Classroom Reflection

This course has really enlightened my view of being able to learn the value of linguistic and cultural diversity and the influential learning opportunities it gives today’s classrooms and schools. We as teacher educators were allowed to examine our attitudes, beliefs, and preferences regarding linguistically and culturally diverse students, families, and communities and learn methods for working together to confirm high levels of learning for all students. Also, strategies for guaranteeing

Language can be an important problem within a diverse group of students. Having a primary

Cultural is all around us and builds us as people from what we learn, see and explore. Children are in the same way like this as they grow they learn different things including different cultures which they absorb and develop their own opinions about values. For educators understanding the cultural that we are faced with diverts the need for racism as we share and respect those from other cultures and what they offer to the world / country and areas surrounding them. Children need to be supported in their way of exercising their beliefs and values and we as educators needs to do this is a way so that other children can also support those from different cultures this includes maintain their own languages while also learning English.

America has always been a place where people from all over the world have strived to travel in hopes of creating a better and more promising future for themselves. In today’s classrooms, teachers are experiencing the culture and language related effects of that endeavor. With an increasing amount of non-English speakers entering the country each year, the population of students who speak English as a second language or no English at all increases as well. Not only are these students entering with knowledge of another language but they also enter with the history of another culture. These students are taught and raised to love their traditional languages and cultures. To take these aspects away from them in order to make them understand our way of life is not fair nor is it educationally beneficial. Some say foreigners need to assimilate because they are entering our country and by trying to accommodate their tradition, schools will end up hurting American students’ educational progress. This is not found to be true in as many cases as one would think though. By incorporating home or second language and diverse cultural exploration in combination with Standard English and American culture into the classroom, all students will benefit in multiple areas of learning and life.

As a teacher I feel it is very important to consider my students language, religion, income, and culture when it comes to defining rules, standards and curriculum. I believe this is very important because individuals may have different beliefs and thoughts from my own which students can always learn better when the curriculum is best suited for their individual needs. This is why as teachers we need to be willing to adapt to our students need rather than our own needs.

One of the culturally-based communication practices in our schools is media. We use the Internet for the children to get on Odyssey. (a program based on the child’s learning level) We also use projectors that hook up to the computer to display information and teaching techniques to the students. The second form of communication is verbal communication from the teacher to the students. The teachers speak English to all students and teach from textbooks that are all written in English. The multimedia we use is our schools is mainly based on the American culture and what we have learn or understand based on our view of a situation. So, when someone from a different culture is in our classroom and might have heard a different version or lived a different way than was is being taught; this is a huge issue. We need to understand when using multimedia and other resource to also include information from both sides of the topic, and even add some information in another language or let the student take about what they have experienced.

Together with Dr. Garcia, Dr. Nieto and Bode (2008) explained that affirming language and culture can help students become successful and well- adjusted learners, but unless language and cultural issues are viewed critically through the lens of equity and social justice, they are unlikely to have a lasting impact in promoting real changes. Therefore, Dr. Tharp (Laureate Education, n.d) explain in one of the CREDE standards developing literacy and language skills across the curriculum. Being said this, teachers and school staff must be aware of our students

Similarly, in their article, Addressing Linguistic Diversity From The Outset, Commins & Miramontes (2006) point to the importance in ensuring teacher education programs adequately equip new teachers to work with “work with the wide diversity of language, culture, and

The largest challenge that educators are confronted with when teaching children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are many of these educators may not be bilingual as well as not know anything about the child's culture. Granted, many teachers who will be teaching children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds are ESL/bilingual education teachers… but in some cases that may not be. According to the textbook, “Cultural differences have strength and value (98)” which means that the child’s culture will mean a lot to them, and will help them shape who they are in their education and their lives. Also, children who are culturally and linguistically diverse may feel like an outcast to the other children that are

In the following paragraphs I convey my thoughts supported by research in relation to the following questions: Why is it essential to consider the cultural and linguistic diversity of our classroom? What are some ways educators can become more culturally competent? What should be considered when managing the behavior of culturally and linguistically diverse learners? What should be avoided? How can the information presented in this article be applied to my own classroom?

Many of the diverse children that are in classrooms today speak, or are learning to speak, two languages. This can become very confusing to the child at times, and make understanding him or her challenging. However, teachers need to recognize that it is important to support the development of both of these languages, because they both make up the identity of a child. Some ways in which teachers can support duel language learning is by, encouraging children to use their home language at school, interacting with duel language learners as much as possible, creating opportunities for peers to interact with the ELL students, developing predictable routines and activities that use the English language, but do not require a response from the ELL student, and concentrating on the meaning of what an ELL child is saying and not on the grammatically correctness of

Some of the ways which teachers acknowledged the importance of children native language was by providing a multicultural teaching approach to their class rooms. An example of this was the teacher who sang a hello song both in English and Spanish. Students are encouraged to speak their native language. We saw example of teaching referencing back to the students to help translate the word pie. They support their languages and culture by acknowledge the similarities and differences in the ways a word or phrase is said in their language versus the English language. Teachers with children who speak another

The teachers should have the ability to teach diversity in their class lessons, at least once. In history, they can talk about the wars outside of America to show that back then and still now, people with different diversity doesn't always agree on everything. In language arts they can talk about the multiple heroic people who stood up for their own beliefs and cultural rights and why it's important to them. These lessons can encourage students to recognize and acknowledge students to treat others equally. In “Making the Future Better, Together.” By Eboo Patel on lines 40 to 42, it states that “...people from the four corners of the earth could do remarkable things together, even build a nation, and show humanity that we are better together.” That means we can all come together as one to show that we can all unite as a nation. We proved that by coming and putting all the creative and different cultures and languages together in one school and

Teaching can be a challenge, you never know what to expect and each classroom will be unique. However, you will always have to be prepare for teaching in a situation you may not be comfertable with. Educating students and practicing proper knowledge on subjects such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation and disability are vital in creating a safe and respectful classroom for all. School is often looked upon as a place of security for students and it is our job as teachers to help maintain that status.

As a culturally responsive teacher, one must “accept all students as they are” (Glickman et al., 2014, p. 374) and take the responsibility to help students learn. Howard recommends, as noted in Glickman et al., (2014) building relationships that convey genuine feelings for student’s success. A caring teacher accepts all students just as they are and, encourages them to learn and to be fruitful. A culturally sensitive teacher that incorporates all students’ backgrounds and linguistic diversity propagates a multicultural classroom (Glickman et al., 2014, p.374). In such a classroom, bilingual students feel included and perceive that the community will benefit from their input; therefore, they participate actively in daily activities.