In this episode, I talk about 4 topics that I wanted to give some quick (relatively speaking) equity-inspired advice about.  Those topics are classroom participation, final papers/presentations, group-work projects, and cumulative finals.  

This episode focuses on how having a STEM professor with a fixed mindset could affect how they teach and what they communicate to their students.  Believing and perpetuating a culture of genius may facilitate focusing on math to weed students out, rather than developing ways to excite students about STEM so that they will be motivated to work through the tough parts of the discipline.  Also, fixed mindset professors may be more likely to encourage students to drop a class rather than encourage them to work hard and use tutoring services to help improve their grade.

New research has found that ALL students do worse in STEM classes where the professor has a fixed mindset, which means that professors believe that a student's intelligence is fixed and that there is little that can be done to improve academic success.  The bright side is that equity gaps were approximately 50% less in STEM classes where the professor had a growth mindset, which means that professors believe that the hard work and determination of the student can positively affect academic success.  Therefore, this research points to the fact that developing a growth mindset regarding our students is vital to their success.

I talk about white teachers that I had at MiraCosta College and UC, San Diego and the things that they said or did to change my life.  Some things were very big, but most things that were done were relatively small.  I hope this is encouraging to white teachers that struggle with their place in the effort to close equity gaps.

In this episode, I speak about two specific events in high school that socialized me to believe that I was a bad writer.  Later at UCSD, a white teacher helped to undo much of that trauma by grading me on content rather than grammar and/or regurgitation.
Teaching takeaways:
1) Introduce historically-marginalized authors early and often
2) Create low-stakes writing opportunities to encourage students to write freely
3) Show appreciation when students express themselves in culturally and/or emotionally profound ways

Again, I talk about how white teachers have changed my life.  This episode is a constant reminder to all of us that we all need to contribute to closing student equity gaps.  This episode emphasizes how some of the littlest things may have a huge impact on helping historically marginalized groups do better in college and in life.

In this episode, I give alternative interpretations of why students may seem "out of it" in our classrooms.  I talk about how a student's lack of engagement may be the result of going through high stress/traumatizing events.  Therefore, we need to be kind to our students by acknowledging their realities and letting them know that they are always welcome in our classrooms.  This will have a student-equity effect if we acknowledge that we interpret different bodies differently, e.g. male/female/nonbinary, race/ethnicity, etc., and so we must purposefully reteach ourselves how to treat students with the respect and compassion they deserve.

Have you ever told students to move up to the front of the class as a learning strategy?  Although we give this advice all the time, Sean and I argue that doing this creates a "ghetto" in your classroom, which is a space that you do not interact with either intentionally or unconsciously.  We then give practical advice on what you can do to shrink your classroom or expand your teaching presence. 

In the battle for student-equity battle, I acknowledge how this may be alienating to white people in general and white teachers specifically.  So in this episode, I talk about how three white elementary school teachers changed my life.  Some by doing tremendous acts, but most by doing really simple things.

I revisit the trauma I endured in 3rd grade that socialized me to not try hard at school.  I remind listeners that historically-marginalized groups have these experiences socially, economically and institutionally reinforced throughout our lives making them harder to overcome.  I end by stating that we need to reteach ourselves how to see the potential in all students, especially the historically-marginalized, in order to close equity gaps.