Getting to know My Students

How could you, as a teacher, learn about diversity in your classroom and get to know your students from multiple perspectives?

In order to know my students better, I would first and foremost need to recognize that every one of them are different whether it is race, gender, sexual orientation, etc. Therefore, I would need to accept these differences (i.e. I would need to see 'color' as Ladson-Billings says, and realize that every student will learn differently based on their backgrounds. One idea that I really enjoyed from class was the 'Star of the Week' idea, because I partook in this as an elementary school student. I definitely think it is a good idea to have students share their backgrounds with not only you, but also the rest of the class. As a result, a student who may come from a single-mother home, would then share this, and students who come from a two-parent home could then see that every family is different.

I also feel it is very important to know my student's parents. Yes, this may be a challenge, as some parents in lower-income communities may work later hours, or not have access to childcare. However, I definitely think that I, as a teacher, could make house visits, and therefore see exactly what kind of environment my student comes from. This will eventually help me in the long run, as a Special Education teacher, because I may see how behaviors are formed (i.e. When I worked at Easter Seals, I found out that my student was repeating swear lines from the movie, "Next Friday." I then knew that he didn't actually know what he was saying. Rather, he was just repeating these lines, because they got a rise out of the actors in the movie, and out of his teacher and aides). Another good reason to know about your students' home lives, is that fact that when I work in an urban area (as I plan to do), I have to realize that all of my students may not come in with a full stomach, and a significant amount of sleep. In Lapp's article, it mentions how one teacher wanted to punish the student by not allowing him to eat. When some of my students may not be getting three square meals per day, I need to recognize this, so as not to further starve him. This is also something to take into consideration---maybe behaviors occur because of students' hunger--therefore, maybe I should plan to have an early snack time (and even have snacks on hand), so students are more likely to focus on what I am teaching.

Another idea about knowing my students that I picked up from my field placement was that my CT has her students journal on Monday mornings about what they had done over the weekend, whether it was going to a concert, or as simple as going to Meijer. I think this really is a good idea, because if a student shares this, you can then ask them more questions about it, and eventually come to know what they really enjoy (i.e. If they go to a lot of basketball games, then they probably really like basketball. Therefore, you could have a potential reward for behaving be basketball cards). My CT also implements another similar idea with "Sharing Time" on Monday mornings. Students are welcome to bring in any sharing item. By letting students share what is important to them, my CT then knows her students likes/dislikes--again further getting to know your students.

Finally, I feel that it is very important that I do not try to tell my students that I know exactly what they are going through--everyone has different experiences, so I should respect that. Therefore, I should bring a variety of culturally relevant texts, so that my students know that everyone has different backgrounds, and rather than pointing fingers and calling each other names, we should work together for the good of the classroom.