Week 4: Teaching All Students
Going into the teaching profession, we are told that our future classroom will be diverse in all aspects. The first thing that comes to mind when we hear "diverse classrooms" are different cultures, backgrounds and personalities. Something that we may not always take into consideration right off the bat is that our future classrooms will also consist of diverse learners. Students with diverse needs, students raised in low-income households, and students who have physical/mental/cognitive abilities are considered diverse learners.
"Nearly 10 million of the nations school-age children live below the official poverty level" (Gunning, 2000, pg. 27)
Shocker right? Not all all. As teachers, we are aware that our classrooms consist of diverse economic backgrounds. But do we know what effect that has on the students? Students from low-income homes typically do not get as much help at home compared to their high-income classmates due to their parents working all the time. If you have limited income, vacations, attending summer camps or getting tutoring is not a priority for them... food and having a roof over their head is. I remember when I was in elementary school, the first day back to school our teachers would always ask us the same question, "What did you guys do over the summer?". To other students, this was the perfect conversation starter. They would talk about their summer vacation trip with their family or their sport camp they attended. Coming from a middle-income family, I did not always have something fun or exciting to say and my teacher would always pick on me for not speaking up. After the discussion, we were told to write about our summer. Others would write a paragraph or two with ease, but for me, it took me a while to write something. If we as teachers do not make our classroom discussions more engaging for students from all backgrounds, students coming from lower-incomes will develop the perception that school is not for them.
"About 80 percent of students classified as having a learning disability have a reading difficulty" (Gunning, 2000, pg. 30)
In other words, a student who does not meet the reading grade level is considered to have a learning disability? At least thats how I interpreted it. There are many factors that can affect a student having a a difficult time reading. One of those factors can be that the student came to school having English as their second language. This means that they are more proficient in their first language and have not yet mastered their skills in English. "Two languages are not competing for space in a student’s brain but are mutually supportive and reinforcing" (Gunning, 2000, pg. 35). This quote stood out to me and I could relate it to my experience in school. Often times teachers think that students whose first language is something other than English are dumb since they cannot grasp the concepts as fast as their peers. In reality, they are not dumb they simply have not mastered English yet. Ask them the same questions in Spanish and BOOM you will see how much the student truly knows. Assessing a students academic background is a good way to truly know the student literacy background. Students that are children on Mexican immigrants tend to be passive around adults. Due to this, students may be judged and said to not know what is going on. In elementary, I was pretty shy and rarely spoke up in class. I dreaded popcorn reading not because I did not know how to read but because I was shy to read in front of class. In addition, during classroom discussions, I would be the last one to raise my hand. Language is not the only thing that can get in the way of a student getting the full learning experience. Those students who are said to have ADHD also have a hard time in school. They often get in trouble for not staying still and not focusing during class. School is not meant to be a jail and students should be allowed to have time to stretch and move around such as having study breaks that involve physical activity. Even us as adults get bored with sitting in lecture for an hour, imagine having to sit all day as a kid in a classroom. Instead of just focusing on trying to change the student, as teachers we also need to work with them.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7-D3gi2lL8
Tips for Future Teachers:
-If you have low-income students, taking a trip to the school library will allow them access to books.
- Provide a safe, caring environment for your students.
- Get to know your students background
- Have clear instructions
- Center activities/assignments in school around your students interests.
- Become familiar with how literacy is used outside of school.
Questions:
1. Do you think having gifted and talented students as peer tutors helping their classmates beneficial?
2. Students from low-income homes typically do not engage in any literacy practices during the summer. How can we as teachers ensure that they are reading/writing during summer so they will not fall behind in the upcoming school year?
3. Do you think it is better to have ENL students taken out of class or have an ENL teacher assist them in their own classroom? Why?
4. How can we help students that have a difficult time learning change their mindset and make them believe in themselves?
“Do you think having gifted and talented students as peer tutors helping their classmates beneficial?” To answer your question, I think that it’s all a matter of finding out what works for certain students that need extra help and what you can do to implement said help. I do think it’s a great idea, but if it makes someone uncomfortable, then you have to move on to Plan B, like it mentions in the book, “It is important that teachers look at ways in which they can help the student perform better in school and in which the school can adjust to the student’s characteristics” (Gunning, p. 31). It also states, however, that studies have shown peer-tutoring as having a dramatic increase of on-task behavior and performance. The video you added is really informative, I love that it shows reasons for why you should get to know your students diverse learning abilities to be able to better help them.
ReplyDeleteDora,
DeleteI like your input on my blog. You're right, only if the student is comfortable with being a peer tutor will it be beneficial to everyone. As a teacher, we need to be flexible and constantly looking for ways to keep our students engaged and making sure they are doing better than the day before. Thank you! I had trouble understanding what it looked like in a classroom setting and felt like this video explained and showed examples pretty well.
In regards to your second question, I think one way a teacher can help ensure students are reading and staying engaged in learning over the summer is to provide them with books to take home for the summer. Not all students have access to books when they are at home, so if there is a way for a teacher to purchase, get grants, or donations of books in order to allow students to take some home with them, I think the students will be more likely to continue reading over the summer breaks. Also to answer question 4, I think positive, encouraging language and conversation is the best way to help students believe in themselves. If the only things they hear the teacher say about them are good things, then the student will start to believe they can be successful with any goals they set for themselves. Do you think for ENL students, it would be beneficial to have books that are written in English and Spanish (or whatever language they speak at home) that way the student can see the story in both languages?
ReplyDeleteKristen, I agree when you said that if there is a way for teachers to purchase, get grants, or donations on books for students then they are more than likely to continue to read over the summer. I also think teachers can start summer reading groups the students would be able to attention and collect books over the course of the year so students can borrow or keep. We as teachers have to find alternative ways for our students to become successful even over summer break. It can be as simple as teachers taking time out of their summer to visit the low-income students with a book and having them read out loud every once in a while.
DeleteKirsten and Desireé,
DeleteI like the input you guys had on my second questions. Many times, students from low-income homes don't have the transportation they need in order to go to the library. Some students may live in an area where the only way to get to the library is by car. By allowing children to take books over the summer, it will increase their chances of reading during break. I also like the idea of having teachers doing home visits and spending time reading with the student. Just making sure that the parents are comfortable with that or even scheduling time to meet with the student at a Starbucks, etc to practice their reading as long as the parents are okay with that. Desireé, I like your idea of having summer reading groups. That will allow students to be with their classmates during the summer and to have discussions over books.
For your third question, "Do you think it is better to have ENL students taken out of class or have an ENL teacher assist them in their own classroom? Why?", I think that the ENL teacher should assist them in their own classroom. When students are brought out of the classroom, it feels like they become isolated. They are not engaging with their fellow classmates as much, and it could cause them to not learn the information that is needed. I think that if an ENL teacher is in the classroom, it could help make the students feel more included. I really enjoy your third question, "How can we help students that have a difficult time learning change their mindset and make them believe in themselves?", because I think this is a very important job as future educators. A student won't learn if they don't believe in themselves. A way to do this, is to talk to your student, and encourage them as much as you can.
ReplyDeleteHayley,
DeleteI agree! When I did my service learning at an ENL class at SENSE, I saw that the students seemed shy/embarrassed to walk back into their classrooms. They mentioned how they felt weird when they would walk in and all their classmates would stare at them. This is why I agree that allowing ENL teachers to be in the classroom assisting rather than being pulled out as the better option. This will allow the student to spend time with their classmates and get help when needed. I feel like many times ENL students are underestimated, they understand more than people think.
To answer your question about gifted and talented students being peer tutors I think yes they should and this is why. The way my teacher taught other students about the Hispanic community was mainly through me. I went to an elementary school where it was around 90% white 10% Black or Hispanic. So my teacher saw the opportunity to inform the other students about the Hispanic culture while using me as a resources; I did not mind. I loved making power points about my school, bringing in books, showing videos about my culture. I think teachers should utilize their students but only if their are comfortable with it, because students learn better from other students.
ReplyDeleteOne thing that stuck with me in middle school was one of my professor would always say 'if you don't understand something, ask another student to explain because they will most likely explain it better in the way that you need it explained'. When I was in the class I thought that that teacher was just being lazy and not wanting to really explain it to us. But my senior year of high school I did the Cadet Teaching Program with 3rd graders and one day I was helping some students with a math problem and there was this student that was struggling really hard, I tried explaining it to him several times but then I remembered my middle school class and I decided to try it out. I called one of the students that I knew really had the material down over to the table and I asked her to explain it to him. The kid that was struggling got it the first time she explained it to him. But I do have to agree with Dora that if the student isn't comfortable in explaining it to them then the teacher is just going to have to find another way to explain it.
Ariana,
DeleteI think it's neat that you're teacher allowed you to share and teach students about your culture. That way, students get to know/understand you better. Sometimes, students learn better hearing it from someone that is their age.
That's interesting! Sometimes as kids we don't understand why adults do certain things but as we get older, everything starts making sense. When we allow a student to teach, we are allowing them to gain confidence and improve their social skills and we as teachers would serve as facilitators.
I am slightly shocked at how much I relate to this. As of now, my family is definitely upper middle class. However, when I was in elementary school, we were on food stamps for a long time. My dad was deployed and my mom was in college, and we just didn't have enough to go around for the four of my siblings. I can still remember being in the store with my mom and hearing her struggle to tell us no to things we wanted- as a second or third grader, it's hard to understand why you can't have the Oreo's that you want. That being said, we didn't go on a family vacation until I was a Senior in high school. We simply didn't have the money. I used to get so jealous when the teacher would make us recap the summer. Other kids would say "Oh, I went to Florida", or "We went to Disneyland for the THIRD time, ugh I'm so sick of it" or "We just went to go visit my grandparents in Greece". I was astounded that they could talk that way- up until high school the furthest away from home I'd ever gotten was Kentucky because we had family down there. I'm having a self-reflecting moment currently because I'm thinking of all the times I've asked the kids at work "What did you do for Spring Break/Summer Vacation/this weekend?" and then sort of laughed when they said something like "I just stayed at home". I would say something like "Well, surely you did something more interesting!". I'm not sure why, coming from what I did, it hasn't clicked in my head how demeaning that is. I'm really thankful for you writing this, because the "summer vacation essays" are a tired, boring idea. We really should be more cognizant of our audience. Maybe something like- how was the most fun person you talked to this summer?- would be better.
ReplyDeletePaige,
DeleteYour experience is very similar to mine. When I would hear students complain about them going to the same place for vacation, I would think of how ungrateful they were. At least they got to travel during the summer but I'm not complaining either. Trips to the park or the pool were chill too. Just like you, the first time I traveled was in high school when I went to visit Mexico. Yes, that would be a better question or even simply asking, "what are you the most excited about for the upcoming school year" to get them thinking and help us get an idea of what they are excited for.
To answer your first question, I think it depends on how the child learns, and what works best for them, but I believe that having another student help them can be a good idea. When I was in school I was paired with another student to help them in class, and to help them stay on task. I found that the student I was helping did much better, and was trying more on his work because of the one on one help that he got. I think this can be very beneficial for some students.
ReplyDelete-Taylor Hall
Taylor,
DeleteI agree! When I was in 5th grade, I was paired with a 1st grader to help them with their reading. We met once a week and they got to read a book of their choice. Reading with the "big kids", as they would refer to us, was a privilege and they tried their best to have good behavior in class and read for at least 30 minutes every day.
In your blog post you said something that was very interesting to me, "About 80 percent of students classified as having a learning disability have a reading difficulty". This is interesting to me because when I started high school I went to a historically bad high school. I became aware that a lot of the people who were class clowns and students who were interruptions, had been put into classes for students with special needs/ disabilities. It didn't make sense to me because these students didn't need to be put in different classes. Most students who were put in those classes skipped or dropped out to avoid the class. They felt the class didn't move as fast as the class they were moved out of. This shows us students will give up if they feel/believe they aren't getting the correct education for them. I felt as though teachers were just doing this to get rid of the students they didn't like or the students who caused distractions. Doing things like this is bad because it doesn't help the child get the education they need. As educators we need to be able to give children the best education and teach them using techniques that help them learn. We also need to put them in environments and classes where they can prosper. Like we found out in last week's readings, even a different seat in the classroom can make a difference.
ReplyDeleteJasmine,
DeleteI agree. Removing a student and placing him in special needs/disabilities classes won't be beneficial to the student in the long run. I found you had an interesting view, "teachers were just doing this to get rid of the students they didn't like or the students that caused distractions". As teachers, our jobs should be to help the students learn not to kick them out because they're too rowdy. If students are acting out, it is our job to find a way to help them stay focused.
Regarding your first question "Do you think having gifted and talented students as peer tutors helping their classmates beneficial?", I feel like I would say yes it would help. The reason I say this is because the student who is struggling could be helped by this peer tutor and the peer tutor can benefit because they are learning the material all over again. To teach is to learn the material twice. Of course though, in some certain situations it might not work for certain individuals. That is why it is important as a teacher to pay attention and see what works and what does not.
ReplyDeleteI think having a gifted or talented student tutoring just depends if they can learn from them. We can ensure that they are reading and writing by maybe asking them to pick books they are interested in and write about it in their summer journal so that they are learning but actually interested in what they are learning so it not seen as homework. I think it is good for ENL students be in both classrooms so that they can experience both classrooms and both teaching methods so that they can improve without being singled out. It is important that if a child has a hard time in believing themself, us teachers have to show we believe in them.
ReplyDeleteEva, I really enjoyed reading your blog. I related to it in some ways. I also read through some our of cohort's comments and I really felt Paige B. on a personal level. Growing up, my mom was a single mom of four kids. I was constantly helping around the house and school was me safe place that I could just focus on myself. Many of my teaches knew of my situation but did not treat me differently because of it. They allowed me to excel and showed me how truly great I can be. I was one of those kids who did not have access to much over the summer. When it came to wanting to read books, I didn't have much resources to get them. I think as future educators and knowing this information and also knowing what it feels like. We will have the extra motivation and drive to apply for grants, raise money to get our students the things they will need to be more successful than they already are. We can send our kids into the summer with at least one book and maybe some pre-printed writing activity sheets for them too. I would personally do a sheet that has writing prompts and laminate it, so if they have the opportunity to read multiple books over the summer, the lamination will allow them to erase and write new things down with the different book they read. Of course, this means they would need a dry erase marker too.
ReplyDeleteYour third question has me really thinking. I do not know which way would be more efficient. I feel as if they do go to a separate room, you are singling them out because they are watched as they leave. But they also can have better one on one time with the ENL teacher in a separate room because all eyes won't be on them. So, it could allow the student to focus more. But I also think if the ENL teacher was in the classroom, it would distract the students who are not meeting with that separate teacher because new adults in a classroom is just so intriguing to the young minds! That question is hard for me to decide.
Thanks for the blog!!! I really enjoyed it!
This comments is in regards to the first question "Do you think having gifted and talented students as peer tutors helping their classmates beneficial"? I think giving a talented child that type of position has its pros and cons. Some of them who do take on the role may find it to be fun at first as a teachers assistant. Having the ability to teach others is a great skill however the students ends up spending time of teaching material the he/se already knew and not allowing the teacher to let them learn new material. Another thing I noticed is that some students are referred to as "teachers pet" and can hurt their feelings and end up being left out. All in all the answer for me is its very complicated. As future educators I know we want to push our students creatively even in times of discomfort to learn new ideas but I believe we have to realize when were taking things a little bit too far.
ReplyDeleteYour blog brings up some very interesting questions and points. The video that you included really helped get a clear understanding of how I could use Differentiating Instruction. I was having a difficult time trying to figure out how I could implement this in my classroom and of course I was making more difficult than it had to be. I wanted to answer your question about how can teachers ensure or help their students read over the summer/write over the summer. I would try to sponsor a little library so my students will have a free library source in their neighborhood to get books. Or hold a book drive and have students pick out books at the end of the year. Or I will give books as prizes for different activities. Or if they have access to computers or other electronics allow students to use apps like epic for free over summer break. These are just a few ideas I have to support student reading over breaks. I feel there are plenty more ways to help get our students books for the summer.
ReplyDeleteEva, I really enjoyed reading what you had to say about the typical back to school, "what did you do over summer break?" question. I have never thought about the fact that many students probably are not able to do fun activities, go on vacations, etc due to low income households and their parents working. I now see that this question can be very hard for some students and can make them feel less. I am now thinking about ways the school/ teachers can create some kind of free summer event for the students to attend. I know this may not be feasible due to funds and schedules but I think adding a summer event beside back to school night could be fun for students who are not able to do much over the summer. Another way for students to be active over the summer is for the teacher to send books home for them. This is a great way for students to stay busy and enhance their literacy skills. This being said, we should send books home that they are actually interested in instead of something random. Again, this may not be feasible due to funds but teachers could request for grants to be made or ask for donations.
ReplyDeleteIn my future classroom, I'm hoping to be able to help children who come from low economic backgrounds throughout the summer by having a classroom library where I will have all types of books students could check out. Also, while I was pondering over your questions I decided that I would also provide my students with a notebook and writing utensil at the end of the year so that they can have a personal diary to write down their experiences over the summer. It would not be homework but something for them to do if they want to. I want all of my students to believe in themselves and in their ability to learn, so I will do whatever it takes it build their confidence. Something I like that you mentioned were giving the students time to relax their brain before jumping into a new subject, I hate sitting in lectures so why would I expect something different from children?
ReplyDeleteI think those are great ideas! I would love to have a library in my classroom that students could come check out multiple books that they want to read over the summer. That would be so exciting. Also, sending them home with notebooks and a pack of pencils would be a great way to get them to write, and maybe write summaries over the books they read for a prize when school started back up.
DeleteThank you for talking about learning disabilities. This topic, I feel, is completely overlooked by a lot of people and a lot of teachers. You're right, when we think of diversity in the classroom we don't immediately think about disabilities. I feel like a lot of people don't understand that a person with disabilities doesn't always get placed into a special needs classroom and doesn't also get or need the extra help. My brother has Aspergers and growing up he had issues in class with being more educated than a lot of the other students in his grade. He wanted to read under his desk and wanted to critic the teacher. His teachers weren't ready to have a student like him, they didn't want to learn from him, they wanted to control him. He is hands down one of the smartest people I have ever met. I always stop and think about what kind of things he could have done when he was younger if they would have let him learn the way he wanted to. If the teachers would have taken the time to learn from him then they may have had better ways to teach other students like him.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to answer one of your questions, Do you think having gifted and talented students as peer tutors helping their classmates beneficial? I think its very beneficial when students can help each other out when they are working together. If they are in reading groups, and instead of being placed in groups where one group has all the higher reading levels and the other has the lower. We can try to pair them with each other so the lower reading level student can hear the higher reading level student read how the words are supposed to sound. And whenever the lower reading student can do his reading the higher reading level student can help him out. I think it's a win situation because they won't feel singled out.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your first question, I'm not super sure that having a gifted and talented students would help. Students are very aware of their surroundings. They know which students are "smarter" or better at something. I was an extremely shy and easily embarrassed student. I would hate every minute of a student trying to help me learn. Something like this wouldn't make me succeed but it would make me crawl further into my shell. I'm sure there are some students that may benefit from this. I think that, instead of gifted and talented students from the same grade as the struggling student, there should be high school helpers. Younger students enjoy when high schoolers or young adults come in to see them or work with them.
ReplyDelete"Students from low-income homes typically do not engage in any literacy practices during the summer. How can we as teachers ensure that they are reading/writing during summer so they will not fall behind in the upcoming school year?" to answer your question, I think a great idea would be to maybe get them library cards if there is a library in the community. Also, you could get non-expensive books for them to read during the summer. Some that are their level and maybe a couple that are the next level so they can challenge themselves. Sometime my elementary teachers would do over the summer is give us a packet of worksheets and activities to do during the summer that we could bring back at the start of the year for a prize if we did it all. "How can we help students that have a difficult time learning change their mindset and make them believe in themselves?" to answer this question, I think a great way is to always leave nice comments on their work letting them know what they did right, but also what to improve on. never just put the student down with a bunch of red pen everywhere. Also, maybe have students write encouraging post it notes and put them around the room on peoples desks for little pick me ups during class.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I’ve learned in college so far, I have come to realize that in the past, teachers never really thought about how diversity isn’t just about ethnicity. They don’t think about how some families are not as privileged as others. They don’t think about how some kids don’t get to eat breakfast in the morning and all they think about while in class is when their next meal is instead of focusing on school work. Also, they don’t think about how students do not get the support at home to have motivation to do finish their homework or even succeed in it. This is because their parents are working all the time like you mentioned. I’m very grateful to learn these things I need to notice before I become a teacher so I can help all students any way I can.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing, I’ve read an article in the past that a lot of black kids are sent to be tested for disabilities such as ADHD or ADD just because they’re acting up in class or struggling with school. But the reason a student could be like that is because of the same reasons, they don’t get emotional or physical support from their parents from them working all the time. Or they just feel like they’re not belonging somewhere. It’s our job to prevent these things.
Tricia Crandall
ReplyDeleteI do think that having peers working together in the classroom is beneficial. Sometimes a kid just needs another kid to help them understand a topic! To help students keep reading and writing over the summer, I would let students and parents know about things they can do at the public library or if the school has any summer programs they can do. I can see the advantages and disadvantages of having either an ENL instructor in the classroom or being pulled out. If you have an instructor in the room with you, then you can potentially ask the instructor to ask the same question I raised in class to the student and have them answer in their first language. Like you said, their English skills just aren't fully developed! It doesn't mean they don't know the material. But on the other hand, the other students may think that the student is slow since they need an aid. I would rather my students stay in the classroom so I can help them the most I can, but if they need to go to another room to help their learning, then I am all for that as well. We can help students believe in themselves by just being there for them and encouraging them to do their best.
Growing up I was placed in an ENL program although I spoke and understood more English than Spanish. I was rarely taken out of class to get further assistance. I was always given a person to assist me within the classroom, only if I needed her. I do believe it would be better if it would be split 50/50, some in class help so that the students don't feel felt out in a way, but one on one help and in an environment that they are comfortable in can be very beneficial. I believe connecting with your students on a personal level can help them feel as if they can trust you and confide in you. Incorporating things your students like to do within your content can help contain their focus and attention in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteIn response to question 2, “Students from low- income homes typically do not engage in any literacy practices during the summer. How can we as teachers ensure that they are reading/ writing during summer so they will not fall behind in the upcoming school year?” I believe providing your students with the most resources as possible can help. For example, giving your students information on summer reading programs or trying to obtain some kind of grant to buy each student a book or writing book to work on in the summer. I believe just informing the students and trying to give what materials I possibly can.
ReplyDelete- Deja Shelton