Prompt 2: Claude Goldenberg

The ethnic, and sociocultural characteristics of the students in my assigned classroom are very different from that of what I am used to. Growing up in a predominately white and Portuguese town, I was not necessarily exposed to a diverse school or classroom. We maybe had five African American students in my high school so to say it was diverse is far from the truth. However spending every weekend in Providence with my dad for more than half of my life has made me used to many different ethnic backgrounds such as the ones in my tutoring school. Consisting of 64% Spanish, 24% African American, and a combined 12% White and Asian, there is a good balance of many different ethnic backgrounds, although Spanish and African American students are the majority.

Out of all the students attending this school, 35% of them are learning English as a second language (ESL). English being one of the hardest languages to learn, I watch a few students in Mrs. Rose's class struggle with the complexity of the language. They have a difficult time writing and an even more difficult time reading. While they may struggle with English in the classroom, once they go home they are in their comfortable environment where speaking your native language is acceptable, unlike in the American school systems where they expect English to be learned by all those who do not know it. I took Spanish for almost 6 years, but if you asked me to put together a full sentence I would not even know where to start. While these kids are struggling to learn how to speak English I wonder to myself what Claude Goldenberg would think of this.

Goldenberg emphasized the importance of teaching English language learners in their native language in hopes of helping them to succeed in learning English. Maybe if Mrs. Rose and the staff at the school hired more Spanish speaking teachers, they could help the English language learners learn in a more efficient, helpful manner. This would not only benefit the students but the teachers as well. I feel like if this idea was used at more schools across the country it would make Americans more accepting of other cultures and I really feel like it would greatly benefit the school systems. We can only hope that someday Claude Goldenberg’s ideas will be heard so that maybe some change will occur.

Prompt 1

My school is tucked away off a main street only a mile or so from one of the worst streets in Providence. Surrounding the school is what seems to be affordable housing with a daycare located next door. The perimeters of the school are guarded by gates and fences with many cameras located around the building to ensure the safety of the students and faculty. When entering the school one must ring a bell in order to be let in. Upon walking in the school I noticed it was of substantial size with a large cafeteria and library. The walls are painted bright colors with large pictures of the people the school is named after. The overall vibe of the school was good and it seemed as if they used their given space adequately. The office was a a mess and it was apparent that I did not catch the secretaries on a good day since they were far from helpful.

Entering my class I was very nervous. I thought to myself, would the kids like me? Would the teacher be kind to me? It turns out that I did not have much to worry about since I was greeted with smiles and a warm hello. My assigned classroom has almost twenty second graders, all of Hispanic or African American background. The teacher of the class is an older woman with a nasal like voice who we'll call Mrs. Rose. Mrs. Rose has a strong disciplinarian attitude and does not take any misbehavior in her classroom. she uses a color card system to discipline the kids. It involves changing the color of your card every time you do something wrong. While I am not positive as to what each color necessarily means, I know red is not the color you want to have. The classroom is cramped with many large tables and a reading rug in the corner. I have three students that I work with every week who all are a little behind where they should be at a second grade reading level. We are working hard together and they truly are making progress!

It seems that what my school values the most is discipline. In my classroom, my teachers word is rule. She does not allow any room for misbehaving, and when a child does misbehave they are quickly scolded. Mrs. Rose clearly wants absolute compliance from students. I noticed this same attitude with many of the other teachers in the school. Upon taking a bathroom break with the class, I observed many other teachers disciplining or yelling at their students for things such as stepping out of their lines or talking too loudly. While I do believe that it is important to set rules and boundaries in a classroom, I feel as if this specific school disciplines a little too much. I look forward to discovering what else my school values over the weeks to come.