Whiteboards are remarkable.

I went to my school twice this week, and my students were great this week! On Monday, I got to work with a math small group, and these were the lowest level math students in the class. I had to constantly make sure they were paying attention, and knew what was going on. I also had my guided reading Monday as well, and the students in my group, paid attention really well. However, I had a little Mexican girl in my group randomly say, "If Trump get elected, I'm going to be sent back to Mexico"...she was dead serious, and I was so caught off guard! I changed the subject quickly, because I did not want the rest of the group to get involved, but I thought that that statement was rather worrisome. The student looked very stressed out about this. The rest of the group time was great! On Friday, I got to help a group of low level students take a reading comprehension quiz on the novel we have been reading, and helping them with the written comprehension part was more difficult than I anticipated. During, my small group Friday, an ESL student got pulled from my group to go with an ESL teacher, and that has never happened while I have been in there before.

This week, I did research on diversity in the classroom. How can we prepare teachers to work with culturally diverse students and their families? What skills should educators develop to do this successfully? This article is from Harvard Family Research Project, and this website is very informational! One of the most important skills we need to develop in Pre-K–16 teachers is their ability to build on the knowledge that students bring into classrooms, particularly that knowledge which is shaped by their family, community, and cultural histories. It is often difficult even for good teachers to go out into the community to do the home visits that can build rapport. I advocate three family-specific alternatives to connect teachers with the primary or secondary caregiver(s) of each student at least once during the school year in order to offer positive information regarding student progress. (1.) Call each child’s family with positive information.

(2.) Email each student’s family during the school year with positive information.

(3.) Through email attachment, post office mail, or student delivery, send a positive message via audio or audio/visual medium regarding each student. My teacher is very passionate about home visits, and looks forward to doing them every year. This is something that I will carry onto my future teaching career.

This research connects with NCPTS number two or, teachers establish a respectful enviroment for a diverse population of students. As teachers we need to comfort the diversity in our classrooms, and make sure that we keep each culture alive. As teachers we need to learn how to embrace these different cultures in our community and in our schools. 

http://www.hfrp.org/family-involvement/fine-family-involvement-network-of-educators/member-insights/how-can-we-prepare-teachers-to-work-with-culturally-diverse-students-and-their-families-what-skills-should-educators-develop-to-do-this-successfully