There is amazing diversity in my classes. White students are the minority by quite a large margin. One of the bigger populations in the school is Polynesians. I am one that doesn't really like extra credit. If I see a parent, I am more inclined to offer extra credit points. That is what I did for the students at parent teacher conferences. I offered to have people write papers, or do whatever they wanted to do. I had one student that wanted to perform a Samoan Fire dance because he needed points on his rock cycle test.
I got the DVD today and I am blown away at how much time not only he invested in the assignment, but also how much his parents let him do. It was literally a fire dance. It is amazing how much that 14 year old can do. I am glad that I can take into consideration that science is not for everyone. If someone wants to dance and play with fire to earn credit for my class, just as long as they can connect it to the material that we are studying I am fine with it. I offered some people to make a drawing if they wanted to.
The best part about it is that I am able to be culturally sensitive to my students. I am able to see a talented young man display pride for his culture for his extra credit. It really does make me feel happy that I am able to do that.
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