The Diverse Instructor

My experience working with diverse and economical disadvantaged youth began with a summer job at the Greater Houston YMCA. While working with this organization, I was able to work with the upper-middle class and low class. While working with upper-middle class youth, the desire that those children had for life was much different from those in the lower economic class. Most of those children were given everything and did not settle for less. The lower economic class weren’t as privileged as the other youth. Working with these children, I was able to understand the background of their lives. Also I was able to relate to those children because I have been in the situation their in. I wanted and was able to be a role model for some of children. By being such, it gave me a desire to be an educator for our future. I will be able to be a diverse amongst students knowing their learning styles and approaches. Knowing your classroom as a whole will be very vital for teaching. All of your students should be treated with different strengths, weaknesses, and essentials rather than to categorize your students by race, ethnicity or cultural background.

“Different roads sometimes lead to the same castle.” – George R.R. Martin

Preparing for Diversity in the Classroom

My experience in Public and Private Schools

Private versus Public

 

Being an individual whom attended both public and private schools has been sort of a help within my life. Throughout Pre-K to 7th Grade, I was in the private schooling system. In private school I attended St. Mary’s of the Purification Montessori  School. While in private school I understood that the instructors were there to give students more of a one on one education. Also it was mandatory that every student attended Mass (Catholic Church Service). However the cost of tuition was a big factor in a single mom home. In some instances, I feel that private school did not prepare me for real world. Most of my instructors in private school mainly spoiled the students. After I was promoted to the 8th grade, I started to think differently about my education. I was ready to attend public school. My first day at Pershing Middle School was an eye opener. After previous history at private schools pretty much my whole life, attending public school was surreal. I was so used to being on a one on one connection with my instructors that I was starting to lack and fall behind. I was used to having everything handed to me. Well in public school that was totally different. In public schooling, students are being prepared for real world. Everything that was done was on your own. Public school makes gives student the option to take initiative and grasp the content that is given. The differences on the testing is also another factor. In private school, norm referenced testing is given to the students. In public school, criterion referenced testing is given. Those are vital factors in the differences in each schooling system. As a college student graduating in the fall, I sometimes reflect on the pass and used the experiences that was given to me.

My view of the classroom

Throughout my fifteen hours of observation, the most interesting and helpful experiences occurred at Edgar Glover Elementary in Missouri City, Tx. The elementary school is located in a middle class neighborhood, located off of Court Road in Missouri City. As a student who has a concentration of Core Studies EC-6, with a preference of instructing a science course, I observed grades 1st grade at this particular location.When it came to the grouping of the classroom, the students were grouped into 2 to work on assessments. Common rules that were displayed in each of the classes, no food/and or drinks of any kind, no running, and at all times to raise your hand if you needed to speak or needed help. In a class room, class management is one of the most important factors because the children attention span was very short or easily distracted. As I observed, most teachers had a specific routine that happened during each period. Students were to pick up a warm-up from the front of the class or the teacher handed it out, complete the warm-up, if homework was given the previous day it was handed in to the teacher, and after about ten minutes the teacher began the lesson. As far as when students would begin to act out such as talking out of place, teachers gave a warning and if the behavior continued the student would have to adjust name clip on the behavior board.
The environment in which a student grows up in is a key element in the social and cognitive development of a student. With peers being the main source of influence in this particular age group, it is important as the teacher to plan lessons and assessments around this type of developmental stage. Instead of focusing more on independent work; small groups, group projects, and hands-on learning should be one of the most important learning styles in the class room. Group activities are more effective than more traditional styles of learning such as lecture or reading. In the classrooms I observed the small groups at each assessment were extremely effective because students were able to go around classroom and help each student and ultimately learned more than when a class was based solely on lecture.
Student observation helped aid my teaching career in many ways. This experience helped with learning the do’s and donts of a classroom and also exposed me to students from all backgrounds and showed me the triumphs and losses I will face as a teacher. I can honestly say this was a great benefit and I will take these lessons with me into my student teaching and even when I have a classroom of my own.

Great Tips Student Observation