Time

39 activities

▼Understanding your classroom community
2 minKnow your students
  • Do you know if you have students who are recent arrivals from other countries (within past 5 years)?
  • Do you know if you have students who moved between states or regions recently?
  • Do you know if you have students who serve as cultural or linguistic bridges for their families?
  • Do you know if you have students who speak languages other than English at home?
  • Do you know if you have students navigating other significant transitions?
  • What do you know about how this community/school has evolved over time?
  • How might this information shape the way you approach curriculum, assignments, or classroom discussions?
▼There's more to their story
5 minKnow your students
  • Choose one student you've been thinking about in terms of academic struggles or behavioral challenges
  • Write about their interests and passions outside school
  • Describe their role in their family or community
  • Note skills they demonstrate outside academic settings
  • Include dreams or goals they've shared
  • Consider what they could teach others from their experiences
  • Note challenges they navigate that require resilience
  • Plan one way to acknowledge or build on these strengths in your classroom this week
▼Seeing the whole student
5 minKnow your students
  • Pick one student you'd like to understand better
  • Map what you see in your classroom (participation, friendships, energy levels)
  • Note what you know about their experience between home and school
  • Consider indirect forces and systems outside your classroom that might affect them
  • Identify where you have knowledge vs. where you're making assumptions
▼Ecological quick map
5 minKnow your students
  • Think of a student you'd like to understand better
  • Map their microsystem: daily environments they navigate (home, school, peers)
  • Consider their mesosystem: where their different worlds might conflict or align
  • Examine their exosystem: indirect forces (policies, parent work, community factors)
  • Note what assumptions you're making and where you need more information
▼Relationship inventory
5 minKnow your students
  • Reflect on your student relationships
  • Note which students you know well beyond their academic performance
  • Consider how you learn about students' interests, family roles, and community connections
  • Plan more opportunities for students to share their knowledge and experiences
  • Think about how students with migration experiences might serve as cultural mentors
▼Connection mapping
5 minKnow your students
  • Observe your classroom interactions
  • Note which students naturally connect across cultural or linguistic differences
  • Identify missed opportunities for cross-cultural learning
  • Plan to structure activities encouraging interactions between students from different backgrounds
  • Consider what role students with migration experiences could play as cultural bridges
▼Reflecting on educational experiences
5 minKnow your students
  • Choose one student and reflect on similarities between your educational experiences and theirs
  • Consider key differences in your educational experiences, opportunities, and challenges
  • Think about how recognizing both similarities and differences could improve your ability to support their academic development
  • Reflect on how this understanding might enhance your support for their civic and social growth
▼Learning together across difference
15 minKnow your students
  • Think about an upcoming lesson or unit
  • Plan how to structure activities so students work together across cultural or linguistic differences
  • Consider how different students' strengths and experiences could complement each other
  • Design opportunities for students to teach each other based on their diverse knowledge
  • Create activities that value the multiple perspectives students bring
  • Envision how students might build relationships while learning together
  • Plan ways for students to discover unexpected connections with classmates
▼Communication bridge-building
10 minKnow your students
  • Observe your classroom interactions
  • Note where you see students successfully communicating across differences
  • Identify barriers to communication (language, cultural, social)
  • Plan how to create more opportunities for inclusive communication practice
  • Consider what role multilingual students could play as communication bridges
▼Rights audit
5 minSafety & inclusion
  • Review school policies that might create barriers for students with diverse backgrounds
  • Consider how communication policies affect families who speak different languages
  • Examine whether disciplinary practices impact different cultural groups equitably
  • Assess if academic policies recognize diverse forms of knowledge and expression
  • Identify systemic practices that might limit some students' full participation
  • Plan one advocacy step you could take to address a policy barrier you've identified
▼Safety assessment
5 minSafety & inclusion
  • Evaluate your classroom climate
  • Note how students respond when peers make culturally insensitive comments
  • Review what systems you have for addressing bias or discrimination
  • Observe how students with migration experiences participate in discussions
  • Identify where some students might feel excluded or unsafe to share perspectives
▼Inquiry practice audit
5 minSafety & inclusion
  • Reflect on how you approach complex topics requiring careful investigation
  • Review what sources you use and how you model evaluating reliability
  • Consider how you demonstrate respectful curiosity about all people's experiences
  • Note ways you show that human stories are complex rather than simple
  • Plan how to model moving beyond stereotypes for any group or issue
  • Consider how you emphasize care and sensitivity when discussing difficult experiences
▼Proactive communication
5 minSafety & inclusion
  • Plan your communication strategy
  • Explain the academic value of migration education to families and administrators
  • Identify shared values in your community that support this work
  • Plan to invite family input and participation
  • Prepare to address concerns while maintaining inclusive practices
▼Representation audit
5 minMake diversity visible
  • Survey your classroom environment
  • Note what languages, cultures, and experiences are visible in materials and displays
  • Check how your teaching examples and case studies reflect student diversity
  • Identify where students with migration experiences might see themselves represented
  • Plan changes you could make this week to better reflect your classroom community
▼Visibility check
5 minMake diversity visible
  • Scan your learning environment
  • Consider what messages students receive about whose stories and experiences matter
  • Check how multilingualism is visibly valued in your materials and activities
  • Note where your resources reflect the full diversity of your students
  • Plan how to position students with migration experiences as knowledge-bearers
▼Universal connection
5 minMake diversity visible
  • Plan how you'll introduce your next migration-related lesson
  • Connect migration to your students' own family histories
  • Include examples showing migration across different time periods and circumstances
  • Emphasize both commonalities and important differences in migration experiences
  • Plan to counter any us vs. them thinking that emerges
▼Story collection planning
5 minMake diversity visible
  • Consider how to incorporate migration stories in your teaching
  • Plan opportunities for students to safely share their own family stories
  • Include diverse migration narratives in your content
  • Examine how media represents migration experiences
  • Identify guest speakers or community members who might share authentic stories
▼Perspective practice
5 minMake diversity visible
  • Choose a current issue or topic you'll discuss with students
  • Identify different stakeholder groups who might be affected by this issue
  • For each group, consider what specific experiences or circumstances might inform their viewpoint
  • Think about what values, concerns, or priorities each group might bring to the discussion
  • Plan how to help students step into different perspectives with curiosity rather than assumptions
  • Design ways for students to explore the complexity within groups
  • Consider how to encourage students to ask genuine questions about others' experiences
▼Work sample selection
3 minMake diversity visible
  • Identify student work you could examine with colleagues
  • Choose recent assignments that show how students approach learning differently
  • Look for evidence of diverse knowledge sources and thinking approaches
  • Note which student responses surprised you or revealed different ways of understanding
  • Consider what this work reveals about how students are making meaning
▼Expectations audit
5 minHigh expectations
  • Examine your academic expectations
  • Review how you differentiate instruction without lowering expectations for any student group
  • Consider evidence that students with migration experiences are being sufficiently challenged
  • Reflect on where unconscious bias about language ability might influence expectations
  • Plan how to recognize and value the unique skills these students bring
▼Belonging and rigor assessment
5 minHigh expectations
  • Examine your classroom practices
  • Check how you ensure efforts to understand your students' lives don't lead to lowered academic expectations
  • Look for evidence that students feel safe to make mistakes and ask questions
  • Consider ways to maintain academic rigor for students whose communication styles differ
  • Reflect on how to support students whose language skills are still developing while maintaining high standards
  • Think about how all students can contribute their diverse perspectives to challenging academic discussions
▼Relevance audit
5 minHigh expectations
  • Choose one topic you'll teach this month
  • Consider what knowledge and experiences all students bring that could deepen understanding
  • Identify which students might face barriers to connecting their knowledge to academic content
  • Plan specific ways to make space for different types of knowledge (linguistic, cultural, geographic, family-based)
  • Ensure the topic connects to multiple pathways students might take in their futures
▼Depth check
5 minHigh expectations
  • Think about a recent lesson you taught
  • Assess whether students learned facts or understood underlying concepts
  • Consider if they could apply knowledge to new situations
  • Note if they made connections between different topics or time periods
  • Identify which students might need different pathways to demonstrate deep understanding
  • Plan how to recognize and build on the varied ways students make meaning
▼Legacy reflection
5 minHigh expectations
  • Consider your teaching this semester
  • Identify skills or habits of mind you hope students will have in five years
  • Note which lessons seem to stick with students long after they're over
  • Reflect on how you know when learning has truly transformed thinking or behavior
  • Consider how different students might carry forward and apply these capacities in their diverse futures
▼Whole student check
3 minHigh expectations
  • Review an upcoming lesson plan
  • Check if it engages students intellectually AND emotionally
  • Look for opportunities for social interaction and collaboration
  • Consider if content connects to students' lived experiences and values
  • Have you created ways for students to draw on their personal and cultural knowledge?
  • Can students see themselves and their communities reflected in this learning?
▼Cross-curricular connections
5 minMigration as lens
  • Consider how migration connects to your discipline's core concepts
  • Identify opportunities to collaborate with colleagues in other subjects
  • Note where migration themes might naturally enhance existing curriculum
  • Plan how students could apply knowledge from your field to understand migration
▼Analytical framework planning
5 minMigration as lens
  • Choose a migration topic you teach or could incorporate
  • Select analytical questions from the Learning Arc to guide student inquiry
  • Plan how to help students compare different migration experiences
  • Design ways for students to examine causes, journeys, and outcomes systematically
  • Identify primary sources or diverse perspectives that could enrich analysis
▼Teaching stories of human migration
5 minMigration as lens
  • Consider your curriculum
  • Note how your materials present stories of human migration
  • Identify where migration themes could naturally enhance existing content
  • Plan how to help students connect their family stories to broader patterns
  • Create opportunities for students with migration experiences to share their expertise
▼Your migration story
5 minMigration as lens
  • Reflect on when your family has migrated (between countries, states, rural to urban areas)
  • Consider cultural or regional transitions that have shaped your identity
  • Remember times when you felt like an outsider or newcomer
  • Think about how these experiences show up in your teaching
▼Power mapping
5 minMigration as lens
  • Think about a recent lesson on any topic
  • Note whose perspectives were included in your materials
  • Consider whose voices or experiences might have been missing
  • Reflect on how power dynamics shaped the situation you studied
  • Identify opportunities to help students recognize these patterns
▼Transformative learning audit
5 minMigration as lens
  • Review your recent teaching
  • Identify which lessons seem to have lasting impact on how students think or act
  • Note where you see opportunities to connect content to students' lived experiences
  • Consider how migration themes might add depth and relevance to your curriculum
  • Think about what role students with diverse backgrounds could play as knowledge contributors
▼Action planning
15 minMigration as lens
  • Consider your current curriculum
  • Identify opportunities for students to apply learning beyond the classroom
  • Think about how students could help build communities capable of navigating demographic change
  • Plan small actions students could take to strengthen cross-cultural connections
  • Design ways for all students to practice the skills needed for civic participation in diverse societies
▼Action opportunities
5 minMigration as lens
  • Consider your classroom and school context
  • Identify small actions students could take to create more inclusive environments
  • Plan how students with migration experiences might serve as leaders
  • Find opportunities to connect with community organizations committed to building connections across differences
  • Design student projects that address real challenges while building civic skills
▼Support systems review
5 minSupport without stigma
  • Evaluate your support approaches
  • Check how your support structures avoid singling out particular groups
  • Consider ways you recognize diverse strengths students bring to learning
  • Review how accessible your resources are to families with varied backgrounds and needs
  • Plan where students with migration experiences could contribute their expertise to support others
▼Newcomer experience design
5 minSupport without stigma
  • Consider how newcomers experience your classroom
  • Review what systems you have for welcoming new students throughout the year
  • Consider how newcomers learn the unspoken rules, norms, and expectations of your classroom community
  • Design ways to make implicit social and academic expectations explicit and accessible
  • Position newcomers as knowledge-bearers rather than just recipients of help
  • Create opportunities for established students to learn from newcomers' experiences
  • Think about how to better honor the knowledge and experiences newcomers bring
▼Advocacy strategy
5 minSupport without stigma
  • Develop your approach to promoting inclusive education
  • Connect inclusive teaching to your school's goals for all students' success
  • Identify gaps in how your school disaggregates data by student characteristics
  • Collect data about student outcomes that could support your case for inclusive practices
  • Note potential allies for this work among colleagues and administrators
  • Plan small pilot projects that demonstrate how inclusive approaches enhance learning for everyone
▼Family engagement planning
5 minFamily engagement
  • Reflect on how you currently involve families in your teaching and classroom
  • Identify which families participate regularly and which rarely engage with your classroom
  • Question your assumptions about what family support should look like
  • Consider what social, cultural, economic, or past experiences might create barriers to participation
  • Recognize that some families may show respect for education by not interfering with school
  • Plan ways to learn from families about their preferences for involvement rather than imposing expectations
▼Community partnership planning
5 minFamily engagement
  • Consider your current connections with local organizations and community members
  • Identify community resources and expertise that could enrich your curriculum
  • Think about how different community organizations might connect to your content
  • Consider organizations committed to building connections across differences
  • Plan where to incorporate community knowledge into your teaching
  • Design ways for community members to share their expertise with students
▼Partnership mapping
5 minFamily engagement
  • Identify potential learning partners
  • List community organizations serving families with migration experiences
  • Note which families in your classroom might be willing to share their expertise
  • Identify who in your school has cultural knowledge that could inform your practice
  • Consider what community events could help you better understand local migration experiences