Reflections

Lesson D: After reading the article, reviewing the PowerPoint, and discussing it in class I received an understanding of Lesson D. Lesson D covered the basics of organizing the classroom for ELLs and how to make them feel comfortable and welcomed. For example, we want to welcome our students by having their desks set up, with either a name tag, supplies, activities, etc.

 

Making the classroom comfortable is an important part of being a teacher. If the students don't feel as though they have a place or two to go to relax they might feel overwhelmed and become discouraged. One way we can make them feel better is by changing up the layout of the classroom from time to time or setting up specific areas for certain purposes. This would then allow for the students to become more comfortable in the class and feel as though they can express themselves.  

 

Another way to make the classroom more sufficient is by creating lesson plans that include everyone's way of learning, what they want to learn about, or what interests them. By having a flexible curriculum we are meeting the needs of the specific criteria and what the students want to do. Overall, the comfort of the students and classroom affects the outcome of performance. 

Lesson C: Focused on how it is important to include our student's culture and parents into their education. It is key for our students to feel connected to their curriculum, if not they can feel a loss of identity. In class, we discussed how we could incorporate culture into the curriculum and how parents can get involved with their students.

 

We as teachers should encourage multiple viewpoints, this way no one's opinion feels left out or wrong. It is important to boost our student's confidence so that they feel as though they can share their thoughts and learn from each other. 

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Incorporating parents into the educational world will allow them to monitor and help their child's success. Parental involvement helps show their child that they are as invested in their education as they are, meaning they only want the best for them. Parents could also become a part of the classroom by volunteering, learning about other students, and planning events. Showing interest goes a long way. 

In class, we went over Chapter 3 of Pain and Privilege. With that, we also talked in class about ableism and (dis)abilities because chapter 3 discusses how two people were discriminated against based on their ableism. 

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Personally, I have two cousins that suffer from a disability, this disability is autism. Growing up me and family developed a program called Big Dog Buddies, and with this, we would help my cousin develop everyday skills and advance his education. 

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Looking at the past people with (dis)abilities were treated unfairly, called names, bullied, etc. But in today's day and age people are a lot more excepting of a person's (dis)abilities. 

Lesson B: During our class discussion we discussed how it might be difficult for ELLs to learn a second language and the aspects that go into that. I felt as though it would be difficult for a child to learn a second language in school because they might feel as though they are at a disadvantage. What I mean by that is that the other students are most likely not ELLs; therefore, they are already fluent in English. It could also be difficult to adapt to new scenarios and settings of an "American" based classroom.

 

However, as discussed in class there are programs available for ELLs to become more comfortable with learning the language. We were assigned a video to watch for a class that showed that there were five stages that an ELL goes through in order to learn and or understand the language. It is our job as a teacher to make our students feel comfortable, so it may be difficult at first, but there is a way to get around any problems that we face.  

After reading and discussing chapter two of Pain and Privilege, some ideas that I picked up on were the acceptance of gender, religion, social class, etc. 

 

In the text, it talked about how she was only recognized by certain parts of her ethnicity based on where she was. Coming from a multi-ethnic/racial background, it can be difficult to participate in society because you can be judged based on an ethnicity someone else sees besides the one they want you to see. 

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However, we discussed in class that is it possible to navigate these multiple identities by looking at our social setting and explaining or showing the identity that you want to portray. It shouldn't have to be chosen for you. 

Lesson I: In class today we went over how it is important for teachers to recognize their student's identities. For example, we looked at two pdf's and both had an insight into what we see a person as, yet they might not identify that way. 

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The iceberg pdf showed the most visible characteristics versus the least visible. This made me realize that you truly can't base a book off its cover because there are so many layers underneath. 

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The Gender pdf we looked at described what gender is and other phrases that go along with it. However, we took a deeper dive into the information and how we have to accept our students as they are and how they want to be portrayed, no matter our own thoughts. Students need to feel welcomed.