Chapter 4

What?

Chapter four discusses the differences between groups in our society. Thought culture students have certain beliefs, values, and influences which can help or hinder skills within a classroom. Culture gives students and individuals a sense of self. In certain situations a student may be in a cultural mismatch. A cultural mismatch is when a child's home culture and school culture have conflicting expectations for a child's behavior. Educators must be careful not to form stereotypes about any student or group of students. Chapter four also discusses language barriers that some students have to over come. Students may also have a dialect which may set them apart from other students in their school. The students dialect may be difficult to understand. In other cultures talking out of turn is considered to be rude or disrespectful. A child may be taught never to look at an adult while speaking and to think about the question being asked. When a child waits to ponder a question being asked is called wait time. In many other cultures it is thought to be rude to answer right away. Using wait time is essential for students to be successful within a classroom. When students are given the opportunity to think about what is being asked students are more engaged with in the classroom and are more successful. Chapter four discusses the emphasis of multicultural education. Multicultural education is instruction that integrates throughout the curriculum the perspectives and experiences of numerous cultural groups. The stress from diverse cultures can benefit all students and teachers as well. It gives individuals the opportunity to different perspectives. Socieonomics also can help or discourage a student within a classroom. Students who are at higher risk for lack of nutritional supplements, housing, exposure to toxins, unhealthy home environments, or lack of parental involvement are at a higher risk for failure in the school environment. Teachers should show support for students and have a high expectations for students in their classroom reports chapter four. Chapter four also discusses how teachers should make the curriculum relevant to students lives as well as their needs.

So What?

Chapter four has many different views on how culture plays such a role on students lives. It makes me nervous to think that a few moments after a student walks into the classroom most teachers have already made a decision or judgment about how that student will perform in the classroom. I am excited that i will have the opportunity to teach student who may be from a different culture than my own. I grew up in small town and there was really no noticeable cultural differences among us. Teachers never really brought in how different classrooms or countries worked when I was in school. I hope that I will be able to give my students a better opportunity than I did about learning different cultures and multicultural education can be integrated into any subject. It was very interesting that both boys and girls really have no differences mentally. The only difference boys and girls differ in is visual-spatial ability. I still hear people say oh "He does so well in math, because he is a boy" when in reality the girls within the family have the same opportunity to be just as smart at math as the boy. As a teacher I hope to deal with student who are at risk with a supporting attitude. I hope to make my classroom a room of safety, learning, and understanding. I hope to identify those students who may be at higher risks for failure early into the semester so I can give them as much support as I am able. I also want to encourage students to have high expectations for themselves as well as that I have high expectations for them within my classroom as well.

Now What?

I still need to know how to properly teach multiculturaly within my classroom. I also need to understand how to help those student who are at a higher risk for withdrawing from school. I need to learn how to not make assumptions and stereotype a student before I have the opportunity to get to know them. I already not the type to stereotype an individual, but it may be harder after I have taught for a few years not to stereotype individuals who remind me of past students. I need to work on Wait time as well. I have few patients now so it will be a work in progress to train myself to Wait before asking students to ask questions. Students who may not speak English as their first language will be harder for me to relay the information the state requires, but there are many different ways that I would be able to help those students. such as I would see if some other students wanted to help tutor or include that student into their study group. At parent teacher conference if parents did not speak English I could easily find an interpreter to help break the language barrier. There are many different programs on the web that will translate languages so notes could be sent home to students parents who do not speak English. There are so many things yet to learn for me to be able to teach students. Learning how to be a good teacher takes time, and a life time of constant reflection as well as changing thing that may not be working in the classroom.