Chapter 2- Culturally Responsive Classrooms

Chapter two talks about how our classrooms today are more diverse than ever. It is our jobs as teachers to get to know all the different cultures in our classroom and base our instruction on the student's needs. The most important comment I got out of the chapter was where they stated that many students can't and don't make cultural shifts to adjust to schools. I thought this was important because often when students aren't being successful in a new classroom the adults say it is because they are still adjusting and transitioning into a new environment. Instruction will become more effective if the teacher is knowledgable about different cultures most importantly those cultures that make up their classroom. If a student's culture doesn't fit in with that of the rest of classroom he/she could feel isolated. The classroom is a community and if a student feels unwelcome it is likely their grades will be low.
It is important for the classroom library as well as the curriculum to be multicultural so that all students can have a sense of familiarity in the literature provided for them. This includes not just the heritages that are in the classroom but different cultures as well. Doing this lets students learn about different cultures and enables them to be more accepting.