In my field placement, I have seen lots of variation between students. First of all, there are 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade students in my classroom so I see lots of variation in age, ability and maturity level. It amazes me to see the differences between the 1st graders and the 3rd graders. For the most part, the 3rd graders are very independent and can be trusted to do their work on their own. However, the 1st graders cannot really be held accountable to finish their work at all. Someone always has to be reminding them to stay on task and to complete their assignments. There is also a lot of diversity in my classroom. There is a great mix of kids from lots of different racial and cultural backgrounds. There is also an ELL in my classroom whose family moved here from Cuba. Some students in my class have some physical challenges; one student has MS, another is legally blind. Some students have some emotional disabilities and others struggle academically. I love the children in my field placement because they are such a great diverse group of kids. With such a diverse group of students, it is hard to support all of them. What I have discovered is that it is important to distinguish the levels of support needed among students. Not all students need the same level of support, so they should not be given the same level of support. Going along with that idea, I think it is important to get to know the students in your classroom very well. If you know your students well, then you will be much better equipped to provide them with the support that they need.
As I stated earlier, there is a lot of racial diversity in my classroom. Sometimes, I feel that I don’t know how to relate to the diverse student population. I grew up in a small town that is 96% white, so I was never exposed to a lot of diversity growing up. The article I read- Seeing Color, Seeing Culture -emphasized how important it is for teachers (especially white teachers) to recognize racial differences. Many teachers claim to be “colorblind”, but this attitude “justifies inequality and exploitation by accepting the existing order of things as given” (pg 31-32). I often find myself struggling with this concept in my field placement. I know that I should not ignore race, but at the same time I struggle with how to address it. Due to my limited background, I sometimes have a hard time finding connections with students of different backgrounds. However, I thought that Joellen Maples had a good idea of how to address this issue in the piece Opening Quality Lines of Communication: Seeing My Students through the Eyes of Their Parents. In this piece, Maples had the parents of her students write an essay telling her all about their child. Through this assignment she learned SO much about her students and built a relationship of trust with the parents. I think that even though I struggle with how to connect with my students of different races, as long as I show them that I value them and their experiences and that I appreciate them as human beings, then I will be able to connect with them.
Although my placement students are not as diverse as allie’s in regard to physical disabilities, they vary greatly in regards to race, academic level, and behavioral trends. As mentioned in “Seeing Color, Seeing Culture,” it is extremely important for teachers to not only see color, but to embrace it. By “not seeing” race, teachers basically claim that all children are the same when the fact of the matter is, students are different and therefore have different needs. These needs need to be addressed and accommodated for if the student is going to learn and grow in a supportive learning environment (pg. 33). I have witnessed my teacher in my placement use the cultural difference of his students to enhance the learning environment of all of his students. For example, when discussing Korean culture, my C.T. asked (ahead of time) of a Korean-American student would feel comfortable sharing the traditions that her family practices after reading a story in their literature book about a Korean immigrant and his interactions with American culture. When she did, it sparked a really authentic conversation amongst the students and this made the story much more relevant and interesting to the other students in the class.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to academic levels, some students in my class are far ahead of their grade level in general and a few students are way behind. There are many that excel in some subjects but are behind in others. Accommodating for this type of diversity is, I believe, very challenging. One tip that I really found helpful was out of the Breitfelder article (this was also mentioned on page 71 of the article about Marcus). Both articles recommended give the students visuals that they could hold on two personally. Some examples included a class schedule and assignment charts. There are many students in my class that often approach my C.T. and ask him for a list of the assignments they are missing. I believe that having a list of these assignments that they are able to hold on to themselves would help the students develop more personal responsibility.
The aspect of behavioral diversity is one that concerns me the most with the students in my classroom. There is such a wide variety of different behavioral trends to the students. Some students are hard workers and well behaved most of the time. Others seem to always be getting into trouble, usually for not getting their work done or for talking to other students. Of course, there are some students in the middle and others who struggle with only one behavioral aspect and are fine in others. While reading the article about Marcus, the gifted student, my mind drifted to one student in my class who reminds me of Marcus in so many ways. For example, he loves school when he knows the answer to a question (which is often) but he hates school when he struggles. This student also has many of the relational difficulties that Marcus has in regards to getting along with other students. Reading this article really helped me to understand gifted students like Marcus and the student mentioned above better than before. It also made me realize how important it is for teachers with these kinds of students to be flexible and patient (pgs. 71 and 72).
I loved the idea of having the parent or caregiver write about their child, but I worried about the many parents who may not speak or write English. I wondered if teachers could ask ELL children to interpret the homework assignment to the parent, and the parent could write it in their own language and the child could then translate to the teacher. What do you think? Could that work? As to the Marcus article and the need for flexibility and patience, I agree. I had a child who was gifted with ADHD AND learning disabilities. At the time I was teaching a first/second grade split. Michael needed TWO desks, he just could not keep his stuff straight in one and he needed to spread himself out. Moreover, he was so curious that while I was teaching something to the second graders, he would come over to watch for awhile. I always let him. By second grade he needed a very specialized program that included explicit, interactive instruction in phonologogical awareness, phonics, fluency, word recognition etc. for three hours per week, and his second grade teacher would not allow him to wonder around, but she did do what the Marcus article suggested, which was give him lots of support and not just assume he would be able to work on his own, just because he was gifted. I think what I'm trying to say is that she would have gone crazy if he had wandered around the way he did in my class, it just was not HER learning style. But michael did well with both of us, because we spun his needs, and our own needs and found ways to make it work for all concerned. In all the articles we read there are at least SOME ideas that will work for any teacher, in spite of each or our different comfort styles in working with students--as long as we care enough to find SOMETHING that works.
ReplyDeleteThere are definitely a lot of differences in all of the students in my classroom as well; a classroom where all students are the same, simply, does not exist. Even in a classroom, in a small, white town with have differences among students. All people have different experiences and are from different backgrounds; therefore, teachers should never assume certain things about their students based on things like race.
ReplyDeleteI am in a kindergarten classroom and I've been told that they are a "very young" group. That confuses me a bit because most students are 6-7 years old (I was 5 years old) and half of them are going to be held back in kindergarten another year because they are so "young" and weren't able to reach the goals set in order to move on to the first grade. In this group of students, I know two that are definitely being held back - one can do his work, but needs to be guided through every single little thing because he gets frustrated and is very immature (I guess I see the "young" factor with him). The other student is a different story. It's one that I've asked my CT about, but have never been able to get a clear answer. More than half way through the year and this student cannot write at all. She scribbles on everything. Even when coloring, she scribbles all over the paper - not really paying any attention to the paper many times. She often seems like she's "zoned out". Anyway, I have never seen my CT do much to accommodate this student and when I've asked about her, it seems as though the CT has just sort of given up in a sense because she knows she'll be held back another year. This student has not been diagnosed with any type of learning disability and maybe she should be tested. It doesn't seem as though much attention is given to her. Every day I am at the school, a few students are taken out of the classroom for help in speech, reading, etc., and I do not understand why they have never taken this particular student to receive extra help. I am going to really push to get some answers from my CT this week.
I also have three ELL students in my class: there is a Chinese, Spanish, and Hmong speaker. Actually, the Hmong speaker is very bright and enthusiastic student. It's just difficult to understand his speech a lot of the time because of his pronunciation. The Spanish speaker also is difficult to understand when he speaks. The Chinese speaker isn't so hard to understand when he speaks, but he is usually quiet for most of the day. He raises his hand to answer questions, the teacher calls on him, and many times he doesn't provide any response. These children have basically been placed in an English immersion classroom because they do not have any aids that can speak to them in their native language (at least for the Spanish and Hmong speaker - they go to a Chinese immersion school and this classroom learns Chinese for 30 minutes a day - therefore, the Chinese speaker has more support). In the article by Freeman and Freeman, "Three Types of English Language Learners", they talk about a Hmong student who developed conversational proficiency in English and I think all of these students, so far, have shown that they are conversationally proficient for the most part. However, it is vital to know that these students, although they sound as if they know the language in their speech, their academics are a different story because conversational language is different form academic language.
The student in the article also never developed literacy in her first language and how, eventually, she lost that first language. Obviously, it is very important for the girl to have learned English, since she goes to school in the U.S., but one mistake many teachers make is that they discourage their students from using their native language, when it is so key to their academic success in English, or a second language in general. I think that is absolutely horrible. I was an ELL when I went to kindergarten (I only spoke Polish) and I was lucky enough to have gone to Polish school once a week, until I graduated high school; that way I never lost my first language because I developed literacy skills in it. It's sad because this girl lives in a neighborhood that has a lot of Hmong people and her parents don't even speak English, so I don't understand how she could lose her knowledge of her first language - at least the ability to speak it. The Chinese student in my classroom is very lucky to be able to attend this school. He has the chance to thrive in both his first and second language.
ReplyDeleteFinally, to answer your question Marjorie, about the ELL parents writing about their children and so on [f.y.i. I lost internet service at my house last night and just got back to MSU - that is why my post is late] I think that is a great idea and would work wonderfully if they are willing to cooperate and of course, the student would have to be literate in their first language. In their situation, there is even more interaction with the parents and children because they have that extra need for communication in the translating. If these children do this sort of work with their parents then maybe it could even push their interest and enthusiasm in knowing how to read, write, and speak in their first language. Also, they would have practice with English. Personally, I know how difficult it is to translate something from one language to another, but it has really helped me gain more knowledge about both languages. For example, it has improved my vocabulary, significantly.