It is likely that classrooms in which you teach will be academically diverse. You probably
can’t escape academic diversity in your teaching career. What you can control
is your response to it. Even as you begin your career as a teacher, what you believe
about your work as a professional will begin to shape how you practice that profession.
YOUR TURN Examining Classroom Connections
in Responsive Teaching
1. Draw a flowchart or some other graphic representation
that shows the interrelationship among
who we teach, where we teach, what we teach,
and how we teach in the thinking and practice of
Mrs. Rex. Annotate your graphic to make sure the
connections you make are clear to colleagues who
look at your work.
2. Draw a similar flowchart that reflects the thinking
and practice of a teacher in a one-size-fits-all classroom.
Annotate this graphic with your thoughts,
too. Beneath the graphic, write a statement of comparison
and contrast for the two representations.
3. Develop a list of three or four of the most important
beliefs you now hold about whom you will
teach, where you will teach, what you will teach,
and how you will teach. Beside each of the beliefs,
write how you think that belief will shape your
teaching.
4. It’s easy to think of grading as a process that
is highly prescribed—that exists apart from a
teacher’s beliefs about teaching. In fact, it is
often the case that because we see grading as
fixed, grading shapes our beliefs about teaching
rather than our beliefs about teaching shaping the
way we grade. What impact would you suppose
Mrs. Rex’s beliefs have on her grading? How
would you grade to reflect the beliefs you listed in
item 3?