Confessions of a PYP Teacher Lu Gerlach

Welcome to our new series about specialist and supporting teachers. I have been thinking a lot about this series over the past couple months, especially during a visit to Le Jardin Academy in Kailua, Oahu, Hawaii. I had a candid chat with the specialist team and it made me think that other specialist and supporting teachers might appreciate the same guidance. This episode, we will review some of the common misconceptions about the role of the specialist and supporting teachers wit...

This is the final week of our exploration of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. We will explore how to build more intellective capacity with Zaretta Hammond. At my age, I feel like this capacity is waning, so I hope to pick up some tips!The chapter begins with a quote by Benjamin R. Barber, a political theorist. He states, “I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures, those who make it or those who don’t. I divide the w...

I can’t believe that we are almost done with Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain by Zaretta Hammond. This book has reaffirmed that some things I am doing are reflective of cultural responsiveness and that there are many ways that I can still grow. As we talked about in the last episode, it’s all about having a balanced academic mindset. We know that tasks may be challenging, but with time and practice, we still attempt them with a belief that we can do it. This is a...

Welcome back my friends to another episode of Confessions of a PYP Teacher. This episode speaks directly to my heart and I hope it will resonate with you too. Zaretta Hammond focuses on building deep alliances with our learners in chapter 6 of Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain. We will uncover some parts, but it’s not possible to unpack all of the ideas. Have fun reading and finding your own nuggets of wisdom. The chapter begins with a quote by Rita Pi...

Something I’ve been thinking about has been learner relationships and why they are not the primary focus in many elementary classrooms. Usually within the first month of school, teachers are building systems and routines of how the classroom will operate, but do they really take the time to get to know their learners personally? Zaretta Hammond points out, “Too often though, we ignore the quality of our interactions with students and instead focus primarily on the curriculum.”&nbs...

In the past episode, we discussed our own role as a culturally responsive teacher and how it shapes our frame of reference when teaching a classroom full of learners from a wide variety of cultural backgrounds, let alone language acquisition, disabilities, and gender identity needs. This was compared to our understanding of surface, shallow, and deep cultural beliefs and ways we may trigger amygdala hijack without knowing it. I don’t know about you, but my brain exploded. This is ...