Creating a Sense of Belonging in the California Community Colleges

Fresno City College is one of the many California community colleges that makes consistent efforts to create and maintain student equity on campus. Be it online, in-person or hybrid classes, they have successfully been creating an equitable environment for their racially and socio-economically diverse students coming from 45 different countries.  NameCoach was adopted at Fresno City College earlier this year as a way of strengthening their inclusion and [...]

A Community in Your Classroom

Creating a community in your classroom is so much more than just pronouncing names correctly. But if that is where you are most comfortable beginning, then that is a good place to start. Community. It sounds easy, but you know it will be more challenging. One of the reasons creating community is so complicated is that the definition of community changes for each class, each semester, and each [...]

NameBadge: Let the World Really Know Your Name

NameBadge is my favorite feature on NameCoach. It is a fun and free way to express your identity as an individual. It also makes a great presentation for the beginning of school year or as an attachment on a professional profile (like LinkedIn) or social media. After registering, follow the three easy steps to create your own badge. First, record your own name in your own voice. You [...]

Commencement Ceremony

The Academy Awards is one of the most glamorous and celebrated events in Hollywood. Millions of viewers tune in to watch as stars gather to celebrate major achievements in the film industry. For some of these actors, actresses, technicians, directors, and producers, it is the most momentous evening of their lives. In recent years, it has become a platform for celebrities and academy members to advocate for diverse [...]

What Inclusion Means

Last night, I was talking with my friend, Olga. She shared that all through school, teachers never pronounced her name correctly. When I told her I just so happened to be writing an article about this, she got very serious. “Do you think it’s important?” I responded that it is extremely important because a name is an integral part of a person’s identity. At One Extreme Mispronouncing or [...]

What’s in a name?

As it turns out, quite a bit. It’s the first day of school and you wait, anxious and excited, to meet your new teacher: you’ve purchased the necessary supplies, arrived on time, and found your seat. As you wait for the teacher to begin, you’re filled with a sense of dread--she has started to call names from the attendance sheet. Will she get yours right this year? Should [...]

2018-02-13T03:40:59+00:00October 14th, 2017|Diversity, Inclusion, Equity, and Belonging|