Diverse Student Reflection

Like you I too share your concern and reflection. At our January 26th, 2016 School Board Workshop our School Mental Health Team gave an in-depth review of the many mental health professionals and programs that are in place in our schools for our students, staff and families both in and outside of our schools. You can view the video of the meeting by visiting this link: http://livestream.com/citrusschools/events/4738040. In addition I am attaching the Workshop presentation materials that were presented during the meeting. I think you will find that Citrus Schools has and does put Mental Health of our students as a high priority. As you will see it is far more than simply referring students to a hotline. We have teams

Many of their learning needs are similar to those of other children and young people learning in our schools. However, these learners also have distinct and different needs from other learners by virtue of the fact that they are learning in and through another language, and that they come from cultural backgrounds and communities with different understandings and expectations of education, language and learning”. (NALDIC, 1999).

The proposed research is designed to analyze one of the major issues in contemporary education which is the educational achievement gap between ESL (English as a Second Language) students and native English speakers. The research is designed to study the lack of effort from school officials to integrate cultural needs of minorities in their education which enables them to succeed as much as others. The focus of this study is to compare the academic opportunities between ESL students and native English speaker students and said opportunities affect their academic success. Participants will be 100 siena students 50 ESL and 50 native English speakers. Participants will take a survey in which they will provide information about their educational experience in middle school and high school and how said experiences affected their educational achievements in a negative and/or positive way.

When an educator walks into her classroom for the first time, she needs to be prepared to encounter students that come from a variety of backgrounds. The children will be in different stages of language development, and the educator must accommodate for each of these students. Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera (2013) state, “The US Census Bureau projects that by the 2030s, children whose home language is other than English will increase from roughly 22 percent to 40 percent of the school-age population” (p. 9). This increase in second language learners will cause the educator to accommodate for those needs. Second language learners “need teachers who welcome them and recognize their unique abilities, what they know, and what they need to learn” (Magruder, Hayslip, Espinosa, and Matera, 2013, p. 10).

The most important experience that has positively impacted my academic performance is being in AVID for the past 5 years. AVID is an acronym that stands for advancement via individual determination, a college preparatory class that helps prepare you for college, get organized, and set goals. I have been enrolled in AVID since 8th grade learning how to become a better student, improving study skills and the way I communicate with the students and teachers around me.

We would like to congratulate your office on the first successful year of operating and maintaining Ryerson’s Student Learning Centre. When the announcement was made that Ryerson would be adding this state of the art facility to our campus we as students were ecstatic to experience a learning space which was truly unique. Although the Student Learning Centre has been extremely beneficial to all students Ryerson Students this far, we believe the space has not been used to its full potential.

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

She also notes the difference between academia language also known as CALPS: cognitive academic language proficiency and meaningful language - BICS: basic interpersonal communication skills. She mentions how academic language requires more comprehension of the language than interpersonal language; which is more informal and contextual. She also illustrates the importance of treating students for who they are going to become, not the by the fact that they are struggling. A methodology that is represented throughout the book that illustrates the ways teachers can accommodate their language learning students is with scaffolding. Scaffolding is a variety of instructional techniques that are used to assist students to move towards a better understanding of the content and towards independence when it comes to their learning processes. The teacher provides a form of temporary support that will assist the students reach increased levels of understanding and skills acquisition that would not be achievable without aid. All in all, this book will be great for all K-12 teachers and professors; but, I did not review this book because I already did a book review for this book in a different course and it would not widen my prospects of learning more about special

Villegas suggests six qualities leaders should implement to respond effectively to the increase of diverse populations. First, teachers must understand how learners construct knowledge. The best ways teachers can achieve this concept is by helping these students bridge the gaps in what they already know about a topic and what they need to learn about it. Next, the teacher should learn about the students’ lives. When teachers know the cultural makeup of their students they can assess their prior knowledge of a subject. Teachers must also be socioculturally conscious, meaning the awareness that a person 's worldview is not universal but is profoundly influenced by life experiences, as mediated by a variety of factors, including race, ethnicity, gender, and social class (Villegas & Lucas, 2007). Many teachers see students of diverse cultures as not being able to achieve. Villegas (2007) suggests teachers should see students from an affirming perspective and truly respect cultural differences. If teachers can set their differences aside their students will have better ways to communicate and succeed. It is important for teachers to use appropriate instructional strategies to help English language learners. They can give these students with material in their native language, provide graphic organizers, and hands on activities to help assist these students. Lastly, teachers need to advocate for these

The SUNY is a diverse university which has around 43% of minority students, including Hispanic/Latino, Black or African American, Asian/ Pacific Islander, ESL, and international students. Those students often encounter difficulties in English listening, speaking, reading, and writing, and understanding the Western academic culture, especially for ESL and international students. Since I received the professional training in teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) in the Master’s and Ph.D. programs at the Ohio State University and have English teaching experience to diverse learners in EFL and ESL settings for around 9 years, I would like to help those minority students at the SUNY Oneota understand the Western academic culture, overcome academic difficulties they encounter, and improve their overall English competence. Helping those minority students is my short-term career goal. My long-term career goal is to increase K-12 content and ESL teachers’ and

Bringing a diverse structure to medicine is vital for generating a change in the medical field such as reducing healthcare disparities and improving health care for all. Diversity is imperative because it provides us with the opportunity to learn from one another by exhibiting a level of understanding that assists us in facilitating collaboration and cooperation. Once we learn about other cultures it helps us understand different perspectives within the world in which we live, and helps to dispel negative stereotypes and personal biases about different groups. Student diversity for example needs to be vocalized more in medical education because it can become a key component in creating a physician workforce that can meet the needs of a diverse

It was a typical Thursday on CVCU. The day was steady, but nonetheless, busy. The charge nurse aid I would be receiving a patient, post cardiac catheterization laboratory (cath lab) in room nine. I wasn’t long after, indeed I saw the cath lab team approaching with the patient. I met them in the room and I early introduced myself to Mr. E.H. I noticed, immediately, that he seemed indifferent. Meanwhile, we collectively settled him, by placing him on the monitors and assessing his procedure site.

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

Everyone contains baggage, some big, some small. It is part of our day to day lives, and is usually something we are not even aware of. Although I have only been in class for a few weeks, I have become more and more aware with the baggage that I contain. Through talking about major issues with my fellow classmates, or just becoming more aware and more knowledgeable of these particular issues; I have learned so much about myself, my community and even the world.

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.