Educating Children of Katrina

Should schools be able to entice students to come?



After reading this article, I was a little sad at what the school systems are trying to do to these children. It is bad enough that their homes were destroyed, their lives changed so much that many don't even recognize it, but now the school s want to put a price on the students head in order to get more money. I know that there is a certain amount that each school gets for a student enrolled, but what these law makers were offering as suggestions for the money was ridiculous. I don't remember one idea that involved helping the students to succeed. There was talk about money for the teachers, ways to get better insurance, what about getting some interventions for students who have just been traumatized by a natural disaster.



I was appalled at the fact that they want to let the schools compete for these students. the first thought that came into my head was that of colleges trying to recruit players. That is exactly what this is, only it is just for the money. How is this helping the student? Will making the classes overcrowded help these poor students to succeed better.



There was so much in this article that made the hair stand up on my neck. One thing in particular was allowing people who work in Math and Science to come into the schools and teach without having to go back to school and have education classes. Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that people are willing to give up their jobs in order to teach our students to make them better, but they still need training. It is one thing to show adults what to do day to day in an office, than to teach students on a daily basis in the classroom. What about class management, courses on dealing with learning disabilities. This could become a disservice to our students.



After reading this article, I just want to work harder for my students. I want them to realize that I care and that I am not there just for a paycheck. I am there to make sure that they learn all that I have to teach them. I don't want to be one of those teachers who shows up to work and doe snot embrace that student for the little sponge that he/she may be. These students are the future leaders of tomorrow, it is important that we teach them what they need to know and not cram them into a classroom for the money and let them slide by on the wayside.

Is Multieducational Education Wanted?

After reading Pitthissippi Burning, I will say that I was a tad bit sad. The article seemed to put down all races that wanted to have their say. Though some of the facts may or may not be true, for example that the white race will soon cease to exist, no one should ever not have the right to want to preserve their culture. After all that is exactly what other cultures are trying to do. I cannot make a comment on the book The Brigade, that PJ Tobia mentioned, but I will say that any book that puts down other races in order to build up their own is terrible. I would like to believe that one day the world as we know it would have Agape love and never again would a hate crime be committed, but realistically that just is not happening. This is why I believe in a multicultural education. However before I get to that lets discuss the other two articles read.

According to this article, at least to my understanding, multiculturalism is wrong because it creates a society of one people and does not give cultures their own identity. It causes cultures to integrate and not really live on its own. The article stated that the new culture is “imposed” on people who do not want it. I guess I really haven’t decided if I agree with this statement or not. There could be many circumstances where this could be true and others where it is not. For those people who are forced from their home and made to live somewhere else and live by their standards, I would agree this is wrong. However for those people who voluntarily made the choice to go to that new country, they were making a conscious decision to do that. However, this is not what I call Multiculturalism. Being Multicultural means combining cultures, not negating one because you are living in another.

As I am sure I have mentioned in other writings, I believe in multiculturalism, especially in the school systems. It is not my goal to make all of my students into “Americans.” I do not want to take away their culture or have them think that they must forget all that their family believes because they are here now. I would like to think that my classroom is its own little country. A place where students can come in as who they are and leave more in tune with their culture and have a love of the American culture as well. I try to never tell my students that the ways things are done at home are wrong. It is my job to teach the students what they need to know, academically. I am not there to convert them. I try to incorporate a little bit of them into all that is taught, something that they can relate to.

As mentioned in the article The Challenge of Multiculturalism, there will never be a fully multicultural society. However, I think that we can make it as close to that as possible for our kids. If we teach them to recognize the differences in each other and embrace them and not hate them, who knows what could happen in the future.

Grammar for Kinders

As I read the selections, I tried to think of how I could put this on my students' level.





Grammar for Kindergartners, sounds impossible. During my first year of teaching, I actually thought it was impossible. I was ecstatic when my students were just using English whether the grammar was flawed or flawless. However, as the year progressed I received my own "AHA" moment. It was towards the end of the year and one if my students needed to go to the bathroom because they always need to go to the bathroom. I was writing on the board and I heard it..."I can go to the bathroom." Now I hear this all year and I soon learned to let it go, but made sure that I responded in the correct way so that they could know what it was supposed to sound like. This time, however, I never had the chance to correct him. Before I could turn around another student told them, "you gotta say can I go to the bathroom."

Did that really just happen? Now granted it still was not completely correct but for kindergarten I was very happy. Now that I have gotten that story out of my system, I will relate to the objective here. :)


I do not really "teach" grammar in my classroom nor is there a standard on our ELL report card that states - this student uses grammar correctly. I help my students to learn the vocabulary that is needed before they can learn the grammar to put them together. I do not want you to think that everyone in our class is using broken English, that no one ever corrects it, and I send them to first grade just like that. I have learned through many courses in higher education that if you correct someone too many times, that it is possible that the student will stop participating in the lesson that is going on. So my way of teaching grammar is by example.


As I mentioned earlier, when the students stated something incorrectly, I corrected them in my response. Take for example: student - I can go to the bathroom, teacher - yes, you CAN/MAY go to the bathroom. I made sure that I put emphasis on the word that was needed. We did this a lot during whole group lessons, mini-group lessons, and one on one.

Readings:

Standard English + Good Grammar = Great Teacher?

I do agree that there really is no such thing as standard English. As Richard Nordquist mentioned, English that is standard in one area, may not be spoken the same way, like a dialect. I relate this to being like a home. Not every one's home is the same, my home could be a house, someone else an apartment, or for others a cardboard box. I do agree that there is a certain type of English that should be spoken in certain situations. You would not talk the same way at work, that you would hanging out with your friends at a football game.

The articles stated grammar is something that is very important. I believe that being able to express yourself in an "educated" way can help you to get to higher places, especially in some careers. I think that teachers should show students the structure to write and speak. I do not think that the lesson in teaching it should be structured. Students learn more when they can put themselves into what they are learning, so using the deductive way of teaching is probably the strategy that I like most for teaching grammar. I would use this strategy in English Learner classrooms or a General Education class.

My Multicultural Educaton Definition.

Being an ELL teacher, creating an environment that incorporates all the cultures of my classroom is something that I strive to do, although it is very difficult.

My idea of multicultural education means embracing all of your students and to nurture their growth. I agree with the working definition on EdChange Multicultural Pavilionhttp://www.edchange.org/multicultural/initial.html. The deifinition states that the underlying goal of multicultural education is to affect social change. As an educator, I think it is our job to create productive members of society. When teaching students, it is a priority that the academic information be put into words that the students can comprehend. I do not think it is our job to strip students of their cultures, and "Americanize" them. It is important that the students are able to embrace the American culture without discarding their own.

A Little About Me

Hiya!

My name is Niki and I currently teach Kindergarten ELL for Metro Schools. I am currently enrolled in a graduate program for my Ed.S and I am very excited. I am doing the courses online and very happy to be back in school.

I look forward to telling you all that I think on educational things, and maybe checking out some other people as well.

Happy Saturday!

Niki