Prompt 7

Doing my Service Learning at Charlotte Woods Elementary definitely skewed my teaching ability for the better. Growing up without much diversity made me conscious of inner-city schools and how much more attention they need as opposed to rural schools. Doing my SL there, it also expanded my patience that was once very short with small children. I never used to have a lot of patience for small children - hence the reason why I want to teach High School English. However, Mrs. Caliri's classroom completely changed my outlook and I am very grateful for that. Volunteering there completely opened my eyes to the way inner city schools are as opposed to rural schools. The setting (lack of green grass and jungle gyms), lack of funds (free lunches, books that are not great condition, etc), the way students are taught (they are learning the english language), lack of parental participation,etc... I think the more VIPS students go to inner-city schools, the more our generation could hopefully raise enough awareness to schools that seem to be swept under the rug when they are the schools that should be paid attention to the most.

Prompt 6

In Charlotte Woods Elementary, it was fairly easy to show sensitivity to the students despite the huge language barrier. The teacher, Mrs. Caliri, is very affectionate in terms of giving hugs and spending a lot of time with them. She is also extremely patient, knowing that English is not their primary language. As for me though, I cannot speak Spanish. I demonstrated my sensitivity and responsiveness by listening to the children and dividing my time up between each table of children so that no one thought I paid more attention to the other. Each student was more than willing to share stories of their home lives, school life, friends, etc. Sometimes I do not think teachers listen to their students enough, even small children. If teachers did listen to their students, they could get a better understand why a student behaves the way he/she does and maybe there would be less communication. Referring back to prompt 5, the more inactive parent participation is, the more teachers should be willing to listen to their students and get involved with them as individuals and not just as one whole class.

Prompt 5

I have noticed a major difference in rural schools to inner-city schools. Because I went to a rural public school all my life, I constantly compare it to Charlotte Woods Elementary. A competent teacher will definitely try to get parents proactive in the school community. In Scituate, it was easy to get parents' participation in the school programs whether it was volunteering, PTA, or even just meeting with the teachers to see how well their child is doing. After speaking to Mrs. Caliri (my SL teacher), it is like "pulling teeth" to get parents active in their child's academic life. This is definitely not speaking for everyone obviously, however, the majority. I think this is because in inner-city classrooms, many of the children come large families and maybe the parent cannot participate because they are too busy with the other children. Some parents are even incarcerated. In my own opinion, after reading certain articles (Kozol in particular), many parents of inner city students are drug users - again, I am not saying ALL parents. Drug users put their addiction ahead of anything else which is very sad especially if they are in a large family. These are all contributing factors as to why a teacher may have difficulty getting a parent or a guardian's participation in their child's academics and/or behavior. This also may be why some children look at their teacher as a mother/father figure and/or role model.

Prompt 4

Growing up in Scituate, RI, there is very little cultural diversity. Because of this, I never really experienced what it is like to work with people of different races and to be honest, most people in Scituate are racist Republicans (MOST). Thus, I was completely out of my element when I did my VIPS at Charlotte Woods Elementary. Working with children of different races when I grew up in a country-area was very different and almost...scary (for lack of a better word). I was very nervous. I think my personal experience in Scituate helped me at the school because it humbled me greatly. I appreciate what I have and it rose my awareness to help those who are in troubling inner-city schools. Challenges I may face as an up and coming teacher is the language barrier. There was a lot of communication problems I faced with the students - especially because it was an ESL class. I don't speak Spanish and that is their dominany language so it's hard to try to have a student read/write something to you and comprehend it as well. My misconceptions of the students were brief. I shamefully believed the students would be troublemakers or not really care too much to learn anything but in fact it was quite opposite. That sounds horrible, I know, but I blame most of it on how I grew up. I grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, school, etc. I think bilingual people definitely make for better teachers - I wish I was, but I'm not... It just seems that bilingual teachers understand their students better and like I said previously, communication is KEY. I am not ashamed to say where I came from but I definitely feel like I msised out on learning about other cultures and working one-on-one with those who are different than my peers were. On the flipside, going to Scituate HS really opened my eyes to children in inner-city schools - to compare the rural to the urban society, to appreciate what I have that I would ordinarily take for granted and to try to help those in need as best to my ability.

Prompt 3

Although Mrs. Caliri has been absent for the past three weeks, I still have learned a lot by the way she interacts with her students from what I've seen. As far as responding to the linguistic, ethnic and sociocultural characterisitcs of students, Mrs. Caliri does her job very well. For example, she uses word syllables and phonics in order to get the children to understand. It is an ESL class and a few students have difficulty learning the material. She uses pictures and breaks down each word in order to pronounce and understand what they mean (i.e. "butterfly" would be but/ter/fly followed by a picture of a butterfly). The picture-word association really helps with the children's comprehension of what they are reading. Because Mrs. Caliri does not allow Spanish-speaking in her classroom, she really encourages to speak English as best to their ability. So far, I've seen a great response from the student. Mrs. Caliri, being bilingual herself, realizes how much Spanish is spoken in their homes. However, being patient with her students is probably the biggest thing she could do. She does not take away from their culture - she obviously knows they are from Hispanic descent. If the children have questions, they ask one another or Mrs. Caliri but she encourages them to figure it out for themselves and nine times out of ten, it works.

Prompt 2

A week later and Mrs. Caliri is STILL sick! Another sub was in class today...The subsititute teachers are really no match for what Mrs. Caliri can do with the children and I think the kids know this. She has a lot of control over the class and they end up more productive.

Although the children know the basic fundamentals of the english language, a few still do not understand. It's weird because though it's an ESL class, the children HARDLY speak Spanish. Even the entry-level students will not speak Spanish, mostly because Mrs. Caliri will not allow it... But even when I think they're stuck, they will make an attempt to try it themselves and see if they recieve praise or criticism in return. I found that kind of bizarre because I thought if they had at least had a question, they would be more vocal. I think incorporating a child's backround into one's classroom environment is important for a teacher. Our class defined culture inclusive to media, religion, practices, music, movies, etc. I believe it's important to know about how one grew up to better understand them. When you understand how a student grew up or how they practice this/that, it's easier to teach them. You might teach them how to do one thing when they learn it an entirely different way at home but it's still correct (math, for example). Also, with behavior issues, knowing one's backround culture, family life, etc. really helps in knowing why the kids act the way they do. For example, some kids speak without raising their hand or without getting called on but that might be because that is how they act at home. This is also a hard concept to teach --- especially when the kids @ Charlotte woods are all at different levels (advanced, intermediate, beginner)... Mrs. Caliri talks to everyone as a whole class when she teaches - specificially the phonics and syllables. She doesn't allow anything but english being spoken in the classroom but she does know how to speak spanish so if someone is having terrible difficulty with a specific assignment, I'm sure she'd be able to explain in which they could understand (i have yet to see her do this though). It's so much easier to talk/learn/communicate with someone if you understand them... This is true for any relationship not just between the teacher-student.

Day 4

Today was my fourth day at Charlotte Woods Elementary. Mrs. Cliri was absent from class today so there was a substitue, Mrs. Acosta. She seems enthusiastic although not as patient as Mrs. Cliri. It was clear the children are more comfortable with their ordinary teacher (not to put down Mrs. Acosta). She had a very heavy Spanish accent that was a little difficult for me to interpret.

I started off by reading a book in front of the class... I am still sick so my voice probably sounded ridiculous but I did the best I could. Thinking back now, I'm wondering if I should have slowed down with the reading. I think I read it too fast. The assignment following the reading consisted of associating words with pictures within the story which I think really helps them learn English a little easier. During this time, I took my 3 usual students in which I am their reading buddy and worked with them. The kids were very hyper today though. They were more interested in getting to know ME rather than focusing on their studies. They wanted to know where I came from, how many friends I have, if I have a boyfriend, etc. My personal information I kept extremely brief because as much as I'd like to tell them about myself, I know I am there to help them LEARN. We did syllable pronounciations that were timed - for example : El-e-phant (3 syllables). We also did timed "DOLCH" where the kids work with flash cards (I hold up a card, they read me the word and tell me the meaning). We did this for about 30-35 minutes.

After that, I went to each table (there's about 3-5 kids per table) and they were all reading short stories (Dr. Suess, Arthur, etc). I was impressed that not only they read very well, they comprehended what they read, which was the main thing. I think associating pictures with the words really helps them develop their English skills and word development.

My trouble today was dividing my attention between each student. Almost every student would call my name, tap my shoulder, or raise their hand for my attention. I guess that is what a teacher has to deal with. I was trying to pay attention to everyone but I was getting overwhelmed. Again, if anyone had any suggestions, please send them my way!


Looking forward to next week :) The kids are awesome.