Teacher Self-Assessment Holidays and the School Calendar

Teacher Self-Assessment: Holidays and the School Calendar

On a scale of 1-10, where 10 means “I do this very well” and 1 means “I need to work on this,” please rate how well you achieve the following competencies in your classroom:

Competency	Goal	Rating	Examples of how you implement this goal	Barriers to achieving this goal	Next steps
When addressing the topic of religion, I include both religious and non-religious diversity as an element of identity.	I recognize and name the ways that religion is embedded in culture.
	I teach a shared language of “internal diversity” and “embedded in culture” to aid in the understanding of religious diversity and ways that religions show up in culture. “Internal diversity” reflects the idea that not all members of a particular group (religious, racial, ethnic, etc.) are a monolith, and that there is diversity within identity groups. “Embedded in culture” in this context reflects the idea that our understandings of religion, religious groups, and religious people are all understood within our own cultural lens.
I address both religious and non-religious holidays, celebrations, and traditions equally and regularly throughout the year.	I post a calendar with major world religious holidays in the classroom.
	I learn as much as possible about students’ religious practices from their caregivers so that young people are not put on the spot to advocate for themselves or explain their practices.
	I have a question box so students can submit questions they have about religious traditions/holidays/current events and consistently review those questions before answering them in front of the students.
I explain to students, parents, and colleagues why it is important to talk about religious and non-religious diversity.	I advocate on the schoolwide and districtwide levels for calendars that are respectful of students’ religious practices so that the responsibility for this does not fall solely to the students and their families.
	I work with administrators to create policies to prohibit planning school field trips or tests on major religious holidays.
	I work with my colleagues to make sure that we are not planning major classroom events, celebrations, or other large programs on major religious holidays.
	I make the physical space of my classroom (and, ideally, the whole school) welcoming of religious diversity through posters, books on display, and read-alouds/videos.
	My students see me advocating for inclusive calendars and schoolwide practices so that, through my modeling, they are also learning how to advocate for inclusive practices.
I emphasize that religious and non-religious identities are internally diverse and constantly changing	I provide examples of internal diversity, to show the spectrum of ideas that exist in identity group.
	I provide examples that illustrate how holiday practices have changed over time in various religions.
I design lessons and projects that provide space for students to express their diversity, including their religious or non-religious identities	I intentionally read stories and share videos highlighting both the holidays celebrated by students in the class as well as those that aren’t represented.
	I create ample opportunities for students to share about their religious and cultural beliefs and practices, including around the holidays themselves, as well as throughout the year.
	I recognize and name commonalities across cultures/religions as a doorway to identifying what makes each unique.
	I provide meaningful and relevant enrichment opportunities for students who opt out of class activities for various reasons, rather than letting them just sit in the hall, for example, while the rest of the class does something in which they cannot/do not choose to engage for religious reasons.
I promote nuanced and sophisticated representations of different religions and cultures that avoid stereotyping or Tokenism.	I explicitly teach how to ask respectful questions, giving students a framework for asking questions after peers share their own traditions. I engage students in creating this protocol together. I regularly remind students that the classroom is a safe space to ask difficult questions, understanding that students may ask inappropriate questions, making sure my students know that I understand that this is how we learn. I am ready for students to ask inappropriate questions. I respond to inappropriate questions with explanations, such as,, “When you say that, people may be offended because…, instead, you may ask…”? I ready to respond to potentially harmful questions and redirect them in a loving, yet firm way, so that the student sharing or the identity represented is not harmed or misunderstood, and also so that students continue to feel safe asking questions.
	I explicitly teach bystander vs upstander and bystander intervention through role plays, comics, organized training, or another method. I advocate for school-wide shared language on bystander vs upstander concepts, so that all students and staff can name and recognize these behaviors. I advocate for community-wide trainings on these topics so that caregivers can also use the same vocabulary and model the same concepts at home.
	I actively name and debunk stereotypes in the media, books, articles, etc.
	I examine harmful stereotypes and other challenges using historical and modern examples.
	As it is developmentally appropriate, I provide historical/cultural context to explain where stereotypes come from.
	I select resources developed through a “cultural studies” lens as well as sources from within cultures that demonstrate internal diversity within an experience.
	I use book lists, reviews, and reputable websites to choose diverse books about holidays, avoiding those that stereotype or misrepresent different practices.

Additional notes:

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