Exemplar #1: Calvin Nellum, Physics Teacher, Jalen Rose Leadership Academy

Technique: Reality Pedagogy

Description: A series of techniques designed to learn from and incorporate aspects of scholars' lives into the classroom.

Questions to Consider:

1. How does Calvin define relevance in the classroom?

2. What benefits does Calvin suggest a relevant classroom creates?

3. What is the first step to creating a relevant classroom, according to Calvin?

4. What types of questions can help a teacher build a relevant classroom?

5. How does the communal aspect of African culture relate to relevance in the classroom?

6. How did moving toward a relevant approach improve Calvin's teaching?

Your Turn:

1. Script It. Write down how you would introduce a reality pedagogy to your classroom. Include scholar actions and teacher actions. Focus on how you would explain both the purpose of the routine, and the specific details of how scholars can participate in it successfully. 

2. Plan for It. Consider the biggest obstacle to getting this routine off the ground. What is it? How can you plan to overcome this obstacle? What will it look like when you've successfully rolled it out?

3. Practice It. Test out the routine a few times, scaffolding the components to ensure a successful roll-out. Ask your instructional coach or another teacher for feedback.

4. Film It. Record a video of your new routine. 

5. Submit it. Send video to PSMindsetPilot@gmail.com for review and a Relevance badge.