This Resource Page will provide more information than anyone can absorb
in the short time we are together. Remember the
lessons of reading hypertext we discussed in Module 1.
Consider bookmarking sites that are particularly appealing to you.
All resources for this course remain open to you from now on. You can
return whenever you want to review these materials.
Unlocking
Cultural Puzzles: Cultural Scenarios
Judie Haynes, author of EverythingESL.net, provides very practical
articles and lesson plans. Please download the Cultrual Scenarios
.pdf file. This is a fascinating series of classroom 'cultural misunderstandings'
culled from the experiences of Judie Haynes and her ESL colleagues.
Read the scenarios and take the Culture Quiz. By understanding culturally
based behavior we can help our colleagues and ourselves connect with
our students
Communication
Patterns
This site provides thoughtful ideas and research about how different
ethnic groups deal with the following categories: animation/emotion,
directness/ indirectness, eye contact, gestures and identity orientation,
turn taking and pause time, space, time, touch, vocal patterns, thought
patterns, and rhetorical style.
Cultural
Learning Styles
This is an overview provided by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching
and Teacher Education. The author offers summaries of current research
and raises questions about the validity and reliability of current
Learning inventories. This article provides a solid foundation for
considering the importance of a 'Cultural Learning Style'.
The VARK Questionnaire
Understanding your own learning styles and those of your students
will help you construct your lesson designs. Test yourself and determine
something about your own learning style. Be sure to note the follow
up materials on how to adapt your study patterns to various teaching
styles.
Teaching Styles
Inventory
Have you thought about how your learning style influences your teaching
style? This site will help you see yourself more objectively. Take
the inventory!
SmarterKids
learning Styles Survey
This useful tool gives parents and teachers some insight into the
learning style of children ages 18 months and up. Also valuable is
the SmarterKids
overview of learning styles.
Cooperative Learning:
Response to Diversity
Cooperative learning is a way for teachers to give students an alternative
to competition as students take on the responsibility for their own
learning as well as helping peers. Follow the link below for more
information.
Summary
of Normative Communication Styles and Values
Don't let the dry title put you off. This article offers a number
of at - glance - charts that will help you understand communication
styles with all of your students.
Cross-Cultural
Communication: An Essential Dimension of Effective Education
This extensive resource, "...discusses cultural differences that
can lead to communication problems in the classroom and suggests behaviors
that affirm rather than devalue a minority student's culture. Since
our educational institutions tend to reflect the norms and values
of the majority culture, cultural misunderstandings often have a negative
effect on a minority student's academic performance. Cross-Cultural
Communication: An Essential Dimension of Effective Education assists
teachers to recognize and utilize student diversity in ways that enhance
academic identity.
The
Culturally Sensitive Disciplinarian
Cultural awareness will significantly alter the way we approach discipline
in the classroom. Punishing a child because we misinterpret culturally
based behavior is unjust. This fine research article is rich with
specific examples and sound advice.
Teaching from
a Hispanic Perspective
This resource will give you considerable insight and information to
help you better understand the culture and learning preferences of
Hispanic students.
Activities
for Teaching American Culture in EFL or ESL Classes
Practical classroom lesson plans for high school and adult level education.
Racial
Issues and Identities: A Guide to Resources on the Web
From the New York Times on the Web, a list of resources to help us
understand how race in America.
GLSEN
GLSEN (pronounced "glisten") is the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education
Network, the largest national network of parents, students, educators
and others ending discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender
identity/expression in K-12 schools. The stated purpose of GLSEN is
to create safe schools for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans-gender
people.
A
more perfect union Japanese Americans and the U.S. Constitution
This media rich site provides an overview of the Japanese American
Experience during World War II.
An Introduction
to Navajo Culture
Overview of many Navajo beliefs, plus numerous links to other sites
makes this a valuable resource.
American
Indian Learning Styles Survey: An Assessment of Teachers Knowledge
by Karen Swisher
This research report found that, "…the American Indian respondents
selected discipline, group harmony, holistic approach to health, and
spirituality to a greater extent than non-Indians." The report
also finds a prevailing belief that cultural values affect learning
styles.
4Directions
4Directions is a project which focuses on integrating Native American
culture and technology into education in a way that enables students
to maintain and learn their heritage while taking full advantage of
their future. The 4Directions consortia is achieving this through:
building on local cultures and values; collaborating using Internet
activities across sites through on-site training, on-line tutoring,
and cooperative teaming; creating networked "virtual communities"
with Internet, and encouraging life-long learning by extending Internet
access. They practice maintaining and extending a network database
of teaching, assessment, professional development, and student created
resources. Nice graphics, very easy to use and understand
Culture
Quest
This WebQuest for 4 -5-6th grade students is exceptionally rich in
resources relating to Hispanic and Navajo cultures.
How Technology
Enhances Howard Gardner's Eight Intelligences
This rich website provides connections to web resources for each of
Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. An excellent overview of the topic
that explains how to use technology to appeal to all types of human
intelligence.
Diversity Calendars... Internet based calendars that remind and
inform about cultural issues and personalities.
The
Depth and Breadth of "Multicultural"
by Paul Gorski. I've used this source to frame our discussion of the
word multicultural. Here you will also find the facilitators notes
I used this week. Consider using this activity in your own classroom!
UNICEF: Voices of Youth
Here is a chance for students and teachers to join a worldwide discussion
of children's rights to health and education, as well as the effects
of war, and exploitation. Also part of the UNICEF site is the Identity
Puzzle: This interactive site, provides exposure to the idea that
a birth certificate "....the key to all the services and protections
that children have a right to." The UNICEF site brings perspective
and helps us understand the worldview.
Tribes Home Page
A school wide program for transforming the learning environment, Tribes
is about recreating the emotional atmosphere of your school. The Tribes
approach involves all groups in long-term membership in mini-communities
(tribes-small groups of 4-6 members); parents in classroom groups,
teachers in faculty groups and students in cooperative learning tribes.
The decentralized structure provides energy and inclusion within any
group of peers no matter the age, culture or stage of development.
Appreciation for each person's uniqueness (race, culture, gender,
abilities and contributions) is assured with the tribes.
