Discussions Students of Diverse Backgrounds The Moore-Thomas, Day-Vines article explores cultural competence as it relates to effective collaboration and interactions as well as an understanding of the political structures and socio-cultural realities of African American students, families, and their communities. Describe the specific models, strategies, and recommendations for educators to work effectively with students with diverse social differences (i.e. economic, ethnic, cultural, family, geographic region, ect). What steps can you take to be a culturally competent educator as you plan on working with specific groups, school, family and community members? Parent Support Some parents may not know how to support their children in school. These parents as children may have had an unsuccessful school experience where they felt frustrated and even ashamed of their personal educational outcomes. Understanding that these parents may not have the knowledge on how to navigate the educational system to the advantage of their children, identify what does Hjalmarston suggest? Do you agree with Hjalmarson’s characterization of the problem and her categorization of parents? Journal Encouraging Parent Involvement Reflect on the following ways you would like to encourage parent involvement: Positive news phone calls, post cards, emails, daily student notes, and parent-teacher conferences. Carefully review the Grading Rubric for the criteria that will be used to evaluate your journal entries. Assignment Developing Relationships Community relationships are important in school success. Schools are often at the center of community activity and can be a significant source of pride to a community. Creating and sustaining this positive relationship is part of every educator’s work. This is especially true in communities where tax levy elections support the school. Establishing positive community relationships is the right thing to do. When people in the community work together on behalf of students, great things can happen. Part of establishing positive community relationships is “getting the message out” about the good things the school is doing in/for the community. For this assignment, you are to take the part of a teacher who has been invited to speak for 10-15 minutes to a community group (your choice) to discuss the school, what students are doing in/for the community, and how the community can best support the school and its students. Your presentation should be creative, engaging, and media focused. You may use the presentation software of your choice (Power Point, Present Me, Prezi, etc.). The length of the presentation should be sufficient to cover a 10-15 minute presentation. It is not necessary to use reference materials, but any reference materials cited should be cited/referenced according to APA as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center. Please be sure to include speaker’s notes in your presentation. Carefully review the Grading .