Teaching can inspire fear and trepidation in all of us. Fears of successfully reaching and connecting with young people can be compounded when we consider the multi-cultural, multi-lingual nature of today's classroom. It is imperative that teachers respond to each student's cultural and linguistic needs, but fear of failure may be compounded when you consider as Hammond writes that "by the third grade, many culturally and linguistically diverse students are one or more years behind in reading." (Rucker)

To add to these fears are the monsters of implicit bias, sociopolitical division, and power imbalances historically embedded in race. The most important step to fighting these monsters is to acknowledge their existence and be honest about them with yourself and your students. As Rucker pointed out, a self-audit is critical to begin with... but I find myself constantly re-examining my practice and student interactions to determine if I am still setting high expectations, while also incorporating empathy and compassion.

Speaking of monsters, we should not forget the beast of standardized testing. In North Carolina, the EOGs strike fear in the hearts of students and teachers alike. These assessments feel contrary to the very nature of teaching, which is centered in differentiated instruction and individual growth. Teachers must then shift gears to encourage students to meet norms or face the repercussions of these "high stakes" tests. It is surprising that with a lack of statistical evidence to show benefit, there is still so much emphasis on them.

When facing the monsters, there are numerous strategies to incorporate into your practice in the hopes of achieving an effective learning environment. In the following pages, I will highlight a few of the strategies that I would like to incorporate into my classroom.

One strategy for incorporating culturally responsive teaching that I thought would be effective was drawing on a student's funds of knowledge before, during, and after a text. While Vacca, Vacca, and Mraz outline this as a strategy to engage students during a presentation or interview, I thought that this might also be a way to engage students when analyzing primary texts. Before the text, students could make connections to the author, through culture, background, interests, or values. During and after the reading, students would continue to be engaged through questions that connect the students to commanalities with the author and prior knowledge.

A tool for drawing on student's linguistic background before a text is to review discipline-specific vocabulary. My students really enjoy doing shared Frayer Models with difficult vocabulary before we start a unit. As a group, they use Jamboard to write and illustrate definitions and examples of the vocabulary. When Vacca, Vacca, and Mraz mentioned incorporating cognates into vocabulary review I got really excited about the potential of replacing one of the boxes in the Frayer Model with a "Cognate" section. This would allow students to draw upon their language.

I was surprised and interested by Chris Gable's homogenous reading groups. Many experts have said that heterogenous grouping is the best for students, but after three quarters of using heterogenous grouping in my classroom, I created groups similar to those described in the video. I found that students who struggled with the readings would just tune out when they were in the heterogeneous group, but by creating homogenous groups and then leveling the reading, I was better able to keep all engaged. I would also incorporate a modified jigsaw to resort groups and allow them to discuss the various texts they had examined.