The students at the school I tutored at were diverse. The teachers needed to be culturally competent in order to work with the students so they can comprehend what is going on in the classroom and be up to par with all the students. At times it gets difficult to deal with students who have English as a second language. I have noticed the teacher had to keep track of who was at what level of reading and writing when assessing the students, the teacher separates the students into groups based on their reading level. Also students who needed the extra help were using advanced technology to improve their skills; for example they used hands on computer programs that allowed them to learn from the programs. The goal of the teachers was to assess the student’s individually rather than a whole so it would be fair for the English Language Learners. Also why being put into they would put the teacher assistants that were bilingual and fluently spoke both English and Spanish, were with the students who were still learning the language of English. I feel that this benefited the students because if they were struggling they could have someone there to translate it to them rather than the teacher trying to tell the student numerous times in English. I think it is great to have these teacher assistants but it is inconvenient when it comes to the number of them. There is only a few in the school and it is tough for them to go from class to class all the time. The students are “ranked” then the teacher assesses them based on that. Teachers would test the lower-level students on basics of reading such as the sounds of letters. When assessing the higher students the teacher would have them read a short story by themselves.
I can relate the ELL’s experience to John Kozol. He says that it is essential that everyone knows how to read and write. He also says literacy is the basis to education; he does make a great point with that. It is difficult for the teacher to assess their students as a whole when several of them cannot read and write in English. He also explains how people, who can’t read, can’t use their rights freely and can’t make choices out of free will; they always need assistance. This is in fact true and is portrayed in this school because the lack of teacher assistants that help ELL’s translate and help with school work. If these students cannot read or write in English, and without assistance, school and life with be difficult for them.
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Matt said that the students in his class were diverse. This is in contrast to my class which appeared to be 100% minorities. Obviously, in a diverse classroom, it is much more difficult, because of the variety. Multiple approaches are required. Matt stated this when he said that the teachers need to keep track of all the different students and what reading levels they are at. Each academic/cultural group are in different places and need to be met where they are at. That is why Goldenberg mentioned using culturally relevent stories(instructional modifications for English learners). We need to use different approaches for different people because we're all in different places. We need to know our audience.
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Matt's mentioning of some students lack of English literacy remined me of my own math class where we have sixth graders who can't do multiplication, division, and don't know what the sum means. Although everyone in my class appeares to speak English fluently, it still puts them at a disadvantage when trying to compete with/in the "normalizing society" (Carlson) and the "systems of power and priviledge" (Johnson). A financial lack wil not empower them enableing them to succeed in the general society and culture. Then we will not have "democratic education".