What is your responsibility?

As a teacher it is my responsibility to teach every student to the best of my capabilities. In order to be successful there are several variables that must be addressed by every teacher at the beginning of the year. What are my students likes, dislikes, learning styles, language, and what cultural backgrounds do they bring into the classroom. The whole classroom is affected by one student who is not of the mainstream culture. This is a wonderful opportunity for me as a teacher to "tap into" these cultural differences in a positive way. I would learn everything I could about the child's cultural background in order to share it with the other students. I do not believe however that it is my responsibility as a teacher to learn their language. This would be an impossible task within the teaching day because of the needs of the other 30 children in my classroom. I will embrace their differences and yet teach them new things about mainstream culture that they need in order to be successful in America. An example of things to teach about our culture is the language. Until we as a nation declare that we have more than one official language students are going to have to learn English, the sooner the better. Also, it is important to understand that boys and girls are different. Generally speaking, boys need more activity while girls are more content to sit at a desk and "work." It will be important to teach to all sets of learning styles. I will incorporate moving activities and desk time appropriately. Right now students with disabilities are in the classroom right alongside average kids. It will be important to set the tone of the classroom to be safe for every student. No name calling, or ridiculing will be tolerated. It is important to help foster caring and tolerance for each other. In my son's classroom they are all split up into group's and it is great to see the teamwork of the students with each other. The issue of religion in school should be tolerated and respected. It will be important to keep communication open with the parents in order not to offend them. For example, some religions do not celebrate Halloween. It will be important to send out ample notice of a Halloween party or activities relating to Halloween in order for the parent to choose to take their child out of class that day. The diversity in each classroom is what makes teaching exciting and challenging. I look forward to growing in my knowledge of cultural diversity.

REACHING OUT

Poverty affect students many different ways in the classroom. The most obvious effect is their lack of resources. A poor student will come to school dressed differently than the other students. He/she might smell, and have dirty clothes. The lack of money in their home directly affects their emotional behavior as well. The poor student might get picked on because they aren't wearing "cool" clothes. They will be left out of groups and called names because they just don't quite fit in. This will lead the child to lash out in different ways. Some become withdrawn, others become angry and misbehave. The teacher might assign a science project which includes extra materials that the poverty students family can't afford. This will lead to that student failing in class. It is a continual cycle. Eventually the student will either get help from a teacher/counselor or other adult or he/she may drop out of school entirely. As teachers we need to be aware of each students background and take the time to understand the students situation. Communication between the parents, student, and teacher is vital.
In my classroom name calling and segregation will not be tolerated. I think it would be crucial to pair up the disadvantaged student with another student who showed signs of maturity and compassion. I will communicate with the parents to the best of my ability and try to work out the students financial needs so that he/she can be successful in the classroom setting. For example, if the class is starting a reading program and the disadvantaged student can't get to the public library for some reason then I would allow that student to go during recess or break time to the school library. Also, if the students parents can't read English then I would help the student check out books on cassette. The most critical piece in the success of the disadvantaged student is to have open communication with them. If they don't tell you what the problem is how can you fix it?