Are you making sure to stay true to the teacher in you? In today's episode, Kwame Sarfo-Mensah shares his experiences as a culturally responsive educator and how he's incorporated culturally responsive teaching into math lessons. He discloses the challenges that come along with this type of teaching but emphasizes how engaged the students get in learning once they have a personal connection to the topic. Kwame touches on why books are essential to provide students with windows and mirrors into other fields. Let's dive in!
Kwame Sarfo-Mensah has served as a secondary-level mathematics teacher and educational consultant globally over the last 15 years. He currently serves as the founder & CEO of Identity Talk Consulting, an independent educational consulting firm that provides professional development and consulting services to K-12 school districts, teacher education programs, and educational non-profit organizations.
Key Highlights:
[00:01 - 09:47] Opening Segment
Kwame shares his background and work
Cultural responsive teaching strategies
His experiences growing up as an immigrant and how this has influenced his approach to culturally responsive teaching
Check out the Identity Talk Podcast
[09:48 - 18:40] How to Stay True to the Teacher and You
How to stay true to the teacher in you
Get a sense of the specific issues that directly impact not just your life but the communities in which you serve
How Kwame incorporates real-life social justice issues into his math classes to make them more relevant and engaging for his students
[18:41 - 27:34] How to Be a Culturally Responsive Math Teacher
How to be culturally responsive in the classroom by incorporating issues that impact students into lessons and instruction
Challenges that teachers commonly face when trying to be culturally responsive
What teachers need to be effective in culturally responsive teaching
[27:35 - 35:47] Closing Segment
How to start incorporating cultural responsive aspects into maths teaching
Reach out to people who are already doing the work in the field
Let’s Connect!
Want to connect with Kwame? You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Head to Identity Talk Consulting, a place where you can look yourself in the mirror and stay true to the teacher in you!
You can connect with our host Erica Terry on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Be sure to check out the Healthy Wealthy Educators website to learn more about different strategies to achieve your teaching goals!
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