Reactions to "Challenging Cultural Biases Toward Diverse Students" Article

When I first read the abstract, I was able to predict exactly what the study was going to reveal. Since we have been discussing the issue of cultural biases in this science class as well as my Latinos in U.S. Education class, I feel that I have learned a great deal about myself and the attitudes I hold and held at the beginning of the semester.

The bulk of the article was not surprising in the least. In fact, I felt that this article and study could have been about our class specifically. From our class discussions, it has been made clear that we all possess some biases, and I feel that our class has done well to explore and eliminate those biases throughout the semester. I really like the authors use of the term "cultural baggage". In the beginning of the semester I had not given much thought to my culture or culture in general. After having discussed the topic at length in several courses, I can say that I have cultural baggage, but I am glad to have been made aware of this.

I think the most important lesson to learn from these studies and class discussions is that we all need to look inward and evaluate our cultural baggage. In doing this we can be more aware of any biases we might form while teaching our class. In addition, this article was another support for the importance of taking the time to become familiar with our students and their parents. Children do not all learn the same way and we need to be aware of their differences so we can differentiate our instruction.

Counter-Narratives

I have to start by saying that I really enjoyed this article. In all of my classes there is this overwhelming negativity at times in which everyone (including textbooks and articles) points out how difficult it is to teach and how awful the kids are and all the problems we will face as educators. This article was different because it had a hopeful tone and pointed out some of the positive aspects of teaching while offering insight as to how to teach well.

The three interviewees seemed to to have two themes in common that made their career successful: 1) they were positive and did not place blame on any extrinsic factors related to student success and 2) they came to know their students very well both in and out of the classroom and expected a lot from them academically and community-wise.

I believe that these two themes are crucial no matter where, who and what you teach. It seems that many teachers have a defeatist attitude and show up to work everyday looking at the clock wondering when they can go home. (I say this from the experience of working with teachers and listening to their conversations in the staff room.) Instead of giving up when times get hard, it is critical that we teachers find the positive in our positions and not falter in our consistent expectations of the students. Yes, every now and then there might be that student or parent who gives us a hard time, but we need to remain positive and examine what we can do to improve the situation. Its about time to stop the blame-game and just get it done.

It might not be easy though...

Listening

I found the article "On Listening to What Children Say" to be interesting. The author's main point is obviously that we need to talk with our students and pay attention to their behavior in order to have a better understanding of their personalities and background. I agree with the author that we as teachers tend to be so curriculum driven that we don't think we have any time to just listen to the students. In my current position at an elementary school I see this everyday. The teachers may take a moment to ask students about their weekend or something similar but after a short answer the conversation is over and it's off to work. In my previous school the teachers never actively listened to kids at recess and for the most part felt that when a student wanted to talk to them it was a burden.

I was particularly interested in the author's examples of preschoolers' interactions. I worked in a preschool setting for a year and they truly are very imaginative children at the age of 3-4. I found it odd when she questions how children perceive teachers' "literal" thinking. I have always been told that children are very literal up until they are in about 5th grade. Someone told me that teachers shouldn't use sarcasm or catch-phrases.

This article is useful for our science discussions because the author is suggesting that teachers need to learn what children know and how they understand concepts. If we are to strive for conceptual change in our science lessons, we must first listen to the students and figure out what misconceptions they have.

From experience, when I started teaching I noticed that the new teachers, regardless of all the training about listening to children and integrating classrooms, etc. always seem to teach like the older teacher on their grade team. This seems to promote a cycle of "old" teaching methods. I would like to see a school that is all newer teachers (within the first 5 years of teaching). It would be nice to feel a freedom to teach these newer (although in most cases it seems common sense) teaching practices. Then again, by the time we are the old teachers, everything we were taught will be obsolete!

Teaching ELL Students

While reading "The Campfire Effect" and chapter one of "Making Science Accessible to English Learners" I had many thoughts about what sound teaching is all about. The article made me realize that the first step to teaching ELL students, and in fact ALL students, is to reflect on one's preconceived notions about those students and their cultural backgrounds as well as our preconceived notions about their ability to succeed. As the "Campfire Effect" suggests there is a need for quality pre-service teacher programs that address the needs of ELL students. One issue I had with the article was the lack of follow up of those students who participated in the study as pre-service teachers. The study found that teachers' perceptions were changed and the students felt more comfortable about teaching EL students. I am very interested to see some data about student performance in those teachers' classes their first year teaching as well as five and ten years down the line. A pre-service teacher, as well as any teacher taking new classes, can respond that they feel more comfortable with a topic after having just taken a course, but can they apply it effectively in a classroom? Did the test scores of those students' students out perform others who have not had the training?

I enjoyed reading chapter one in the textbook. I kept thinking to myself that many, if not all, of the strategies mentioned to enhance ELL science learning could be helpful to all students. Grouping students according to a variety of criteria, modeling the project and expected interactions, and speaking slowly seem like strategies that would be helpful to everyone. I was particularly interested in the concept of speaking slowly in class. I think that many teachers including myself don't realize that we might be speaking too fast for some students to comprehend instructions and lectures. I also reflected on my attempts at understanding Spanish. I can understand conversations if the speaker speaks slowly and deliberately; however, when they start speaking fast I have NO IDEA what is being said. Language seems to be something that we take for granted in many instances. When I am in that classroom again, I will try to be more cognisant of my speaking speed.

Overall I found both reading to be informative and useful for future teaching.

Two Issues

While reading the article titled "Unemployment Training" by Martin Haberman I felt increasingly uncomfortable and annoyed. I disagree with some of his reasoning and mostly felt that he offered little insight into how to fix the issues he described. I agree with Haberman's outline of how schools function. I agree that in some cases current schooling does not foster positive development of children ultimately entering the work force. What frustrated me and made me uncomfortable was that he was making serious generalizations that he did not support with facts. He lumps ALL poor urban children in the same category as unmotivated and disrespectful individuals. In order to make such arguments valid he needed to include some hard data. In a couple sections he offered some insight into possible turn-over rates and attention spans, but where did he get his information? In order to make these assumptions I feel that he needed to name specific school districts across a variety of states to make his case more valid. Of course, the point was that what we do in school is not preparing kids for the real world. I believe this theory is not only applicable in urban settings, but is true in suburban and rural settings too. In addition, I do not feel that it is entirely on the teachers' shoulders as he suggests. There are many extrinsic factors outside of school that contribute to student attitudes and success rates. These include but are not limited to, family life, parent involvement, community, money, etc. So, while I think there are many aspects of urban and suburban/rural schools that can change, it is most important that teachers learn about each of their students and mold the curriculum to allow success.

This week in the first grade classroom I worked in I had a conversation with the teacher about a possible frog unit. I am in Windham and due to its history with frogs I thought it might be appropriate to do a springtime frog life cycle unit. She said that it was excellent that we could obtain a frog habitat with tadpoles for an inexpensive price, so I jumped in and started talking about how the kids could use the science process skills (at least first grade appropriate ones.) She told me two things at this point in the conversation: that there is no time in the day for in-depth science activities(ones the kids would actually learn from) and that she knows the students are going to fail the science CMT because of this. I was so disheartened by her defeatest attitude and it was made even worse when she told me her focus in college was in SCIENCE!!

It is really difficult to persevere when negative attitudes float around a school like a virus. However, having heard these sentiments so many times I still want to, and am determined to, include quality science(not to mention social studies) in my classroom. The ball needs to get rolling and maybe I can help in whatever district I end up in. I'm not sure how I am going to do it, but if I value it-it will happen.

Thoughts About Class

Today in class as we were talking about the achievement gap I started thinking about the two main factors: teacher dedication and teaching strategies. The first thought that came to my head was "duh!", the other was- how do we fix it. I haven't been in a regular classroom, but I have been working closely with staff in a school building for several years and the biggest complaint I hear is that there is no time. In my district the superintendent has decided that students must have 1.5 hours of language arts, 1 hour of writing and 1 hour of math. Plus 1/2 hour lunch, 1/2 hour recess and between 30-50 minute special. This total time equals to 5.5 hours out of a 6.5 hour day. Add in transition times and now we've got a whole whopping 30 minutes to teach both science and social studies. I guess a possible answer is trying to incorporate more science into writing and math and language arts.

When I was in grade school everything was separate. There was reading then math then science then social studies... However, I also remember having a lot more fun in school when we had science time and got to watch the hamsters run around or collect leaves for observation.

Earlier in class we also discussed being open-minded and questioning and it made me remember something from last week. I work in a children's library over the summers and we received this book called the "Eleven Planets." I was totally confused since in school I was taught that there are nine and that a couple of years ago Pluto was demoted. So, I read the book and learned all sorts of interesting facts about dwarf planets and gaseous planets and terrestrial planets. From this I really learned that science is an ongoing process of exploration. What we decide today may not necessarily be true twenty years from now, so it is good to keep an open mind.

First Post

This is just a test post to see how this comes out. I enjoyed class today though I felt a bit uncomfortable. I believe I am the only grad. student not in the integrated bachelor/masters program. I have been teaching music for four years now at the elementary level. I want to cross over and be in the classroom.