Diversity

What caught my attention most in this section of the book was the discussion about English learners.  Sometimes as secondary teachers we don’t focus a lot on the student as a whole; rather, we only notice what is happening in our subject area classroom at most times.  The section emphasized the importance of how developed the students are in other school-related aspects.  Specifically, English learners while able to communicate and understand at a basic level are most times expected to comprehend the texts used in subject area classrooms.  This is beyond a stretch for most of them; it is even a stretch for some students who have spoken, read, and understood English their whole life.  Until we as teachers begin to take the time and delve into events going on outside our subject area classroom.  I had a little experience with this in my last field experience.  One of the students was an English learner that struggled with understand the text.  Many times she was challenged to read from the textbook aloud during class.  Since she struggled with the language, she had difficulty being able to read aloud to the class.  The teacher in the classroom knew that she was an English learner and worked with her through the text.  I thought that the teacher did a good job of understanding the student’s background but still not writing the student off.  She adjusted what she expected of the student but didn’t just skip over her.  This is becoming a commonality in classrooms; more and more students are coming from more diverse backgrounds with families that do not speak English at home.  Yet, these students are still expected to perform at the same level as students who have 14 or more years experience with the language.