Growing up as a child living a lower class lifestyle I attended over 11 schools while completing my elementary education. I went from poor schools to well budgeted schools. This insight has helped me in pursuing my educational career.
Today we visited a public school in one of the poorest areas in Cabarete. Before entering the school I had a pre-conceived notion about what the school would be like and the amount of learning that would actually take place. To my surprise the schools appearance was very familiar to me. It reminded me of one of the schools I attended growing up that lacked funds, but surpassed most schools when it comes to loving and caring staff members.
I visited 2 classrooms, a fifth grade classroom and a pre-school classroom. The learning that took place in the preschool classroom was very familiar to me. They began the day as a traditional pre-school teacher would, just in Spanish. In that moment I imagined myself as a student entering a classroom for the first time and no one speaks the same language as me. I immediately felt fear at the thought of trying to learn without understanding. I listened to the teacher speak; her body language and gestures helped me to figure out bits and pieces of what she said, but not enough to be successful.
The learning that took place in the 5th grade classroom was questionable. The students were working on 3 digit-by-3 digit multiplication problems, but they lacked math fact fluency. In my recent block 2 class I learned the importance of math fact fluency and how it’s beneficial to students who are trying to conquer more complex problems. The student who was working on the problem took 20 minutes to solve the problem. Although the student struggled greatly I appreciated the teacher slowing the student to take the time needed to work through the problem. The student was very proud after receiving the correct answer.
Experiencing this makes me more aware of what an ESL student who enters my classroom might experience. As a teacher it is my job to do my best to break down the walls of fear that might surround that student. Now that I know what it feels like I can show empathy and understanding. I can go above and beyond to make sure my student is successful…. I am blessed to have experienced this……..
Today we visited a public school in one of the poorest areas in Cabarete. Before entering the school I had a pre-conceived notion about what the school would be like and the amount of learning that would actually take place. To my surprise the schools appearance was very familiar to me. It reminded me of one of the schools I attended growing up that lacked funds, but surpassed most schools when it comes to loving and caring staff members.
I visited 2 classrooms, a fifth grade classroom and a pre-school classroom. The learning that took place in the preschool classroom was very familiar to me. They began the day as a traditional pre-school teacher would, just in Spanish. In that moment I imagined myself as a student entering a classroom for the first time and no one speaks the same language as me. I immediately felt fear at the thought of trying to learn without understanding. I listened to the teacher speak; her body language and gestures helped me to figure out bits and pieces of what she said, but not enough to be successful.
The learning that took place in the 5th grade classroom was questionable. The students were working on 3 digit-by-3 digit multiplication problems, but they lacked math fact fluency. In my recent block 2 class I learned the importance of math fact fluency and how it’s beneficial to students who are trying to conquer more complex problems. The student who was working on the problem took 20 minutes to solve the problem. Although the student struggled greatly I appreciated the teacher slowing the student to take the time needed to work through the problem. The student was very proud after receiving the correct answer.
Experiencing this makes me more aware of what an ESL student who enters my classroom might experience. As a teacher it is my job to do my best to break down the walls of fear that might surround that student. Now that I know what it feels like I can show empathy and understanding. I can go above and beyond to make sure my student is successful…. I am blessed to have experienced this……..