Kirsten 1:06
This is the social studies teacher podcast a show for busy elementary teachers looking for fun and engaging ways to easily add social studies into their classroom schedule without feeling overwhelmed or pressed for time. I'm curious to know if you southern teach an educator and mom who is passionate about all things social studies, I love sharing ideas and strategies that are low prep and easy to implement. So let's dive in together.
The holidays are around the corner. Magic is filling the air and all things Christmas and Hanukkah have been everywhere pretty much since the end of Halloween. Here in Texas, Christmas trees and decorations are pretty much stocked in Target since before Halloween even comes by so like since October, I've been seeing Christmas decorations. But there are some other holidays that take center stage, we have Hanukkah and Kwanzaa that are also celebrated by people across the United States and around the world. So that is why I totally believe it is our job as teachers to make sure we're culturally responsive, so that all of our students can enjoy this time of year and feel a sense of belonging. So the question may be for you. Well, how do I do that? First, today, I'm going to talk about what culturally responsive teaching is. And then also talk about why it's important to be culturally responsive. And then I'm going to share with you a few ways you can be culturally responsive during this winter season. I highly recommend that you take a listen to this episode and really soak in the information as far as you know, making sure we are including everybody who chooses to celebrate holidays. And even those who do not choose to celebrate holidays or for whatever reason are not able to art do not want to.
So first talking about what culturally responsive teaching is. This is recognizing the diversity of your students tapping into their cultural knowledge for content learning, celebrating them by making sure they know that you value their cultural identities as well. This is a really great way to support equitable learning. It's important to be culturally responsive. I think it's our responsibility as educators it's like a no brainer. Just like differentiation is so important. culturally responsive teaching is important. We need to be doing it in order to create As a sense of belonging in our classrooms, even if it's just one student who might not celebrate versus the rest of your students, you still need to make sure you are being culturally responsive to every single student. Our students spend so much of their waking hours within the walls of our schools. And they learn best when they feel like they belong. I know an excellent article that I met will make sure to link in the show notes that talks about creating people safety. And I think this is really relevant to us as teachers. But the link, I'll make sure to share in the show notes, it's from kidpower.org. And the title of this is called cultural awareness and sensitivity in teaching people safety skills. So this is a really great article to look for if you're looking for more additional resources.
Alright, so let's talk about a few ways on how you can be culturally responsive during this time of year.
The first way would be to show interest and the background of all your students. Seems like it's pretty straightforward. But once we show interest, what do we do next? As teachers, we need to be aware of our own biases and assumptions. Thinking about how not everyone celebrates Christmas the same way. And not everyone even celebrates Christmas. As a child growing up, I was a student who did celebrate Christmas. But we did not celebrate Santa or we didn't do we didn't do anything related to Santa. If we did anything related to Santa. It was because we were at my grandparents house, but my parents did not. They pretty much told us straightforward about Santa. And so you know, even though we did celebrate Christmas, we did not do all of the traditions and there are many students out there who are the same way. This is where cultural responsiveness comes in. Make sure your curriculum your books, projects, holiday activities, are diverse and relevant to who your students are. We're surrounded by Christmas in December in the streets and malls, restaurants, our classrooms can celebrate Christmas, but we also need to be celebrating other holidays at the same time. Another example I have is a school that I worked with, had a large population of students who were Jewish. Instead of doing just a simple Christmas around the world activity, we made sure to incorporate all of the winter holidays, Diwali, Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. There was a specific year where our third grade team with the help of parent volunteers put together an afternoon in the cafeteria where students went through rotations related to Hanukkah. So we had Hanukkah books that we'd students read, we played Dreidel, we also even made lockers in the cafeteria, which was super delicious and really fun. I have a WebQuest as part of my curriculum during the winter season, and it is always a hit with my kids. As far as you know. Just there's one for Diwali. There's one for Hanukkah, there's one for Christmas. So definitely check out my web quest bundle the holiday bundle, and particularly because it has a diverse variety of holidays that of diverse group of students might be celebrating.
A second tip I have for you as far as how to be culturally responsive would be to explore themes common in all cultures. Every celebration brings together family and friends. There might be specific cultural meals, there might be specific traditions or rituals. This is a really great way to find commonality common ground between all of the different cultures out there.
And the third tip I have for you is to ask for support. Don't be afraid to ask from your own students, parents or other teachers. There are so many cultures and traditions in the world, even just in the month of December that no one can be expected to be experts on. Like I don't expect anybody to be experts on all of the holidays that are out there. So anticipate a culturally rich month of December and ask for help. One year I had a student whose family didn't celebrate any birthdays or any holidays. The mother graciously talked to us in advance and she gave us helpful advice on how to navigate the school year. And we were able to provide alternative activities or she had permission to work in another classroom during the different parties throughout the year. Our families and larger community are the experts. If we listen to them and tap into their knowledge, the winter season can be a warm and heartfelt time.
I'm going to share with you though Three ways you can be culturally responsive again, make sure you number one show interest in the background of all your learners. Number two, explore themes in all cultures that are common. And number three, ask for support. Do not be afraid to ask for support from parents, teachers and even your students.
I'll make sure to link that holiday WebQuest bundle if you're looking for ideas on you know kind of diversifying what you can utilize and implement in your classroom if you are looking for a specific holiday. There's all kinds of things that are in that bundle. There's Diwali Memorial Day Rosh Hashana Valentine's Day, Ramadan, this is a really great way for students to learn more about other cultures. So definitely check out that holiday WebQuest bundle in my TPT store, and in my membership.
All right, well, that's it for today. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week. Thanks for listening to the social studies teacher podcast. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, hit that subscribe button and leave a review. I would love to hear your thoughts. You can also find me on Instagram at the southern teach. I can't wait for you to join me in the next episode for more teacher tips and strategies.
