- Teaching English

Teaching English in a Culturally Diverse Classroom

Teaching in a culturally diverse classroom provides rich experiences for both students and teachers. An important part of the English content is learning and sharing cultural values, customs, and traditions that make each individual unique and important to the entire classroom population. This cultural diversity aids understanding of self, each other, and the literature they encounter. Teaching a diverse population is an honor! To see the benefits of teaching in a culturally diverse classroom, click on the link below.

Teaching English to a diverse population is a rewarding experience for the following reasons: a. Students are willing to share their personal cultural traditions when they know those traditions are valued by others. b.Teaching in a culturally diverse classroom provides ample opportunities for the teacher to grow as a person and as a teacher. c. Cultural values and traditions shared by students opens new paths of understanding to the variety of literature read in and out of class. d. A classroom that is culturally diverse provides an environment that is safe for all students to "take chances" in without fear of making mistakes. e. When students are valued for who they are and for their cultural heritage, they are much more likely to excel within that classroom because they are willing to take chances.
Teaching to a diverse population entails more than just cultural differences. It also includes students who "at risk" because they sometimes lack the skills needed in a particular class. The biggest reward for a teacher who works with this type of population is helping those students overcome their fears of failure and experience success. Success is addictive; students who have had very little success in their academic life blossom beyond a teacher's wildest dreams when they realize that they too, can experience success in a classroom. The relief in the eyes of these students is the biggest reward of all for teaching to a diverse population!
To view the website for my school district, click on the link below. http://www.fusd.net
My favorite link for educational resources is ERIC. Please click on the link below. www.ed.gov/EdRes/EdFed/ERIC.html
Investigation Technology provides students with the opportunity to investigate what they already know about a subject through research. They can go to sites like http://www.google.com, type in a search word or phrase and then proceed to investigate the sites listed for their search. During this process, they are using their prior knowledge of a subject (topic) and as they do the research, they are building on that knowledge. Thus, all students, regardless of whether they are ELD or "at risk" or "normal" students, they are building and adding to what they already know through their research done through technology.
Engagement Using the html editor to develop this page has enabled me to understand the importantance of technology when students are engaged in research and projects that demonstrate their mastery of the subject.
Reflections Developing this page has helped me to develop new and fresh ideas using technology in my lesson plans. This is especially true with the discovery of the Peace Corps website that is set up primarily for high school language arts classes and writing projects. Technology adds to what students know about a subject and offers them valuable search tools that will help expand their knowledge. This alone supports my constructivist philosophy but even more important, opens my understanding to ways to use technology that I had not considered. Hosted by www.Geocities.ws