prompt 7

In my observation of the fourth and fifth grade classroom, I understand the influence of classroom rules and expectations on child behavior and achievement because I have personally experienced it with these students. I have seen them react with different teachers and their rules and seen the positives and negatives in the many methods that teachers have used. I have seen the affect of professional collaboration on students and educators and understand that if educators lack this component they will hold students back from receiving the right education as well as hindering their own learning capabilities.
As my journey of becoming a teacher continues, I understand that teachers are life-long learners because it is a learning environment that constantly changes its ways of educating. I also understand the influence that curriculum organization has on students and their ability to learn and that without giving organized lessons, teachers can go without teaching important components. They must be organized in giving their lessons so that they give students the knowledge they need to succeed without limiting their learning. I comprehend why assignments are modified for students according to their needs because there are various ways to go about teaching children. Everybody has different ways of interpreting material learning and they do not always comprehend their material with just one method. By modifying assignments in a way that a student will understand, I will be able to give my students the best education and fulfill their needs.
I believe that I have many assets that I can use toward my career of teaching that are essential in helping students. These assets consist of open-mindedness, knowledge of my profession, experience with students from diverse backgrounds, patience, determination, and the compassion of working with children. I understand that what I say and how I act towards my students has an immense effect on their achievement, behavior, motivation, and attitude. I have observed other teachers behaviors and understand what methods work and positively affect students and what methods do not. Working with children is a certain talent that I obtain and I believe that if I continuously learn about the career of teaching and realize my strengths and weaknesses I will be able to become a teacher.
In my hours of service, I have learned how to communicate effectively with children who have disabilities because I have worked with them in schools and have had my own experience at a job where I work with adults who are mentally challenged. There are many methods and techniques of communicating with people who are disabled both verbally and non-verbally that I have learned and am continuing to learn. I understand that a child’s race, culture, gender, and economic status have a great influence on communication and expectations. I embrace the diversity of children because I feel that everyone has something different to offer people and by embracing one another’s differences we are able to work with one another. Expressing this importance to my students is also an important aspect because it will help them to work with others and give them a better knowledge about others around them.

Prompt 4

Before entering the class I observed, I researched online the basic information of the school, I found that it was a Title 1 school and very racially diverse. Going in I already had judgements and biases of the school based on that background information. Growing up I attended a school that was 91% Caucasian, even though during High School I did work with Special Education students, I did not work with racially diverse Special Education students. This experience was a lot different for me.
I understand that I, myself may still have biases that need to be broken and that when I walk into a classroom I must have a tolerance for differences in children, because without it I will not succeed. I believe that teaching, especially in the special education field, is an area of teaching that requires this type of open-mindedness towards people regardless of their race, gender, culture, economic background, behavior, physical and mental capabilities and other personal attributes. I realize that this is only the beginning of my learning experience and that I have a lot to learn about working with children in special education.
Entering the classroom as my teachers "assistant" to the students and faculty I was known as just another white teacher. When I read Delpits article The Silence Dialogue, I felt as if all of the other multicultural students and teachers were thinking I was just another narrow minded white teacher. In her article she states a premise, "Those with power are frequently least aware of- or least willing to acknowledge- it's existence." I felt as if this statement itself was biased towards me as a future teacher. As a student I did not feel as if I was above any teacher based on the color of my skin, nor my ethnicity.
What I have learned from Delpit's article and observing in the classroom that it's very vital and important for a child to speak and express their thoughts and culture. Issues found in the classroom according to Delpit, "The power of the teacher over the students." The teacher is accused of teaching other students that weren't "white" power in a white man's world. Parent's are going to be the hardest challenge, especially entering in as a white female teacher. I believe that they will not understand what my duty as a teacher is, and that I have learned and understand the importance of integrating culture into the classroom. Overall, in Delpit's article, I have learned that having a Universalized Education could prevent caring educators from recognizing the actual learning needs and strengths, of parents' children that are culturally different. An advantage of having multilcultural education in the classroom is for me as the teacher and the students to gain knowledge of all the students' cultures'. Advantages of the students' I tutor are most of them are bilingual or even trilingual. I believe that is one key to success and really impressive, especially for students' with disabilities.

Prompt 6

In our classroom I can think of many students' whose native language is Spanish. One student who sticks out the most *Tatiana, who is very articulate in conversation with English, although her native language is Spanish. She may be a terrific speaker but she cannot pass a single spelling test. In Goldenberg's article, Teaching English Language Learners she states that, "it's not sufficient to learn English so you can talk with your friends and teacher about classroom routines, what you are having for lunch, where you went over the weekend, or who was mean to whom on the playground. You have to learn what is called academic English." The first time I distributed a spelling test, I noticed that *Tatiana was struggling more than others whose native language is English. Though she has mastered social English, she is falling behind in academic English. Academic English in the words of Goldenberg, "refers to more abstract, complex, and challenging language that will eventually permit you to participate successfully in mainstream classroom instruction." Not successfully learning academic English could cause a lack of encouragement and discourage students like *Tatiana. In order to help *Tatiana with her academic English *Mrs. K provides her with a different level of phonics workbook. Although she is behind in her phonics more than other students, each student has an IEP either way. In order for her to take any steps forward, she must take steps back to learn the phonics. As her "tutor" I went over each letter in the alphabet with her, using words that were related to her native language and English. An example of a word would be bicicleta. I'd then ask her what it started with, she would respond correctly. The next letter is i, which I would include the b with; using the word bi. Now what letter comes after the b, I would ask, saying b-I-i-i- I-I-I over emphasising the I in bi.

The next step I needed to take towards making *Tatiana's learning experience more valuable, was to pair her up with another classmate to study and copy each spelling word various times. This demonstrated sensitivity for sociocultural differences by having a student who knew the words because of her native language English, and Tatiana who knew verbal language be pair up. This would help Tatiana learn from another peer and encourage her to want to learn what her peer already knows. They both could work together to create a way to study and understand the words, to successfully complete the next spelling test. "The speaker and listener must know the meaning of the words and understand the sentence structures and other nuances that communicate the intended message", Goldenberg states in her article. "In order for the student to spell the word they should know what it means. In each work book I believe the student should have a picture next to each word, describing what each picture is. They could visually understand the picture and relate it to the spelling word. I will instruct them if their spelling word was bicycle. I would say, now what's that a picture of. They would reply a bicycle. I would then ask another question, Now what does one do with a bicycle, and they should respond with an answer such as, you ride a bicycle. I will then follow up with the question, now what does bicycle start with, and hopefully they will answer, B. I know this method works with students' because a student in the classroom that I work the most with loves firetrucks. He knows what they look like, what they sound like, and what they are used for. He also knows how to spell the word faster and more accurate than most words.

Those are just a few key examples I have demonstrated sensitivity and responsiveness to sociocultural linguistic differences in the classroom. As a future teacher I will take into account that each student is different, coming from a different background, which could affect their learning in different ways. As a future teacher I hope to respond in the correct manner and be sensitive to the differences of my students as I have while observing my classroom this year.

Prompt 5

Teaching is not always easy, as a teacher you will face some challenges with your students' parents and or guardians. These challenges may be tough, but there is always a solution to a problem. Over the past month and a half, I have been working in a very diverse environment. What could be challenging about the diversity is the teachers' understanding of the cultural differences of students. In Johnson's article "Our House is on Fire" he states that white schoolchildren are assumed to be competent until the show otherwise, while students of color are assumed to be incompetent until they prove themselves. As a teacher, I believe it is best to always start the year out positive. A good way to kick off the school year would be to personally invite the parents' to open house in the fall. In order to prevent biased views like this, as a teacher I must be open-minded to the students' backgrounds. The home life of a white student can be just as bad or worse than a home life of an African American student. The home life of an African American student could be just as stable or more stable than a white students. We all carry on different lives, where a parent could work all day and never see their child, or a mother could stay at home and live off welfare and unemployment. You never know the issues until they are directly told to you by a parent.

To avoid conflict, I do not believe as a teacher I should assume, nor ask anything too personal. A solution to a problem such as a parent being unemployed and they cannot afford clothes, food, coats, and it's quite noticeable, perhaps ask if they'd like to be entered in a raffle. As a teacher it would be in my best interest to get a feeling of each individual students' home life. In order to due so, I will call each parent before the school year begins and tell them about my excitement of working with their child. Again, starting off on a positive note, discriminating against no race. Johnson in his article said that 'race is not the same as ethnicity, in fact race is characterized by the degree of intelligence, creativity, goodness, honesty, trustworthiness, and courage.' Another issue dealing with poverty that could cause conflict could be lack of transportation. If a parent cannot make it to a meeting, I will be more than willing as a teacher to set up the meeting somewhere conveniently close, or even meet at their house if they feel comfortable enough. Another challenge with diversity is language. I am not bilingual, nor are a lot of teachers. In order to fix this conflict there are translators in a lot of the inner city schools. In the school I am tutoring at there is a parent engagement office that includes flyers' that are in English and Spanish. Spanish in that school is one of the dominant languages spoken besides English.



An example of a parent conflict in the classroom I am tutoring in now is ....

Mrs . K like a normal teacher, assigns homework to the students. Mrs. K sends them home with an assignment book that the assistant teacher writes in. Each day she takes the time to write the students' homework down in their book. Each day the student takes the book home and should give it to their parents. Their parents then have the job to instruct them on how to go about doing their homework. There are certain students in the classroom that have never done their homework in the class. Mrs. K always makes a phone call to their parents, hoping they will understand in order to succeed they must complete their homework. Each time Mrs. K calls they say that they understand the consequences of not completing their homework, lie to Mrs. K and tell her that they will do their best to make sure that their son or daughter will complete their homework. A few weeks goes by where Mrs. K has to make the phone call again because the student is still not attempting to do their homework. If I were in this situation, in order to help the student I would sit down with them and try to make them understand that homework is their responsibility. I would then appoint the parent and ask them to schedule an in person meeting. The reason it must be in person is because communication is more affective when you are actually seeing the concern coming from the teacher. I would use the same approach with a students mother who continues to do their homework for the student in Mrs. K's class. I will try my best after to follow up with daily communication such as, writing notes in their agenda. I will "think like a mother" and think in a parents perspective.

To show my students parents and parents of the community my concern and respect for their child's education, as a teacher I will join the PTO (Parent Teacher Organization) board. At the school I am observing at the ration of teachers vs parents is split right down the middle at 50%. During the school year at Ginger Elementary, the teachers invite all the parents' to a pasta night, where the teachers' cook for the parents'. I believe this is a good opportunity for the parents and teachers to get to know each other and start a good and positive relationship with each other and the school.

My Placement

My placement is at Ginger Elementary school, located at Foxpoint in downtown Providence off of Wickenden Street. Foxpoint is one of the oldest neighborhoods, dating back to colonial time. Providence has big community involvement around Ginger, such as Brown and RISD who always offer their services. There are four hundred students grades Pre-k through sixth that attend Ginger. It is a very diverse school where one third Caucasian, one third Hispanic, and one third African American attend. It is also very economically diverse, ranging from high, middle, and low income. Children walk or take the bus depending on where they are located from the school. For many parents, Ginger is their first choice. Their test scores are high for an inner city school. The Parent/Teacher Organization is very strong and raises money for the things that they have lost over the years. "It's like a family dedicated group of staff", said my cooperative teacher. The values of the school and in the classroom are increasing student achievement, building good manors and loyalty, and gaining responsibility.

I am working in Room four with a fabulous special education teacher, where I work with ten students. Each student in the classroom has an IEP. "Individualized Education Plan." There are thirty-six self contained students in three classrooms. There are typically twelve students in each classroom but that does not always work out. The first day I arrived I saw my cooperative teacher introduce me in a certain manner, she started off saying "Hi Miss Jodi, I am Mrs. K, I'd like you to meet my friend Charlie." Then each student would have to go around and introduce a friend to me. It was a very clever way for the students to learn how to use their manners and be respectful.

If you are visiting or volunteering at the school you only can enter through the main entrance where you must sign in. There are no stairs at all in the school, and there are many doors for fire exits. The school is barrier free along with ramps going through each hallway making it easily accessible for students with disabilities. The hallways are rather large making it easier for more than one class to pass with out conflict. My favorite part about the landscape of the school is the courtyard located in the middle of the school. There is a legendary, eighty year old, apple tree in the center of it! The classroom is rather cluttered for a special education classroom. It is very hard to walk around the classroom with out bumping into everything in your pathway. There are three stations, one that is not even in use anymore since the need of more storage space. There is a writing center, a math center, and a science center. The science center is no longer in use. There are three groups of four, where each child is separated in a certain group. The separation is at random because each student has an IEP. There is a table surrounding each group where each desk is around the table. On the table are materials for the child to work with through out the week; ie: scissors, glue, extra pencils, rulers, hundreds chart. Then each child has their own pencil box where they keep their own stuff; ie: pencils, crayons, markers, finger pointer. Around the room there are three closets for storage, and a lot of storage containers. There is a place to sit for morning meeting, with lawn chairs and comfy seats, for the students to enjoy. It is a very small and crammed space but it does it's duty. Next to the morning meeting location there is Mrs. K's desk filled with piled up papers and more storage containers resting below. There is also a desk for Mrs. K's teacher assistant filled with just about the same stuff as her desk. Next to her assistant's desk is the story time area and the play area filled with toys and bean bags. The space is very limited but that's what you get with a small classroom. Lastly on the other side of the play area there is a sink and four computers, which are squished against the writing center desk, so the students have to cram into the seats to sit at a computer. The space in the classroom is definitely used to capacity! I do not think it is smart to have such a crammed classroom for special education students but it is probably inevitable. I believe it is very unsafe due to some of the disabilities in the classroom. I watch a student who uses a walker, struggle moving around because of the limited space he has.

There are ten students in my classroom at this time. There are four girls where the rest are boys. What interested my the most was that one of the boys was in a regular fourth grade class the previous year, yet to me he barely knows how to read. That is a lot of grades to go through with out knowing how to read. Every Thursday when I go in I help students with their math for an hour. Then after math they usually go to "act class" which is a class where they learn how to use their voices and express their feelings. It's like a drama class where each week they learn a book and the next week they act out the book. Since I am volunteering those hours, I am volunteering to act with the children. Now let me tell you I am NOT embarrassed! I believe my acting skills are superb and the children probably enjoy it. (Hopefully....) My experience at Ginger Elementary School so far is going well, and I hope it continues to go well through out the rest of the semester!

Howdy!

Hi everyone!

My name is Jodi Robert and I am a sophomore here at Rhode Island College! I come from a small town called Burrillville, RI. I love it. My intended major is Elementary Ed with a concentration in special ed. I am really undecided in my content major but for the time being I will consider it to be Special Ed. I work at RIC in athletics as the concession stand girl! Over the summer I was also an Orientation Student Peer Counselor. I am involved with RIC Programming! In programming the team and I set up events for the campus to be more enjoyable. I am also on the Ultimate Frisbee team here at RIC. We are a competitive team who scrimmages other teams, there is always room for another teammate ;). This semester I am taking a large course load but I think I am prepared and will do well. (hopefully). I am very excited to take this class and I hope to get a lot from it.

Well, I hope we all have a fun and exciting semester together.
Good luck to everyone!!!

Jodi :)