Culturally Responsive Teaching

http://elschools.org/best-practices/standards-movement-spirit-expeditionary-learning



I chose to read the blog titled "A Standards Movement in the Spirit of Expeditionary Learning". I felt that this blog posting supported several of the characteristics of culturally responsive teaching. During the student's fieldwork with the watershed they collaborated with local professional to help them build an understanding and connection to the local waters. This supports the "Encourage students to share their varied perspectives and experiences and create a supportive environment where this can occur."
By building these connections these expeditions have allowed teachers to develop a curriculum that helps to close the gap between classroom learning and the students community. This supports culturally responsive teaching by building bridges between the students home and school experiences.  During their field work another characteristic was supported by allowing the students to work in small collaborative groups.

I believe that these teachers are doing a very good job of educating students in a way that is very culturally responsive in many ways. There is a lot of emphasis on collaboration with both other students and professionals while bridging the gap between home life and the classroom experience.