For the cultural diversity practicum, I was at Park Brook Elementary down in Brooklyn Park MN for three days. I got to spend twenty-five hours working with Kelly Brant’s 4th grade class and they were great. The students were very diverse. Most of the students were black. There were a few Hispanic students as well as a few Asian students. Finally, there was one white student in the class. I have never seen a class where there was one white student in a class. I am used to seeing the majority be white and Hispanic. So, that was an eye opener for me. All the students spoke English. I think that some of the students didn’t know English that well because they always went off with someone for extra help, but I didn’t get the chance to find out if some of them spoke a second language or not. The class was mostly boys and had a few girls in it. They were all the ages of 9 going on 10. As for socioeconomic status I was told that some of the class was from low-income families. The school recently got a grant. Some of the students missed out on breakfast some mornings so the school used some of the grant by giving every student a free breakfast every day because it is the most important meal of the day. They also used some of the money to make sure every classroom had theses wobbly stools. They use these stools for the students because when you’re in elementary school you get bored of sitting in one spot very quickly, so these stools give you the chance to move around while still be seated. It also teaches good posture, so they won’t have backpain. I got a chance to meet some of the staff and most of them were white. They have an Asian music teacher that was nice, and I had fun getting to know her.
One of the few things I noticed was one of the days I was there they had an assembly where two Paralympians one of which who was at the London 2012 games and won a gold medal in swimming came to talk to the school about what it is like being a Paralympian. After they both finished their stories the students had questions and when they would answer these questions, I noticed that they talked to the school as if they ever wanted to become an athlete like them, they could no matter who they are. I thought this was cool because they addressed the school in its diversity saying that anyone no matter who you are can do it if you want to. They weren’t just addressing the one kid and saying that people like him can do it they wanted everyone to know that they could do it. They also treated everyone the same they didn’t single anyone out or anything. Another thing I noticed was in my class not everyone was around for every subject that was taught. When math came a few kids left to go work somewhere else, when language arts came another group left some of them were the same some of them were different. It went on like that all day. I never got the confirmation of where they went all the time from the teacher, but I think that they struggle in those subjects a little bit and don’t quite have the understanding down yet. For the kids that went every time or almost every time I feel that they may not know that well of English and they need to be taught it more slowly to understand it better.
From this practicum I learned a lot about myself. My entire lifetime I never got the chance to work with a diverse class because of where I grew up was mostly white kids. I have worked with a few diverse classed but it wasn’t diverse for me to be able to work with them and pull something out of working with them. In Mrs. Brant’s class I spent 2 class days taking a group of kids out into the hall to work on their reading packet with them for an hour. Some of them knew what they were doing others were struggling and asking for help. I was glad they were struggling because it gave me a chance to get to know who the student was and why they might be struggling. This experience I feel has given me the chance to grow as a future educator because I now understand what it’s like to be in a classroom with a diverse class. I feel that if I was just in a class that I’m used to from when I was in school, I could assume a lot of stuff like maybe everyone celebrates Christmas. However, when in a diverse classroom I can learn about all the different holidays that each student celebrates because with a diverse class they’re not all going to celebrate Christmas. When teaching it will be challenging not to make activities or give off examples of stuff I like, and I feel if I’m being challenged that I am doing something right. One more thing that I learned was that the teacher as well as every other staff member treated each kid the same. If a student wasn’t getting their work done, she wouldn’t give them an extension or if a student was all caught up and did good on every test and assignment, she didn’t give them special treatment. She treated everyone the same no matter their race, or their ethnicity. I feel that what I learned from this will make me a better teacher in knowing how to work with a diverse set of students.
In the end I feel that this field experience was great. I feel that maybe it could be a little bit longer just so you can get to know the class better rather than meeting them for a few days and then leaving them behind. However, I understand that with the way this class is planned its hard to find a way to make it work while still doing your classes. Another thing I would’ve like to have happen and I don’t know if this happened with other students in their classroom, but I didn’t get a chance to teach anything to the students. I ended up just sitting in the back and observing as she taught. There were times were it would be work time and I would walk around and see if everyone was doing their work but whenever a kid had their hand raised and I would go over to see what they needed some of them wouldn’t let me help them because they wanted the teachers help. I feel that if I was able to teach a couple of the subjects to the students that I would be able to take away more than I did by just observing the class. Like I said though in the end the experience was great, even though I didn’t think I got the full potential of a diverse class. I feel you don’t get the full experience of being a teacher or getting ready to become a teacher until you know what its like to be with a diverse class. I hope when I become a teacher that I end up with a class that is diverse.
One of the few things I noticed was one of the days I was there they had an assembly where two Paralympians one of which who was at the London 2012 games and won a gold medal in swimming came to talk to the school about what it is like being a Paralympian. After they both finished their stories the students had questions and when they would answer these questions, I noticed that they talked to the school as if they ever wanted to become an athlete like them, they could no matter who they are. I thought this was cool because they addressed the school in its diversity saying that anyone no matter who you are can do it if you want to. They weren’t just addressing the one kid and saying that people like him can do it they wanted everyone to know that they could do it. They also treated everyone the same they didn’t single anyone out or anything. Another thing I noticed was in my class not everyone was around for every subject that was taught. When math came a few kids left to go work somewhere else, when language arts came another group left some of them were the same some of them were different. It went on like that all day. I never got the confirmation of where they went all the time from the teacher, but I think that they struggle in those subjects a little bit and don’t quite have the understanding down yet. For the kids that went every time or almost every time I feel that they may not know that well of English and they need to be taught it more slowly to understand it better.
From this practicum I learned a lot about myself. My entire lifetime I never got the chance to work with a diverse class because of where I grew up was mostly white kids. I have worked with a few diverse classed but it wasn’t diverse for me to be able to work with them and pull something out of working with them. In Mrs. Brant’s class I spent 2 class days taking a group of kids out into the hall to work on their reading packet with them for an hour. Some of them knew what they were doing others were struggling and asking for help. I was glad they were struggling because it gave me a chance to get to know who the student was and why they might be struggling. This experience I feel has given me the chance to grow as a future educator because I now understand what it’s like to be in a classroom with a diverse class. I feel that if I was just in a class that I’m used to from when I was in school, I could assume a lot of stuff like maybe everyone celebrates Christmas. However, when in a diverse classroom I can learn about all the different holidays that each student celebrates because with a diverse class they’re not all going to celebrate Christmas. When teaching it will be challenging not to make activities or give off examples of stuff I like, and I feel if I’m being challenged that I am doing something right. One more thing that I learned was that the teacher as well as every other staff member treated each kid the same. If a student wasn’t getting their work done, she wouldn’t give them an extension or if a student was all caught up and did good on every test and assignment, she didn’t give them special treatment. She treated everyone the same no matter their race, or their ethnicity. I feel that what I learned from this will make me a better teacher in knowing how to work with a diverse set of students.
In the end I feel that this field experience was great. I feel that maybe it could be a little bit longer just so you can get to know the class better rather than meeting them for a few days and then leaving them behind. However, I understand that with the way this class is planned its hard to find a way to make it work while still doing your classes. Another thing I would’ve like to have happen and I don’t know if this happened with other students in their classroom, but I didn’t get a chance to teach anything to the students. I ended up just sitting in the back and observing as she taught. There were times were it would be work time and I would walk around and see if everyone was doing their work but whenever a kid had their hand raised and I would go over to see what they needed some of them wouldn’t let me help them because they wanted the teachers help. I feel that if I was able to teach a couple of the subjects to the students that I would be able to take away more than I did by just observing the class. Like I said though in the end the experience was great, even though I didn’t think I got the full potential of a diverse class. I feel you don’t get the full experience of being a teacher or getting ready to become a teacher until you know what its like to be with a diverse class. I hope when I become a teacher that I end up with a class that is diverse.