Entry 4. 3-2-1 Understandings

3 Ideas Worth Pondering

While reading the first two chapters of "Cultivating Genius," something that really stuck with me was Muhammad's (2020) discussion of what literacy is and what is means to people. Before reading this book, I saw literacy as a way of sharing ideas, communicating with others, and connecting with those around us. To me, literacy was a way of self-expression and self-enjoyment. Muhammad (2020) opened my eyes to the idea that literacy can mean all different things to different groups of people. For example, for the individuals in Black literary societies, literacy was not for enjoyment or fulfillment, but rather seen as liberation and power (Muhammad, 2020). This is something I had never considered before, and it has caused me to rethink what literacy means not only to me, but also those around me.

A second idea worth pondering is how our ways of assessment affect the students. In the article by Yoon (2019), she shares how students may develop different formulas to complete tasks asked by standardized assessments. While these formulas may assist students in producing sufficient work, oftentimes they cause students to leave creativity behind (Yoon, 2019). This caused me to rethink assessment. While it is important to be aware of where your students' understanding lies, this point showed the importance for our assessments to be diverse and creative to prevent students from falling into patterns and formulas, and rather encourage them work creatively with curriculum.

Finally, a third idea worth pondering is the concept of "repainting." In chapter 2, Muhammad (2020) address different policies and initiatives in education that are supposed to create a more culturally responsive classroom. However, these practices, such as the SAT's adversity score, don't get to the root of the issue such as the inequalities and biases, but rather paints over them (Muhammad, 2020). This section of the chapter caused me to think more critically about culturally responsive practices and whether they are working to solve inequalities in our education or rather cover them up. 

2 Inspiring Comments

One statement that I found particularly powerful was from Zaretta Hammond. In her discussion on culturally relevant teaching, she said "All instruction is culturally responsive. The question is to whose culture is it responding" (Hammond, 2021). This really stuck out to me because it really makes you question how our curriculum and classroom cultures affects our students. When first learning about culturally responsive teaching, you would just assume that you either have it or you don't. However, Hammond's comment forces you to see your role in culturally responsive teaching and reflect on whether you are benefitting all students in your class equally, or favoring a dominant culture.

A second powerful quote can be found in chapter 2. Muhammad (2020) states "What is common among all three historical photos is that when we look at them today, we speak of the students' bravery and courage to organize in ways to interrupt wrongdoing. Black students today don't receive that same commentary, yet they are in similar ways resisting curriculum and instruction that were not designed to advance their academic success or personal achievement." This quote stood out to me because educators will teach about and praise students in our history for standing up for what is right, but when students now show resistance to the curriculum, they are punished for not assimilating to the expectations. This quote has caused me to rethink students' defiance and what it means.

1 Commitment to My Future Students

One commitment I will make for my future students is to listen and trust my students and who they are. This is a concept that Muhammad (2020) brings up and I believe is often over looked. Listening to students and trusting what they say will give me an opportunity to adjust my curriculum to fit their needs. Additionally, it will help me develop a classroom culture that fits and benefits all of my students and their diverse backgrounds. Getting to know my students beyond their current test scores and levels of understanding of the curriculum will help me be a more culturally responsive teacher and create a safe place that is conducive to learning.