Welcome to the Modern Classrooms Project Podcast. Each week we bring you discussions with educators on how they use blended, self-paced, and mastery-based learning to better serve their learners. In this episode, Toni Rose Deanon is joined by Micah Daniels for a conversation on culturally responsive education for indigenous students and communities.

Together, they emphasize the importance of creating a culturally responsive classroom that values community and student agency. Micah shares a powerful example of fostering community through a student-written constitution, highlighting the significance of restorative justice practices.

Here are three key takeaways from this podcast episode:

• Community Building: Micah advocates for integrating indigenous teaching practices that prioritize community involvement and student agency. She states, “One of the biggest challenges is being able to say, 'This is our knowledge, this is my community's knowledge.'"

• Restorative Justice: The podcast explores the impactful use of restorative justice practices in the classroom, emphasizing the importance of accountability and healing.

• Cultural Relevance: Micah stresses the need for cultural relevance in education, challenging the one-size-fits-all mentality prevalent in mainstream systems. Micah shares, "I guess my hope for the future is to be in a classroom where an indigenous student... doesn't have to get re-traumatized by the system itself."

Despite facing challenges like appropriation and a lack of urgency in education, Micah envisions a future where indigenous students don't face trauma within the system. She expresses a goal of creating spaces for healing outside the dominant culture's educational structure, possibly through immersion schools.

Discussion questions for PLC and PD: 

• How can educators actively incorporate community-building practices, similar to Micah's student-written constitution, into their classrooms to foster a sense of belonging and accountability among students?

• Reflecting on Micah's use of restorative justice practices, how can educators integrate such approaches into their teaching methods to address conflicts, build empathy, and promote emotional well-being in the classroom?

• In what ways can educators challenge the one-size-fits-all mentality in mainstream education and ensure that their teaching practices are culturally relevant and sensitive to the diverse backgrounds of their students?

Our Host

Toni Rose taught MS English for 10 years and will forever identify as a teacher. Toni Rose strives to be the teacher that they never had growing up, so they focus on anti-bias, anti-racist work and wants to create a brave space for everyone around them. As a queer Filipinx, they understand just how important it is to be represented, be valued, and belong. They especially love being a thought partner for and celebrating teachers.

Our Guest: Micah Asdzaa Toaheedliinii Daniels

Micah Asdzaa Toaheedliinii Daniels is a 5th Grade General Ed. teacher at Montezuma Creek Elementary School. She is Water Flows Together Clan (Navajo) and is born for the Northern Arapaho Tribe. Micah graduated from Dartmouth College with her Bachelor of Arts in Native American Studies and Education. Her passion and work centers culture and language revitalization and being trauma-informed in the classroom. Prior to teaching full time in the classroom, Micah worked in her home community's elementary school as a Behavioral Interventionist where she quickly became the school-wide PBIS Coordinator. As the coordinator, she was able to draft and implement culturally relevant school wide expectations and social skills classes that center the Beauty Way teachings of the Dine. During her five years at San Juan School District she was nominated by peers as both Employee of the Year and Teacher of the Year. This most recent summer, Micah spoke at the Wyoming Department of Education's Native American Education Conference about Indigenizing Trauma-Informed Practices in the classroom. In her free time, Micah sits on the board for Dine Nizhoni Inc, a nonprofit with the goal of implementing community language/culture revitalization programming in Southern Utah. She loves to read, trail run, and coach basketball.

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