Regina Flores Dunda

Principle #1: Attitudes and beliefs consciously and unconsciously drive our decisions. Believe that all students can learn and achieve at a high level. Believe that all teachers have an impact on student outcomes, not just those teaching state tested subjects. Persistence and perseverance are necessary for both teachers and students to move through difficult tasks and situations. Focus on fostering a love of learning, rather than a tolerance or endurance for schoolwork. Understand students’ core beliefs about school and learning. Recognize and combat student apathy. Recognize and find a work-around to negative student perceptions of rule-following and academic achievement. Seek to understand why disengaged students still come to school and why others don’t come to school. Principle #2: Relationships are everything. Build authentic trust and affirm students' value beyond pleasantries and kind words. Create welcoming school and classroom environments that provide...

A while back, a Facebook memory popped up in my feed from 2011. It read: At the time, I was teaching Music at a Title I middle school with a population of mostly Latino and mostly poor students. Students at my school did not get to choose their electives classes (this is not common practice in suburb schools) and so I had to be creative with the curriculum in order to engage the students who did not want to sing and had zero interest in pursuing music outside of my class. I designed a series of rotating interdisciplinary units of study so that students who were placed in my classes multiple semesters would get a variety of relevant musical experiences, while also singing in an ensemble. One of those units focused on the music entrepreneur. It is perplexing that when we talk to students about future careers, it is almost always in the context of working for someone else. Of all my students who learned through this unit over multiple years, not one of ...