FAEL Program Newsletter

As you know, in November we celebrate American Indian Heritage Month! In this special edition of the FAEL Newsletter, we hope to share with you some practical ways to integrate American Indian culture into the school for the month of November and hopefully throughout the entire year.

One of the distinguishing factors of Native people is the language. As educators, we can help others to integrate and value the Native language such as Lumbee English dialect in the classroom by working with students to understand the Lumbee dialect and its comparison to the English language.

Allowing students to write and speak in their native language allows them to embrace their culture and help build a bridge between home and school. This process can help students to effectively "Code Switch", the practice of effectively moving between two languages, while increasing literacy and fluency. Ask students to write an essay using the Lumbee dialect and then compare that to an essay written in standard English. Allow students to integrate the Lumbee dialect into a poem, song, or even a role-playing activity.

Additionally, educators can integrate the community by asking local cultural leaders to come in and discuss the roots of the Lumbee dialect and the language through Storytelling.

• With and About: Inviting Contemporary American Indian Peoples Into the Classroom by Dr. Susan Faircloth
• Mapping North Carolina's Present-Day Tribes Lessons
• Dialect Education - NC State University
• "Looking for Ms. Locklear": This documentary follows two young men as they come back to Robeson County to find their teacher, "Ms. Locklear" based solely on word of mouth.
  

Traditional American Indian regalia's and beadwork are compromised of geometric designs that students can recreate during math and art lessons. Students could also learn about science through an Indigenous lens. Educators can integrate information about the three sister crops (corn, beans, and squash) and their reliance on each other to grow. One could also expand on the economic and agricultural importance of the Lumber River to the Lumbee people and the devastating effects that historic weather events such as Hurricane Matthew and Florence can have on the economic and agricultural sustainability of Indigenous people. Merging the contemporary world with the past, lessons around infectious diseases can explore the effects of European diseases that affected many American Indian tribes as well as the current statistics related to the health for American Indian people.

• Culturally Responsive Instruction for Native American Students
• NIEA Educator Resources
• Native Knowledge 360
• Teacher Vision, Native American Heritage Month Lesson Plans (all subjects)
• American Indian's in Literature (all levels)

Also, please visit the Museum of the Southeast American Indian at UNCP for additional resources and tours.

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction offers an Online Professional Development Module for educators across the state to learn more about Culturally Responsive Instruction. According to DPI "Culturally responsive teaching is one strategy identified by the NC State Advisory Council on Indian Education and others to address issues in student performance." For the month of November, FAEL Participants and Mentors will engage in Professional Development through this online platform. To access the online module please select here.

CULTURALLY RESPONSIVE INSTRUCTIONAL RESOURCES

On Thursday, December 5 from 5:00-7:00 p.m. the FAEL Program will hold its annual social event located at UNCP in the Chancellor's Dining Hall. Dr. Susan Faircloth, Director of the School of Education at Colorado State University, will be the Keynote Speaker for this event. Dr. Faircloth is an enrolled member of Coharie Tribe of North Carolina.

• Culturally Responsive Teaching and STEAM Education: Saturday, February 29, 2019, -UNCP ComTech
  
• 45th Annual NC Indian Unity Conference: March 12-14, 2019 -Raleigh, NC
  
• Connecting Communities of Education Stakeholders Conference: March 18-21, 2019 - Greensboro, NC
• UNCP Southeast Indian Studies Conference: March 19-20, 2019 - UNC-Pembroke
• NCASA Conference on Educational Leadership: March 26-27, 2020 - Wilmington Convention Center
  
• Model Schools Conference: June 28-July 1, 2020 - Orlando, FL
  

On Friday, October 25, 2019, FAEL Participants had the opportunity to visit the Mooresville Graded School District. Participants toured several schools and learned innovative ways to develop a culture of excellence in teaching and learning that improves student outcomes. This visit was an extension of the Summer Transformative Leadership Academy.

Pictured left to right Rebecca Chavis-Nolley, Chad Brewer, Jeremiah Moore, Lakola Cook, Kristin Oxendine, and Dr. Camille Goins

On Monday, October 14, 3rd-grade students at Union Chapel Elementary School had the opportunity to participate in a S.T.E.A.M. activity with Dr. Holly Pilson, an orthopedic specialist with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center. Dr. Pilson discussed with students her job responsibilities as an orthopedic surgeon (The Bone Doctor) and reviewed facts about the skeletal and muscular system. Students were then divided into groups and worked on building their own robotic hand. The activity is designed to encourage students to think about how the human body (hand) functions. Students enjoyed having Dr. Pilson come out and discuss what the job is of an orthopedic surgeon and give them an opportunity to apply their knowledge of the human body through a S.T.E.A.M. activity.

Dr. Pilson's visit is one of many events the school plans to host centered on STEAM and led by FAEL Participant, Rebecca Chavis-Nolley.

The FAEL program seeks to increase the number of highly qualified American Indian administrators in Robeson and surrounding counties and is designed to improve the quality of preparation services and culturally responsive leadership offered to American Indian MSA graduates. Additionally, this project will provide on-going professional development, mentoring support and induction services to participants that allows them to improve educational outcomes for American Indian students.

For more information and helpful resources, follow us on the web at https://uncpfael.wordpress.com/.

Master of Arts in School Administration Website.

Email: camille.goins@uncp.edu
Website: https://www.uncp.edu/FAEL
Location: 1 University Drive, Pembroke, NC, USA
Phone: 910-521-6528
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1221943924646410/