Diversity
My experience
with diversity may be somewhat different from that of other teachers. I teach at
my neighborhood school, which opened in 1998 after a rezoning struggle. My two
daughters were the only white students in school because many of our neighbors
declined to enroll their children, so for the first time my girls experienced being
in the minority, although they had previously been attending a very diverse
school. It challenged them, helping them learn to make new friends and excel in
many ways. By the time my younger daughter was in fifth grade most of the other
children seemed to have forgotten that she is white, and when they would go on
field trips they were always surprised to see other children who looked like her.
However, even though the school is 95% African-American it is a surprisingly diverse school. Some students live in a shelter for homeless families, while others come from affluent neighborhoods and live in two-parent households. Several have same-sex parents. We have a number of students who are Orthodox Christians from Ethiopia, and many Muslim children in all grades. Our students are also very diverse linguistically. One of English-learning Ethiopian girls is fluent in three other languages and I am impressed with how she works with her classmates and also helps her mother and siblings learn English. It is also not unusual for our school to enroll Chinese students who speak no English, and I have begun to develop knowledge and skills using technology tools to help those students in class, particularly apps that record instructions and translate them into spoken Chinese when needed. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for those children to be in a new school not understanding basic instructions, and struggling to ask to use the restroom or understand lunchroom behavior. The program requirements of considering assistive and adaptive technology as well as English learners’ needs in school have helped me be more sensitive to the diverse needs of all students. I am more mindful of searching for innovating technology solutions to improve students’ and colleagues learning experiences.
I have learned to work very carefully with students and colleagues and be mindful of differences, and model instructions and activities, also paying attention to nonverbal cues. I have also become an advocate for our English-learning students. Some of the things I have done to help address our diverse family members this year include:
· Working with administrators to keep library facilities open in the evenings for families that don't have computers at home so students can access technology and parents can pursue their own learning and job goals;
· Purchasing word to word dictionaries that English learning children were allowed to use during the CRCT;
· Purchasing academic vocabulary dictionaries in 14 languages for English language learners
· Purchasing multicultural reference books and multicultural storybooks and ebooks;
· Teaching children who have individual education plans how to use electronic books, so that text is accessible in multiple formats to help their understanding of written material;
· Participating in our school’s Parent University that helps families who have had less positive experiences in a school setting growing up to make them feel welcome and comfortable so that they can help their children's education;
· Ensuring the web resources that I provide for teachers encompass many different diverse groups and cover different points of view on many subjects;
· Teaching parents about our electronic resources that are available in many different languages;
· Collaborating with our ESOL teacher to work with students and activities;
· Collaborating with our special education teachers to identify technology solutions such as Dragon Dictation that might help our students better complete writing assignments.
However, even though the school is 95% African-American it is a surprisingly diverse school. Some students live in a shelter for homeless families, while others come from affluent neighborhoods and live in two-parent households. Several have same-sex parents. We have a number of students who are Orthodox Christians from Ethiopia, and many Muslim children in all grades. Our students are also very diverse linguistically. One of English-learning Ethiopian girls is fluent in three other languages and I am impressed with how she works with her classmates and also helps her mother and siblings learn English. It is also not unusual for our school to enroll Chinese students who speak no English, and I have begun to develop knowledge and skills using technology tools to help those students in class, particularly apps that record instructions and translate them into spoken Chinese when needed. I can’t imagine how difficult it is for those children to be in a new school not understanding basic instructions, and struggling to ask to use the restroom or understand lunchroom behavior. The program requirements of considering assistive and adaptive technology as well as English learners’ needs in school have helped me be more sensitive to the diverse needs of all students. I am more mindful of searching for innovating technology solutions to improve students’ and colleagues learning experiences.
I have learned to work very carefully with students and colleagues and be mindful of differences, and model instructions and activities, also paying attention to nonverbal cues. I have also become an advocate for our English-learning students. Some of the things I have done to help address our diverse family members this year include:
· Working with administrators to keep library facilities open in the evenings for families that don't have computers at home so students can access technology and parents can pursue their own learning and job goals;
· Purchasing word to word dictionaries that English learning children were allowed to use during the CRCT;
· Purchasing academic vocabulary dictionaries in 14 languages for English language learners
· Purchasing multicultural reference books and multicultural storybooks and ebooks;
· Teaching children who have individual education plans how to use electronic books, so that text is accessible in multiple formats to help their understanding of written material;
· Participating in our school’s Parent University that helps families who have had less positive experiences in a school setting growing up to make them feel welcome and comfortable so that they can help their children's education;
· Ensuring the web resources that I provide for teachers encompass many different diverse groups and cover different points of view on many subjects;
· Teaching parents about our electronic resources that are available in many different languages;
· Collaborating with our ESOL teacher to work with students and activities;
· Collaborating with our special education teachers to identify technology solutions such as Dragon Dictation that might help our students better complete writing assignments.