the class about the things they author mentions in that last part. Highlight some of their thinking on the board.
HW 2.3: Beginning the Family Profile. Students review the family profile. They make a list of questions, and are reminded to arrange for someone to go with them, and a translator if one is needed. They should also accept questions from the family and share the asset map they created with the family—asking the family to add other assets they may know about but are not yet on the map. Doing this would be a good icebreaker for the first visit. They are reminded to make an appointment with the family for a time and place to have the second visit the next week. Encourage them to complete this first visit this week, as the profile is due in session 6 along with the partnership plan.
HW 2.4: Go on a School Fieldtrip. Students are asked to take a field trip in their own school. Areas to visit are listed in the instructions, and they shouldn’t tell anyone they are doing this. I have found this to be a very eye-opening experience—noticing how parents are greeted, noticing how students select who to sit by at lunch, and who they play with or don’t play with at recess. Also noticing how some teachers interact with ELs and their parents could be eye-opening. They need to write their observations down and bring the notes with them next week to class.
HW 2.5: Research Facts about Your School. This last homework asks students to go to the USBE site and find the most recent demographic facts about their school. They also need to find the latest state testing data for their school—they may already have this if schools discussed it at the beginning of the year. Then they read three OCR and Title ! Law readings to learn about what gets the OCR to identify districts and schools who don’t provide correct service to their students. They notate their data from different sources on the analyzing compliance sheet linked at the end. They need to bring the data sheet and the notes they have taken to class next week. They will need it in activities next week. Let them know that this information may help them to determine what their partnership plan should be.