Category: CRT

I was surprised by what I saw when we visited the kids in camp last Thursday. Typically, I associate summer camp with boredom and reluctant participation, but all of the students I spoke with seemed  enthusiastic about the time they’ve spent there and smiled at every mention of an activity they had participated in. One girl told me that back home in Yakutat she hears a lot about her culture from her parents and grandparents, but rarely ever feels that she participates in it. She had never seen a deer or a seal gutted before, for instance, and she was excited to have shared that experience with the kids in camp.

Culturally responsive teaching plays off of the background knowledge that students bring with them to the classroom. It shares information in ways that can be understood by students of different cultures, rather than forcing them to learn information through a certain cultural filter. A lesson that stood out to me was the “math trail,” which struck me as a brilliant way to teach math in a way that can be approached by students from any background. Rather than prescribing a specific way to solve a problem, it allowed students to solve problems in whichever way they found most practical or logical (this would have been a huge help to me in high school). Not every student can speak the language of math that’s spoken in a textbook. Allowing students to use their own intuitive math skills in a problem-solving setting seems to me a beautiful example of culturally responsive teaching.

My focus being social studies, I have been thinking about ways to be culturally responsive with my future lesson plans. I think that it is almost always possible to introduce a historical, geographical, or international lesson through a local, relatable example or analogy. I’m not sure exactly what I mean by that, to be honest. But, for instance, I’m trying to make my iBook lesson as culturally responsive as possible by introducing global ideas through an Alaskan lens. I don’t know. I’ll keep working on this.

update:

Ernestine Hayes’ talk was important for us to hear. Several things she said have stuck with me and will be among my main takeaways from this course. She stressed the fact that we as teachers have to be incredibly careful when we choose our words: “everything you say will either combat colonialism or perpetuate it.” So many schools in our state have a history of harmful instruction, and we have to make sure to be on the right side of history. We cannot see ourselves as ‘saviors.’ “You aren’t going to save these kids,” she said, “you’re going to believe in them. They’ll save themselves.” This was powerful to hear, and I am so thankful that she took the time to speak to us.

I like the name The Goldbelt Heritage Institute Culture Camp. I am assuming that was at the “Methodist Camp”? The students I spoke with were so willing to share what they learned. I really feel as if they enjoyed their time there. I enjoyed just the small amount of time I spent there. They caught a seal, deer, porcupine, fish and learned how to process them, so important yet something most will never see. I also learned how to can salmon in a pressure cooker. Finally someone explained it to me; leave it to a kid! Dancing at camp was a highlight. Stay low to stay strong and look each other in the eye. I liked David’s interior Tlingit song about women placing fish on the rack while dancing. I somehow need to incorporate that into my culture…

The math hunt was fun. I think I will incorporate that in my lesson plans. Students need to be outside more often. Also, using native art to express math concepts was beautiful. My favorite lesson, however, was the sphagnum moss experiment. When I get old and lose bladder control I got my go to… Biology today is so textbook as are all the hard sciences. What can our local plants be used for? What can the local fauna be used for? What is in our environment that is useful. That is culturally significant to all cultures in a given area.

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2nd Part:

I thought Scott’s community project in Nikiski was genius! What a great project to help to build the community in Nikiski. I have never been to Nikiski but have heard from people from neighboring towns that the community there, or lack there of, has problems. Which, makes this project doubly important.

A community, tribe or a clan is of the upmost importance for any human to have and, ironically, is what lacks most in our western culture. Through this project, more specifically through the community’s children, he created a seed to help this community grow. Having stories passed down from their parents and elders to the children, knowing the biology and geology of the area and writing poetry about their home are all great ways to lift up a community and bring it together. …And it was all done through a school. What potential a school has!

Thanks to Alberta for helping to give us some understanding on how to invite elders into the room. It was very insightful and will be helpful for my future classes. I outlined a review of some of this in my lesson plan.

Ernestine was my favorite of the guest speakers. As an aspiring writer, to me her words were golden. I lived in San Francisco and know the homeless shelters she spoke of. I knew automatically how rough of a time she must of had in some of the city’s shelters. It is amazing to see her beaming with so much light.

The story she told about how she came back to Alaska to enter the writing program at the university and she thought admissions didn’t want her to enter which turned out not to be the case. She attributed it to be the part of her hurtful past. How many times I thought some people meant something derogatory when they didn’t really! I am sure we all thought that at some point. Never assume… Her words were specific, to the point and truthful even about stuff that hurts. Especially the story of her on the dock as a little girl. The first step to healing is to talk about it; hearing someone else open up with the truth helps others have courage to do the same.

A culturally responsive teacher takes the time to really get to know her students, creates a sense of belonging in the classroom, engages students by building on what they already know, and cherishes and celebrates students’ cultural strengths. When I asked the students at camp which area of the camp they would like to see incorporated at school they said they would like to learn more about nature. One student said she thought talking about hunting at school would be awesome because that is something she only really talks about at home. By recognizing our students’ cultural strengths and building on them in the classroom, the material we are presenting is made relevant and interesting. The material becomes more than just something they have to memorize, it becomes something worth doing and worth working toward.

I think taking a literature class to an elementary school to have them read to the younger students would be an opportunity for improvements in self esteem, appreciation of literature, and community engagement. I think taking students to the senior home to have them share some of their written work with their elders could also be a rewarding experience for them too.

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Scott’s presentation was an exceptional example of a place based lesson plan that allows for collaborative work among staff, students, and community. I especially liked that the students were working up to publishing their work, which gave them an added incentive to prepare their best work.

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I really appreciated Alberta coming in to offer her guidance on inviting elders and culture bearers into our classrooms. I would like to invite elders into the classroom as much as possible; hence, learning some etiquette for asking elders to share their knowledge was extremely helpful for me. Since I’m guessing our classes will not be able to go outside very much during the school year in Barrow to do activities, inviting elders and culture bearers into the classroom will allow for students to build upon their cultural strengths and build our community as well.

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I found Ernestine’s visit to be extremely influential. Some of the words she spoke that resonated with me are:

“We spend so much time with these children, but we don’t realize how deep their tapestries are woven.”

“You have to take a stand against colonialism and institutionalism and make a change. You are either fighting it or perpetuating it.”

“You are not going to save them. You are going to believe in them and they are going to save themselves.”

“For the seal we had to hang it over here…. And cut it open and take everything out until it was completely open. Then we turned the stomach inside out….” Explains a 14 year old participant at a Juneau-based culture camp. For two weeks of their summer,  these high school aged students will spend their time in a intensive cultural camp. Not only will they earn high school credit but they will also gain essential skills and powerful lessons from Tlingit educators, advisers and elders.

“It is important,” explains another participant, “because I want to do more of this stuff later in life. Like cutting fish and sewing. I’m afraid I am going to forget how. Like when we speak Tlingit…every morning we speak Tlingit and usually I forget but I understand a little bit more everyday.”

Then the girls walk me over to the smoke house and explain how they cut strips of fish and lay it across long sticks with strings above the smoke. We talk about their favourite parts of the camp. Everyone agrees that the food is one of the best parts. But cooking at camp is also a lot of work; the participants are responsible for preparing meals for the entire camp.

They also learned to make jam, to can fish and to preserve seal oil.

As we wander back from the smoke house the participants begin telling me about their future plans. They all agree that they want to come back to camp next year, and in the future, as counsellors. One participant exclaims she would like to go to vet school. Another discusses being an English teacher, or a photographer, or a journalist.

The program director, Lyle calls the group over in Tlingit. Loud and proud he announces: ” What we are going to do is, we are going to do a song and dance!”

Everyone cries out with joy, “Yesssssssssssssss!”

As a music teacher, I am also bursting with joy. Imagine if my class have this response to every musical activity I present! In fact that is what culturally responsive teaching does. Last year when I began incorporating Tlingit songs and traditional instruments into my classroom, with the help of the cultural specialist, my class came to life. I started using Tlingit songs as warm ups and the engagement and confidence that I saw in my students was wonderful.

I am yet again blown away by the power of music to unite and empower. All of the MAT students join in dancing while the camp participants, leaders and elders sing and dance with great pride and energy. I am overwhelmed by the confidence; their singing and dancing clearing comes from the bottom of their hearts. I cannot wipe the giant smile off my face. It is such a pleasure to see young people so uplifted. The songs and dances at the cultural camp quickly become the highlight of my week.

Growing up Tlingit in Ketchikan and Saxman, Alaska, I related to what the Elders were saying the other day about the importance of food as a means of acknowledging others. Food enhances the spirit as well as nourishes the body. Whether it be gumboots, abalone, black cod, berries, or seaweed, the gathering, preparing, and presenting of food is a meaningful experience, because, within the context of a potlatch, it is where traditions and wisdom are transmitted to the younger generation. Everyone is attentive during and following meals as Elders speak. Moreover, we must be thoughtful to respect the animal and plant life that nourishes Alaska Native culture, in which every being and living object of the sea and forest is acknowledge as possessing a spirit. We honor the intelligence of those who proclaimed the trees as “the lungs of the earth” from time immemorial. We are conscientious of our words, recognizing that they have the power to affect Nature. I loved the story told of the hunter who told the bear, “Go the other way. We are hunting for our food, too.”

We must choose wisely how and where we harvest our resources, being thankful, saying prayers of thanks to our Creator, for the abundance we receive. Everything requires respect, otherwise there are consequences. These are valuable lessons that we all must learn, not just school age children. As one elder put it, there is always room for learning. Traditionally, clans honored each other by the offering of food, and we can similarly honor each other by sharing out of our abundance.