Using Technology to Affirm Student Identity and Build a Culturally Responsive Classroom

By: Koralina McKenna, Teacher Specialist - Office of Instructional Technology

When I started teaching in 2016, I made it a point to ask students for their preferred name; I took notes on pronunciation and tried my best to get it right as soon as possible. But, it wasn't until 2020 that I added "preferred pronouns" to my first day survey. I created a way to keep track of my students preferred names and pronouns and made sure they were easily accessible for any sub or visitor in my classroom. These simple practices can affirm students' identity and help build a culturally responsive classroom. However, I quickly learned that I needed to do more to support my students and technology could make that seemingly daunting task a little easier. 

In my early years, I often overlooked the Read&Write tool; mostly I found the purple puzzle piece to be an annoyance - until I came to appreciate how it could open up the digital world for all my students. During a reading heavy lesson, it took about ten minutes for the work avoidance tactics to take center stage in my classroom; so I had everyone click on that annoying little puzzle piece and showed my students that they could listen to the reading and how to use the screen masker to chunk their text. The result? In the days that followed, I started to incorporate the RW reminder into my lessons and within a few weeks, I had students pulling it up unprompted or asking "How do I get that thingy to work again?" All of a sudden, I had a room full of students using this tool to make their digital work more accessible. 

Affirming student identities and promoting culturally responsive instruction has always been something I had to consciously and intentionally practice. I have always been highly reflective in my teaching practice but I started to reflect on how I was creating or upholding unnecessary barriers to my students' learning. In the paragraph above I described my use of Read&Write in my classroom but there was a time when I wrote off literacy tools as "extra work" or unnecessary. One day I was going cross-eyed grading quarterlies and pulled up the screen masker to help me chunk my quarterly essays. Turns out, I was [maybe] being a little closed minded about accessibility tools and needed to start actively encouraging their use if I wanted to eliminate the unnecessary barriers preventing my students from accessing content. 

Today, I share four resources that can help you affirm students identities, promote equity and build a culturally responsive classroom.

1. Deadname Remover Chrome Extension (available for students grades 3-12)
   This easy to use extension automatically replaces a students deadname with their preferred name anywhere it appears within their Chrome Browser. Use of this extension allows a students' identity to be reflected back at them when using their Chromebooks or Chrome Browser. This does not change the students' name on any other device except their own; it can be turned on and off via Chrome Extension. 
   To access: type chrome://extensions/ into your URL bar, search for "deadname remover" 
   *According to Merriam-Webster: The meaning of DEADNAME is the name that a transgender person was given at birth and no longer uses upon transitioning.
   
   
2. Read&Write for Google Chrome Extension
   The Read&Write extension is accessible by all students. It appears as a small purple puzzle inscribed with "rw" to the right of the URL nav bar. Normalizing the use of this tool with students  promotes student confidence and independence. A best practice when using a web based program is to show your students how to access their Read&Write tool and briefly review any tools that might be particularly helpful to students during the activity. This extension is compatible with Performance Matters and Brightspace. This powerful tool can empower students and make digital content accessible to struggling readers, reluctant typers, neurodivergent and English Learners. 
   
   
   
   
3. Emotional Literacy Resources from Lumio by SMART
   Lumio offers a robust collection of ready made resources that can easily be added into any Lumio lesson or used as a stand alone. Use these templates to learn more about your students, check in with them and help them reflect on their learning. A key component of culturally responsive teaching is getting to know your students' personalities and cultures. We need to get past the surface level; when used regularly, you'll be surprised at what you learn about your students and how you can use what you've learned to create more responsive and engaging content. View the resource collection here.
   
   
   
   
4. IF/THEN Collection® (website approved for teacher use only)
   The IF/THEN® Collection is the largest free resource of its kind dedicated to increasing access to authentic and relatable images of real women in STEM. Comprised of thousands of photos and videos that authentically represent women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM), the content features a variety of careers to illuminate the relevance of STEM everywhere. The assets are meant to make lasting change to the materials and media in the visual world around us. ifthencollection.org 
   Use this collection of resources to design visual diversity to reflect the learners in your classroom. Similarly use any of the videos, articles or activities to expose your students to real world careers and celebrate the positive contributions of diverse women in today's world.