Teaching Diverse Students

     Lynne Casey is an 11-year-old student who suffered severe burns when her house caught fire. More than 35% of her body was burned, but her face and hands are what she seems to have the most difficulty with. I think this story is amazing because, very seldom, do we realize that we will encounter issues beyond just cognitive impairments and home-violence. As future educators, we want to know all about socio-economic issues, domestic violence, etc. But by focusing in on these broader issues, we are overlooking others such as family rejection, not knowing where they will sleep at night, and coping with the death of a family member.
     In addition, I think that we often associate bullying with some huge child that picks on a much smaller child. However, just as in Lynne's case there are children that pick on other children because of their struggles. Regardless of whether it's a child who likes to intimidate others with their size, or a child who laughs and teases another's physical appearance, we need to make sure that students are comfortable and welcome in schools. 
     I know that there are counselors that usually assist with these sorts of things, but I think it is essential for teachers to learn about how to handle varied situations. This is mainly because we will not show up on the first day of school, and get a list of each child with EVERY personal family issue that have or had. So, we must do our homework and make sure that we are conducting a fair learning environment for everyone. We do not want to treat these students in a "special" kind of way, but we do want to take time to ensure that they are getting the best out of their learning experience.
     Even though the fire changed some things about Lynne, we need to make sure that we are elaborating on her strengths instead of her weaknesses. For example, the fire caused her to not be able to play the piano, so her parents are motivating her to stay active in other ways. This is a perfect example of how differentiation can apply outside of the classroom. 
     After learning about diversifying literature for students, I thought that it would be a good idea for Lynne's teacher to bring in a book that relates to what she is going through. However, I recognize that there could be issues if the student does not feel comfortable discussing such a story. I also think this is where the teacher steps in. It is their job to create an environment where these things can be discussed, especially when it involves a student personally. I would also incorporate literature that deals with other things that may make children different. This will "lighten the load", and make it easier for students like Lynne because they will be able to relate but not feel like they are being called out.

Supporting all learners

The student that i have chosen to discuss is a 11 year old boy named Nam Nguyen. He is Vietnamese-American, his family moved to the State before he was born. To aide in this new transition, they had support form both the immigration assistance program and the ESL instructors at this new school. Even though Nam's parents were the first to come to the States from their family, over the years more of the Nguyen's have come to the U.S. For these reasons Nam's Vietnamese heritage is very important to he and his family. However as a child of immigrant parents, he often feels torn between his two identities. He feels as though he must be Vietnamese at home and American at school, nevertheless he takes pride in being Vietnamese.
 This is very common amongst students who are from immigrant parents, so as a teacher we must make the classroom a multicultural place where all students can express their individuality. It would be idea to have books in the classroom library that contains either Vietnamese culture or students from immigrant families. For my discussion-based lesson i will be focusing on a book entitled You Can Be a Friend. This is a book that takes about friendship and excepting people for who they are. This book would tie into a multicultural setting that would aide all students. For an assessment we will be creating Venn diagrams about the similarities and differences we have amongst our classmates and how their differences make them who they are, and also how their differences does not affect their friendship. This assignment would give Nam the opportunity to express himself in terms of identifying with two cultures. This assignment and discussion would bring students closer by them expressing their differences and having students appreciate them.

Supporting All Learners

                During my discussion-based lesson plan, I will be using the book Keep Your Ear on the Ball by Genevieve Petrillo. The topic of the lesson is developing an understanding of kids with disabilities. I will be doing a read aloud and stopping at a few points in the story to analyze the characters, theme, and setting to make inferences and draw conclusions. My goal is to get students thinking about how the theme is significant and its relation to their lives and society today.

                The student I have chosen to provide support for is Jimmy Randolph. Before starting the lesson, I would like to remind Jimmy of his behavioral contract and reward system so that he is aware that his behavior is being monitored and it is necessary for him to follow his contract. Since he does tend to act out randomly in class, this will be a way to lessen the chances of that happening. As an introduction to the lesson, it would be beneficial to make expectations of behavior and the explanation of the lesson explicit for students. In terms of supporting Jimmy, this will provide him with the knowledge of what is to come and can prevent an angry outburst. By making each set of directions explicit for the students, transitions will also be clear to reduce the chances of the environment setting triggering one of Jimmy’s outbursts. It is also important to let students know how much I love to hear their ideas and the benefits of sharing with the class. Since the book does discuss disabilities and some students may be new to this concept, I will remind students that they do not need to share anything they are uncomfortable with telling the rest of the class. This will make Jimmy feel more at ease since he is embarrassed at times about his emotional disorder.

                During the reading, I think it is important to give the class an option of sitting on the floor or the two rows of desks closest to the reading area. This will be helpful for Jimmy since he gets the choice of choosing where he feels most comfortable learning. This also effects his environmental setting which could be a factor in his outbursts. It is also important to remind students that their ideas they share in the classroom are presented in a safe environment. This will help students feel more comfortable sharing their ideas. This is particularly important for Jimmy because his description stated that he likes to share his thoughts with his counselor because she is nice and feels comfortable with her.

                During the post-assessment writing assignment, I will give Jimmy the option of working in the resource room since he does feel like this is his best possible learning environment. This can enable him to feel more comfortable sharing his ideas about the reading.

                Although the supports throughout this lesson were geared towards Jimmy’s learning experience, they can benefit other students if not every student in the classroom as well. 

On the website Jen provided us I read the story about the little girl named Alina Percea. She is a little Romanian girl who came over to the States and worked hard, in intensive programs, to learn English. Alina excelled at learning English but now she knows little to no Romanian and neither does her mother but her mother wants her to concentrate on learning the English language. It seems to me that Alina has concentrated so hard on learning English that she has completely forgotten about her native language, which I believe is important to maintain and remember. If I was Alina's teacher I think I would applaud her English learning but also try to bring back some of Alina's Romanian culture and language as well.

A suggestion I would have for Alina, and her mom, would be to encourage them to bring back some Romanian culture in Alina's life and school work. I would want to have a show and tell time where any student could bring in stories and artifacts from their culture (or country if they are from another country like Alina) to share with the class. This way Alina wouldn't be the only one sharing her story and feeling isolated. Instead, all the students could bring in a story if they want to and connect with each other about the places they come from and the heritages they might share. So many great activities could be created to relate to one and other about the country or culture background similarities students share. I would really want Alina to share her Romanian experience because when you are learning English I don't believe it is right to completely shut out your home culture or country.

Another idea I had would be to talk to Alina's mom and get to know her and Alina, maybe I could understand why Alina's mom is very persistent to cancel out Alina's Romanian language and culture. Maybe Alina's mom is worried Alina will forget all the English she knows if she tries to remember her Romanian language as well. If it is alright with Alina's mother, I would want to give her a list of some objects in the classroom (like pencil, paper, chalkboard, desk, chair, etc) and have Alina's mom give me a list of how to say all these objects in Romanian! I think this way Alina would feel like she can discuss her native language if she'd like and not get nervous or frustrated if she feels English is too scary. We don't want her to get sad and scared of school like she did when she was first visiting the school.

I'm not sure why my post deleted but it was originally uploaded on Friday night. Here is a re-post of what was originally added to the page.

            

    Issues like this are bound to arise in the classroom since each student is different from one another. As we have seen in the readings from this week and previous weeks, since all students are individuals, each student cannot be taught in the same way. I think it is possible for Mrs. Potter to adjust her classroom to meet the needs of the students without having to make any drastic changes to disrupt the dynamic of the classroom. Some of the things Mrs. Potter could offer to ensure the three students are getting the most of their learning experience can actually benefit the rest of the class as well.

                Although Mrs. Potter’s observations stated that Lupita had minimal experience with toys and puzzles and little interactions with kids her age, it is obvious that Lupita is capable of completing puzzles and working with other students in a positive manner. It seems as though Mrs. Potter made assumptions about Lupita that may need to be reconsidered. It may be beneficial for Mrs. Potter to call on Lupita more so that she can figure out what Lupita is capable of. Since Lupita is quiet it may be more beneficial to hear how she interacts with students in small group work. Rather than have the students decide on who they want to be grouped with, Mrs. Potter could place students into groups so that she ensures that Lupita is with students who may make her feel comfortable enough to share her knowledge. Mrs. Potter can also integrate stimulating materials such as puzzles and toys into classroom activities and assignments since it’s obvious that Lupita is successful in using these materials and showing others how to utilize them. Since she was missing stimulating materials growing up, maybe this is what she needs to prosper in the classroom. Mrs. Potter could also take it a step further and implement a parent homework assignment much like the one discussed in the Breitfleder article. This may give Mrs. Potter a better sense of what stimulates Lupita and how to help her interact with peers.

                It is evident that Jonathan is too embarrassed to ask for help, which may be due to the amount of praise he gets in other areas of his life. According to the Maples reading, Jonathan is someone who could benefit from visual support. If Jonathan is below grade level for reading, it may be possible that he is unable to read the directions on his assignment, therefore leaving him unaware of how to complete assignments. By using picture directions, he may actually be able to begin completing his work. It may also be nice to integrate small group work up for reading. Since Jonathan is so well liked by his peers, they may be able to help him with his reading skills and to complete activities. The best way to figure out what works best with Jonathan is to construct a plan and see what his preferences are, much like Marcus in the chapter reading. Talking to Jonathan may be the best way to find out how to help him get what he needs to succeed.

                For Eddie, I think it would be beneficial to implement the homework assignment for his parents as well. This will give Mrs. Potter deeper insight to what he’s like at home and how they may discipline his behavior. This homework assignment may also give insight as to what may be a beneficial positive or negative reinforcement to use in a behavior modification plan. It is also evident that Eddie is interested in new materials, so more hands-on activities will benefit him. Rather than bring in new material and lecture about it, letting kids partake in their own discovery may be more beneficial for Eddie. It seems like he likes to observe and make his own conclusions rather than listen to what a teacher has to say.

                Even though the “What to do assignment” asks to discuss how Mrs. Potter can adjust her classroom management to accommodate these three students, the suggestions really can work to benefit every student in the classroom. It is vital to remember that each student has a different way of learning so presenting information in various ways and allowing students to complete work in various ways is crucial. What’s important is that students are meeting a certain goal; sometimes how students should not be the highest priority. If what a teacher wants is for students to understand a book, then it is that teacher’s job to make sure that every student is able to read the book in any way that works for them and incorporate various means in which this can be done so that students can reach that goal. 

(i saw traci's post and responded to it but then the post wasnt there so im just going to post this anyway) Traci I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post this week. I could really connect to the adjustment suggestions you had for the students and definitely agreed with your ending paragraph that these adjustments can work for all students not just students like Lupita. When I was reading the assignment about adjustments for individual students I realized that these adjustments are so vital to a students learning but so is another factor. The individual students' school ability history (the ability level a student is coming from) and the students' home life is key to understanding a student on a different level. Each individual child is different. For example, the readings this week about urban students and ELL students is just one way of seeing how each student could be in the same classroom environment but come from different backgrounds or learning experiences. A student who comes from an urban background home life is going to have a different experience than that of an ELL student. These two types of students are going to have different leaning styles or reading /writing abilities and need different strategies for their own success. When Traci mentioned sending home a homework assignments for students to do with their parents, the teacher has to consider the home life that the student lives in. I know in my MT's classroom there is a range of home life styles of each student. My MT ends "homework" home quite often to have the students do with the help of their parents, however, my MT knows only about 2 or 3 students will bring back any type of "answers" to the homework assignments. There is flaw in this homework assignment though and that is that my MT will never grade or enforce the homework assignments she sends home. Students know that my MT does not grade or check their homework so doing it at home is not that important. I think my teacher needs to assign certain types of assignments based on the students needs for practice in certain learning aspects. That way the students can connect with the homework on a different level and not just one generic level of work. My MT also needs to reinforce this homework so that her students will work toward completing these homework assignments rather than ignoring them. I guess my point in my post compared to Traci's is that even those the teacher needs to find certain adjustments and ways that help each individual child, while understanding each individual students background, the teacher just also learn how to grade appropriately and make sure positive reinforcement is coming from these assignments or activities so students see that these types of activities are vital to their learning. What my MT is doing right now, by ignoring the results the students bring back for their homework assignments, is showing the students that my MT doesn’t care about who brings back the homework results because she won't be checking the students work or progress over time.

Literacy Centers

In the 5th grade classroom that I am in for my placement, the students have at least thirty minutes to read every day in the morning. At first, I thought it was great that the students had time each day to expose themselves to literacy, but I have come to realize that maybe this time is not as well as spent as it could be and the readings this week also justified that theory for me. Every morning during the students' reading time, each student is asked to take out a book of their choice and at the end of each period they must fill out a reading worksheet. There are also various reading groups based on the students' reading levels that work on phonics-based activities. The reading groups do seem to be a beneficial part of this time; however, I feel as though the silent reading could be adjusted so that students could have more interactive literacy time. My MT uses centers in other subjects such as math and they work really well so I feel as though centers for reading and writing could also be beneficial for the students. 

After looking over the writing samples of the 5th graders and working with them each week, it is evident that there is a bit of a range when it comes to reading and writing levels. According to the Tompkins (2010), there are 5 stages of spelling development (169).  The students in the 5th grade class range from stage 2: letter name-alphabetic spelling to stage 5: derivational relations spelling. For the few students who are in stage 2 spelling, it is difficult to produce writing from these students either because they are unsure of how to complete writing assignments or because of their lack of confidence in their writing ability. Although the reading groups are set up to address this and help build the skills of students, centers may be beneficial on the days that reading groups do not meet. I have seen students who are not at grade level for reading choose lengthy chapter books because their friends have chosen these types of books. Rather than have the students do this and not use their time productively, having the students do centers to build on their spelling, phonics, reading, and writing skills can be a much better use of their time and help them build up their confidence in literacy. 

Literacy Centers / New Literacy

 

I absolutely loved the readings this week. Not only was I able to learn a lot from them, but I was able to connect with them since the majority of what we read is what I see in my field placement every week. I work with a classroom of second graders (and five 3rd graders) and ever since the beginning of my placement, they have been doing centers. It always seemed like a wonderful idea, until I began to worry about my students because I was not seeing them do anything else. They were ONLY doing centers, so I felt like they were missing out on explicit learning. This has been an ongoing issue for me, because I know that there is nothing I can do to help them. However, after reading the chapters and articles for this week, I feel a lot better about the entire situation. 

For starters, I have always been a fan of center activities because students benefit from peer-interaction, and it is an easy way to keep the students engaged. Tompkins did a wonderful job at listing advantages of literacy centers. He feels that they teach relevant concepts and skills, and they can be simple or complex. I agree that they can be very, very helpful for students. However, just like I have begun to see in the field, I worry that students will get too used to the centers and activities. I know that it is because of this reason, that we alternate the activities and lessons at each station but, from experience, I know that students can lose focus and interest even if this is done. Therefore, I will apply what I have learned from the readings and the field to my own classroom, later on down the road. It is important for me to remember that I can learn from teachers, whether I agree with what they are doing or not.

Literacy Centers

After reading Tompkins stages of spelling development I understood my students writing better. For the writing that I sample students were instructed to fill out a Venn diagram comparing two people in their lives. After the Venn diagram is finished students were told to create a story about what they have discovered. After reviewing the writing of students who are low achievers, mid achievers, and high achievers I would place them in a late stage 2: letter name- alphabetic spelling. I noticed that the low achievers struggled with the consonant sounds while high achievers struggled with short vowel sounds. Many of these students also struggled with homophones such as sea and see and hear and here. A lot of the students also confused sounds such as a and e. even though most of the students try to sound out words, it because difficult for them because they lack letter sound knowledge.

The literacy centers that I would use for this second grade class are both the phonics center and the spelling center. I would use these centers so that students can become more aware of phonics concepts to improve their writing. Mostly all the students have trouble spelling so a center where students can practice spelling would be very helpful to them. The only centers that I have seen so far in the classroom are writing centers where the students work in groups with the teacher and I. these seem to be helpful for students who struggle with getting ideas on paper, however issues such as spelling still appear in their writing.

My Venn Diagram from class!

Looking at the Tompkins reading (pg. 169) and reflecting on my students writing samples, I would place my students (whom are in second grade) at "Stage 2: Letter-Name Alphabetic Spelling". The reason I chose this stage was because several of my students are having the same problem when it comes to writing. The main issues are: using the correct letter for like sounds (i.e. using "c" for "k" or vis versa) and using the correct vowel when writing a word. I would place my students in this stage because I feel they still need to do a better job of understanding the significance of a letter and its sound. Some students also still write in a ll caps which i read about in Tompkins that that is a sign for a student in this stage. Another thing I read in this chapter was that some students are still using single letters to describe a word. Although my students don't use single letter I've noticed that they use a shorter amount of letter when it comes to sounding out a difficult word for them (i.e. "volcanoes" is spelled "vcnos" or "with" is spelled "wt"). Along with this spelling issue many of the students use incorrect short vowels because they aren't attempting to sound it out or don't know which vowel is correct. I think based on several of the students work I would place them all in this stage 2.

As far as a literacy center I would create for these students I would definitely want to focus on sounding out words so that students can realize all the letters it takes to construct a word and also hearing what letter fits in the word. I think having activities like using short words to emphasize vowel and letter choice would be good activities. For example, putting letters like "cat", "bat", "rat", "set", etc on cards would be good for students because then they would begin to understand the meaning of the word even when only one letter changes. I would also want to do activities like having the students read aloud to me because I want to see how they are reading the word and maybe if that's hindering how the spell. I know several students pronounce "with" like "wit" so that's what they write and I think that can hurt they're writing ability. I think these activities are just a start to some much needed practice for these students but I want to make sure I focus on sounding out words and letters as a big emphasis in all of my activities.

Emergent Digital Literacy & English Language Learners

     My favorite reading for this week was the Mohr article. As a future special education teacher, it is easy to get carried away with focusing in on children with learning disabilities. In many of the courses I have taken, I have learned several ways to improve the learning environments and experiences for these students. In addition, we have been taught how to raise the bar with general education students, and that they also have difficulties in learning and understanding various concepts. However, this is the first time that I have REALLY focused my attention on ELL students. I have done several readings, and had many discussions, about English-language learners and how we need to make sure that we are providing them with an equal opportunity to learn in the classroom. However, this was the first time that I have ever read that classroom teachers do not put forth the effort to work with these students because they begin to rely on the ESL teachers to accomplish that task. I think it really hit home, because it is so true. Not only that, but I have been in classrooms and worked with teachers who have this same thought process. What I think is amazing is that, after reading this, I thought about all of the teachers that share this belief when it comes to ANY student that is taken outside of the classroom for additional resources. For example, I had a placement at an elementary school in Holt, and I worked in the resource room for the school. There was a student who had been diagnosed with ADHD a month before I came in, and his teacher used the resource room like a "time-out spot". He was only scheduled to come in from 10:15am until 11:30am everyday, but when I came in at 9:00am every morning he was already there. Not only was he missing out on learning with the rest of the class, but the teacher was missing out on very valuable experience.

     I thought the "Digital Denizens" article was funny, but scary. I thought it was hilarious because of the terminology used to describe the technology user categories. After thoughtfully reviewing the categories, I "diagnosed" myself as being a Digital Native. According to the article, I am concerned with finding ways to incorporate technology in everyday tasks, and I am readily able to adapt to technological modifications. What I find scary is that, even though I grew up with technology, there are tons of people, students, and children that have and will grow up with an even more complex and advanced version of technology than I did. It is something that I know and hear about, but it is so overwhelming of a thought that I find myself trying to ignore it. With this in mind, I think it is better to acknowledge it, and find ways to use technology for the advancement of my classroom. Just because I am going to be a special education teacher, does not mean I have to limit myself to helping these students. The Mohr article talked about the student Dora, and how she was constantly left out of her "learning environment". Even her ESL teacher was unable to use an effective approach to work with her. This goes to show that it takes EVERYONE to teach these students, not just one "miracle teacher". Chapter two in the Gibbons text talks about the importance of using classroom talk, and incorporating group work and discussions in the classroom when there are ELL students present. I think that if Dora's classroom teacher utilized one of these strategies, instead of the IRF (Initiation, Response, Feedback) approach, then Dora would have benefited more from the lessons.

     Overall, I learned a lot from this week's readings. Even though I am not quite ready to go out and teach on my own, I feel a lot better knowing that I will have this knowledge to bring to the table once it is my time to teach. If I continue to consider ALL of my students and their various learning styles, I think I will be a better educator, which is my ultimate goal. I can't be perfect, but I WILL do the best that I can!