As we discussed in class this week, it is important to invite students to share with their class who they are, who their family is, where they are from, some of the traditions they share, the culture they are a part of, and any other information they want to share about who they are. This not only helps the students get to know each other, but for the teacher to get to know the students, families and backgrounds. This activity also gives students a sense of pride as an individual and shows them that so many people can come from so many back grounds but can all work together and learn from one another.
Aside from the poems we talked about in class, what are fun ways you could do this kind of activity with a classroom of students? Have you seen this done in your placement?
Since we started later in the school year this past fall, I don't feel as though I got to see my CT set up such ties with her students and their families. Bringing in family members as experts is a great idea since the parent of a student might actually be an expert in an area we have to teach some day. I remember going to school with the local optomitrists daughter and he came in one week and taught us our science lesson on human organs and tissues like the eyes and how much fun it was. It also changed up the pace a bit as we didn't have to listen to the teacher read from the science book that week :)
I think it is very important to know the values, morals, and standards set up for their kids as a teacher to know what they expect out of education. I have heard my CT tell misbehaving students that their father or mother wouldn't allow them to act a certain way at home and it's not allowed at school either. I think that helps a lot because students realize certain rules set up at home carry outside their house as well.
Lisa,
ReplyDeleteI agree that understanding the culture of your students is a key step in helping them learn. You point out that classroom culture is something that is reinforced every day, just like in the example you mentioned from your CT.
To push further: have you seen your CT use literature (read-alouds, etc.) to help students talk about culture? The readings this week showed some examples of how this can work.
As talked about in class and also through Lisa's post; I also agree that setting up and understanding the classroom culture is very important. Not only is getting to know each student fun for the students but also very informative (and fun) for the teacher. I think that this “where I am from” poem is a wonderful idea to get to know your students because it is more than just the first day of school index card that students are expected to fill out. With being a TESOL minor, I have encountered many different experiences with different cultures. I have seen teachers use many different read-a-louds to incorporate different cultures and to introduce students to new themes. Even with the students not having English as their first language, it seems that using literacy to experience and express cultures is the most successful way to go out getting to know students.
ReplyDeleteWith using these poems is also a great way to introduce the parents into the classroom. I think that a successful classroom has to have a balance between the home and school. I do not think it is possible to do so without both of them. For example, I think it is important to keep the parents updated about what the students are learning and what is expected for upcoming learning’s by sending home newsletters.
Understanding the culture of your students is a key step to helping them learn, and parents understanding the culture of the classroom is a key step to helping their child learn.
ReplyDeleteI feel that the second part is often left out. I like how Erin mentioned newsletters, because I find it very important to let parents know what will be going on in the classroom so that they can ask their child questions and support their learning. My CT sends home newsletters weekly with the weeks agenda and reminders. My CT also sends home a 'day note'. This is a slip of paper that states Monday-Friday with any special activities on it and reminders for the day. Each day children will go home with a red, yellow or green face stating how they were in class that day and it must be signed and returned to the teacher. I find this to be a good strategy to not only daily remind parents about events occurring in school, but to also make them see how their child is acting in the classroom.
I have found that my teacher incorporates a lot of different cultural activities through large group sessions and the schools music teacher incorporates different cultures. I agree with Lisa's comment about bringing in people from the children's families. Whether it be a mother or father talking about their culture and showing the children how to make food or how to dance a certain way or it be a parent sharing their profession this creates ties for the children's families and school.