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Equity needs to be seen with in educators

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 In order to ensure our students are given an equity-focused education, we should also be looking at who is teaching them. According to USAFacts, 80% of teachers nationwide are white (USA Facts, 2022). The population of students is only 51% of the students being white (Census Bureau, 2019) . This does not show the students the world is equity-focused, so how do we curb that? We need to hold our values alongside our teachings. We need to value diversity in all its ways. I have been talking about how to create a classroom that welcomes differences and does not change what we are learning, but how it works best for them. We as a society and educators need to do the same.  The needs to complete this are to have teachers learn their biases towards their students and coworkers and to hire a more diverse set of educators. There are tests that can be taken at home, or it can be a school-wide training, but either way, we need to know what the implications of biases are and how they are affecti

Accomodations Starting Small

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  Accommodation and modifications can be a little overwhelming at first, but they are worth doing for our learners. Accommodations do not change what the learner is learning, it just removes the barriers that help the child have equal access to the lesson (Lee, 2019) . I found a list of commonly used accommodations for classroom use that can be helpful for any teacher or parent, you can find it here (Morin, 2022).   The value of a well-run classroom with everyone learning how they learn best is the best way to describe synergy. Synergy is valuing the differences in others and coming together to share a view (Covey, 2004) . In a classroom we should all be working towards the goals we set for ourselves as well as the standards in education. It should not matter how we get there, just that we enjoyed the process.  We need to encourage all of our teachers and parents to advocate for equity education, because a child that learns that their needs are valid and respected, grow up to be adults

Equity In and Out

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  To ensure equitable learning in our classrooms, every classroom must do it. If there are schools or classrooms that do not participate, then we are still creating a culture of highly effective education and subpar education. Having those opposing views can cause an unfair advantage to other students (Bruce, 2022) . Equitable education is within our reach if we just get everyone on board with the benefits of allowing students to be understood in their educational goals.  The value of educational equity is that it gives our children the ability to tailor their way of learning in a way that fits them. Its challengers believe that it should not only be done within the classroom but in society as a whole (Bradley Scott, 2020) . I think we can all agree that these ideas are correct, but I think that while we change the educational system with small changes, it will allow the world time to catch up and to see the value in being an individual and being treated as such in their education.  T

As a Community We Can

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 The only way we can change education is with highly qualified teachers, funded classrooms, and a cultural view of the importance of education. “The quality of Kindergarten through 12 schools matters above all else” (Ireland, 2016) . As advocates of educational change, we need to continue to look at ways we can improve and see the good in small changes. We need to have clear goals for all students in their educational standards (Lumen, 2022) .  The value of an education is prudent to how resilient and successful a person will become. When we reinforce learning at home with our children they see the importance of it (Ireland, 2016). Children value our values and if we set a good example of learning and allow time to help them with their homework, they will see that there is something within education that will lift them up. When we as a community come together to show up for school functions and support our children, they see that education is much bigger than them. We need to come to

How can we support you if we do not know what you need?

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       Teachers we are looking at you for our help to incorporate equity-focused classrooms. “The corrective work of equity-focused teaching involves deliberately cultivating a learning environment where students: Have equal access to learning Feel valued and supported in their learning Experience parity in achieving positive course outcomes Share responsibility for the equitable engagement and treatment of all in the learning community” (Michigan, 2021) .  This shift will help our children and your students achieve their educational goals and be ready for the world. We have a responsibility to cultivate learners who feel heard and supported.       The value of students feeling supported in their classrooms is tremendous in their learning journey. “Students learn more and behave better when they receive high levels of understanding, caring, and genuineness, than when they are given low levels of them. It pays to treat students as sensitive and aware human beings” (The Inspired Classro

Accomodations to our Classrooms

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       Every child is different, and we live in a world that celebrates diversity and being who we are with pride. What if that is holding your educational goals back? If a child has different needs in order to learn and those needs are not being met, they could fall behind. One way we can do this is to offer differentiated instruction within the classroom. Differentiated instruction is where a lesson is tailored to the students learning needs ( Tomlinson, 2022) . This all comes back to the teacher’s ability and the funding provided by the districts to help facilitate these goals.  The value of differentiated instruction is critical to our children. We all learn differently so why would we be taught the same way? The value can be seen when the whole class gets concepts and enjoys the love of learning. Differentiated instruction is based on four 4 factors: content, process, product, and affect/learning environment (Tomlinson, 2022) . These are lessons taught using visual aids, audio, an

The Invisible Problem

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“Wherever poverty is concentrated in America, it usually turns out that schools and the students they serve typically don’t do very well” (Noguera, 2021) . It is difficult to teach a child that has walked into the classroom with challenges on their minds or hungry tummies, that is why need to start looking at the whole child and not just their educational achievements (Noguera, 2021) . If we do not start to look at the invisible issues within the student and education, we will never truly get to a solution (Peter W. Cookson, 2020) . The purpose of this passion project is to get some awareness out that we have to look at the child as a whole and not as grades on a paper, we need to be advocates.  References Noguera, P. (2021). USC. Retrieved from Educational Equity is Good for All Kids— So We Must Do Everything We Can to Advance It: https://news.usc.edu/trojan-family/equity-in-education-achievement-learning-schools/ Peter W. Cookson, J. (2020, October 06). Learning Policy Institute. Ret