September 2024 AΔKCC Network

September 2024 Alpha Delta Kappa Collegiate Clubs Network

Alpha Delta Kappa Collegiate Clubs & Alumni Welcome to our monthly newsletter! We are here to provide you with some helpful tips, connections, and networking opportunities.

Bridget Alexander President

Alpha Delta Kappa CC at Ball State is looking forward to another year of fun! We attended the activities fair to welcome the new students to campus and ended up with 52 sign ups. Our welcome meeting was very successful, we had 30 people attend for our AΔKCC intro followed by ice cream and a scavenger hunt. This semester we look forward to getting together with Beta Epsilon at Cammack Station, attending Founders’ Day at Mancino's, getting together for a Halloween party, discussing teacher self care and the difficulties first year teachers face, as well as having dinner at Gloria’s and volunteering for Secret Families during the holiday season. So many fun things to do this year! We hope to build strong connections and community with this year’s group to spread the greatness of AΔK.

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Natalie MaxhimerRodriquex President

For the 2024-25 school year, we plan to work more with underserved students and their families by introducing a mentor program within our local school district. This may look similar to a Big Sister/Big Brother program, where members work individually with students needing additional social interaction and support. We also plan to continue with different fundraising efforts to serve local students within the USD 348 district and possibly surrounding districts. We also look forward to working more with our Beta Epsilon sponsor chapter. We are incredibly thankful for the guidance and support they have given us over the past year!

Kayelyn Strotman President

This year at ADKCC at the University of Kentucky, we are excited to welcome new members and to get out into the Lexington community. We look forward to forming new partnerships with surrounding schools as well as collaborating with other University of Kentucky clubs that share the same mission, “Leave our campus and community better than we found it.” We have some great meetings and opportunities planned for this semester and are so ecstatic to be back on campus with each other!

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Children need to see themselves in their learning content. It tells them who is important. Culturally responsive teaching means using students’ actual customs, characteristics, experiences and perspectives to build better, more meaningful classroom instruction. Educators need to know their students’ cultures and life experiences. If you don’t know their needs, their cultures, their histories and who they are, you will be more likely to perpetuate the myths and stereotypes associated with their cultures in the mainstream.

Culturally relevant and inclusive texts by and about individuals who have previously been omitted or silenced in literary collections are relevant and diverse in their authentic portrayals of backgrounds, identities, experiences and perspectives.

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DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS: SELECTING AND EVALUATING INCLUSIVE TEXTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 They provide access to texts and materials that reflect the complexities of children’s lives and experiences. These texts enhance the curriculum and are an effective tool for personal learning as well as that of your students.

So, how do you go about selecting the best materials and ensuring that they are suitable? Sometimes, even well-intentioned representations can go wrong. Kibler and Chapman (2018) have recommended these actions to get you started; here is a summary: Look for quality: Books should have an engaging story and illustrations, as well as high-quality text. Include your students and their parents in this process to get their input from the start.

Choose books that help children see themselves and mirror various aspects of your students’ identities.

Seek books that help children expand their understanding of others.

Cast a wide net in your search. Be alert to new titles; follow publishers, authors, and relevant hashtags on social media; communicate with your school or public librarian on the types of books you’re seeking; collaborate with colleagues.

Conduct an author study. Many authors are known to write books based on their cultural experiences.

In addition, take advantage of sources that champion these principles and have strict review processes, such as the American Library Association, notable book awards and book lists that have a cultural focus. Selecting from resources such as these is a wonderful way to start, but in the end, you must conduct your own analysis.

The Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and the Transformation of Schools (NYU Center) (2020) developed a culturally responsive education (CRE) scorecard to determine the degree to which their schools’ English Language Arts curriculum were or were not culturally responsive. It examines the representation of characters, diversity, accurate portrayals, social justice, and provides teacher guidance for implementation. The representation section helps determine diversity in curriculum and exposure to diverse cultures, and the character and author tally is used to count representation by race, gender, and ability. Diversity of characters and accurate portrayals focus on diverse and non-stereotypical portrayals. The social justice section examines decolonization, power dynamics, and connecting learning to real life. Teacher's Materials provide guidance for culturally responsive teaching strategies in curricula.

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DIVERSITY, EQUITY AND INCLUSION IN CHILDREN’S BOOKS: SELECTING AND EVALUATING INCLUSIVE TEXTS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2 Each category is examined and given a score. Negative scores range from culturally destructive to culturally insufficient and positive scores range from emerging awareness to culturally responsive, which will help you determine if your materials and curriculum are truly culturally relevant and diverse.

The Virginia AΔK Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee adapted the CRE scorecard for an S/P/N presentation so it could be used to analyze multiple media formats beyond texts in your personal world as well as in your curriculum materials. It’s a valuable tool for examining your own perspectives and determining how you can learn more about the diverse cultures in your classroom. The more you learn, the more responsive and effective you will be with your students. Enjoy the process!

Link to Resources List: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WY5GtBAuwHBNRdWunSbugsoD gZCyu7U4/edit? usp=sharing&ouid=113714927717325270089&rtpof=true&sd=true Link to Inventory Scorecard: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nCMqO8F9Z1IgbkFIdL5mkRD6PRRuAQy 4/view?usp=sharing Works Cited: Kibler, K, & Chapman, L.A. (2019) Six tips for using culturally relevant texts in diverse classrooms, Reading Teacher, 72(6), 741-744. (Retrieved August 5, 2024). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1213680 NYU - Steinhardt. (2020, August). Culturally responsive curriculum scorecard - NYU Steinhardt. Metropolitan Center for Research on Equity and Transformation of Schools. (Accessed August 5, 2024). https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/2020-12/CRE Scorecard Revised Aug 2020.pdf Virginia AΔK DEI Committee adaptation of the CRE Scorecard: Analyzing the diversity of voices in your world: and in-depth media inventory (2022). https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nCMqO8F9Z1IgbkFIdL5mkRD6PRRuAQy 4/view?usp=sharing

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