Prompt 6-Brown

The culturally competent teacher communicates in ways that demonstrates sensitivity to socio-cultural and linguistic differences sing a variety of verbal and non-verbal communication techniques that encourage positive interaction and support learning in their classroom.

            One time, the other kindergarten teacher was out of school sick. And because there weren’t any substitutes, the class of 25 was split in two. Just a side not: the other kindergarten class is a special Ed class. So, Mrs. Paisley was inheriting 15 extra students on top of her 26. Mrs. Paisley said she was glad that I was there that day because for those two hours I really helped her, along with the classroom aid. Also, there was the ad from the other class to help out as well. I couldn’t believe how many students ere in one classroom at one time. Although, I have to say they were well behaved for the most part. They did all kinds of different activates to compensate the other children. During the language lesson. It was interesting to watch. I loved being able to work with the students from the other class. It was such an eye opener. Working with them was incredible. It was such a change from my normal routine in the classroom. Mrs. Paisley and the other teacher aid, Mrs. Bradley, were really accommodated for both classes.

            I related this experience to Brown. Although, this story wasn’t about all girls but I related to the two classrooms and Brown’s case of Mansfield verses Acadia. There were two very different groups of students. And in the Brown article there were two very different groups of girls. The difference being the high and middle class. In the two classes that were put together for one day I saw that they were separated and the classes weren’t integrated. I would have put the students at different tables and let all the students talk together. I think if it was my classroom I would have done it a little differently. All the students should have been able to come together and bee seen as one class for the day, when in reality there were two. Even though, the teachers did a good job accommodating for the learning difference, for example with the papers they did. But they should have helped the students by explaining it to them differently. The language and words that the teacher was using was hard for some of the students to understand. Brown’s article really made me think about my classroom and how I would never want my classroom separated in two. No matter what the situation is, I would want to bring them all together. In the article….as a possible solution was to put those two places together in the hopes they will even each other out.

Prompt 5-Johnson

Prompt 5-Johnson

The culturally competent teacher works with families and community resources understanding the differences in families, the importance of family participation in students’ learning and the benefit of collaborating with a wider school community.

                        Challenges that might occur in my classroom might be…when parents don’t agree with what us as teachers are doing or they don’t think that we are doing it right and helping their child in the right way for whatever reason. I think most teachers are aware of the different families in her classroom. There are all kinds of ways children are raised and what ideas their parents see as being most fit for them.

                        There is this girl named Allie and she wears everything top of the line. Now where her parents get the money I do not know. I don’t even have that much of an exciting wardrobe. Anyway, she always comes in with a purse and these fancy sandals or shoes; her clothes have sparkles and all these designer labels. Also, she is loud and kind of disruptive. Most of the time she has a hard time obeying and listening to Mrs. Paisley. I’m telling you this girl has more designer labels then I do and she’s five! J

                        Another example is the girl names Cari; she lives in a shelter with her parents and younger sister. Mrs. Paisley worked with this family to give Cari extra help when needed. My heart goes out to her because all I want to do is give her a hug and help her family get back on their feet. My heart goes out to them. Mrs. Paisley showed compassion by making special considerations for her.  She comes to school with whatever she has and puts on her best face and tries her hardest.

                        Johnson states that “Privilege is a social advantage that is both unearned and comes to people simply because they happen to belong to a particular social culture.” Here are two different examples of privilege. One child takes what she has for granted while the other appreciates and users what she has to the fullest. Sometimes “less is more.” Everyone has privileges, what we shouldn’t do, is abuse them. This article really made the think of my own privileges and how I should be more thankful for what I have in life and that some things are just too important to be covered by material things.

Prompt 4-Kozol

Prompt 4- Kozol


A culturally competent teacher is aware of the divers cultural groups represented in his/her classroom, investigates the sociocultural factors that influence student learning, and is able to integrate this knowledge into his/her teaching.
Mrs. Paisley wanted me to get a different feel of a classroom so one time she wanted me to come when the class went to gym. I said okay, so I did. The gym teachers name was Mr. Rock. After he introduced himself to me very impolitely I might add he proceeded to tell me that we just got out of college two years ago. He also told me that I was making a huge mistake becoming a teacher and it is a waste of time. If he didn’t get into the program he never would have become a teacher. He said he didn’t figure out, he hated teaching until he started actually teaching a gym class. For the entire 45 minutes, every word out of his mouth was don’t become a teacher, it’s awful, you’ll regret it and the kids are going to eat you up. Yes, he said eat me up! How rude!
I couldn’t wait to post this story because it was so incredibly annoying. He started off by making the class line up again the wall. Strike 1-They just got a new student but Mr. Rock didn’t know any of their names and he had been teaching them since September. Strike 2-The class pointed out they had a new student he asked who and where she was, after literally pointing her out. Mr. Rock said, “oh, nice to have you.” Strike 3-He set up a sharks and minnows game. He said no screaming, pushing or pulling. If a girl, for instance, Sarah (by accident) bumped into someone, Mr. Rock made Sarah sit facing a corner for ten minutes. If a boy, for instance, Dominic, screaming and shoved someone to the floor, Mr. Rock told him not to do it again and let him go back and play. This occurred the entire gym class. I was so heated by the time it was over. Ohhh right, and strike 4-was when he decided to sit in a chair NOT watching the class and played on his cell phone the ENTIRE class.
I related this story to Kozol even though he was more about the segregation of people of different races. Mr. Rock segregated the girls and boys. Treated them completely differently. I couldn’t believe how he was treating them. I can only imagine how he treats the people in his family. Anyway, the point I am trying to make here is that no one should be put in a group or segregated for any reason. Everyone should be and is equal no matter which way you cut it. If half the class is African American and the other half is white, it makes me wonder if Mr. Rock would do the same thing in this situation as he did to the two students.

Prompt 3-Kliewer

Prompt 3-Kliewer

The culturally competent teacher should be able to use a variety of assessment techniques appropriate to diverse learners and accommodate sociocultural differences that affect learning.

I see in my classroom that the students parents…well most of them are all trying to help their child do well…then you also have little Timmy’s father who takes his child’s ADHD medicine. This poor child is trying to do well but it is very hard for him because of his home life. When he comes to school he tries but is sometimes unable to focus. All I want to do is sit there and work with him one on one but he has special education teachers there for him. Little Timmy is in my room for part of the day and goes to another room for the rest of the day. My teacher, Mrs. Paisley is well aware of the situation and tries and works out what she can for Little Timmy. Mrs. Paisley has tried to come up with ways to work with Little Timmy’s dad so he can do and get what Little Timmy needs. She is constantly trying to get Little Timmy’s dad to be supportive of his schooling and discussing with other faculty what the best plan is for him. Little Timmy has definitely come a long way since I first started visiting the school. Mrs. Paisley along with other teachers and staff has created a team for Little Timmy. And together they use different way and techniques that will best fit him.

I related this experience to Kliewer because even though his article is mainly about Down syndrome. It also talks about disabilities. Little Timmy has a learning disability and a mental disability. I wish I knew more about it to help him. Also, in the article Kliewer talked about laws and documents that will keep Little Timmy through school until he is eighteen years old.