C847 Task1 Revised.

Fundamentals of Diversity, Inclusion, and Exceptional Learners C847 Task 1 Kelsie Castanon B1. Cultural Appropriateness In the video, case # 55, I observed a self-contained English Language Learners classroom. The classroom demographics consisted of students aged six or seven, and ninety-five percent of those students were second generation Hispanic American citizens. The other five percent of the students are new placements from Mexico. The teacher implemented the strategy of repetition and connection in this video. The teacher instructs the students in their native language as well as English, first saying the word in their native language followed by its English translation. To help form visual connections with the words, she uses a graphic organizer consisting of visual representations of each word. I believe the technique observed in this video is culturally appropriate because the teacher takes the students’ heritage, which is Hispanic and Mexican, and integrates it into her instruction. By doing this, she is helping the students maintain their culture, the native language, by incorporating it into their learning experience. BA1. The instructor shows her consideration of her students’ culture by interacting and instructing them in their native language and English. This is illustrated when she says the word in Spanish, followed by its English translation. She then has the students repeat after her. For example, when the students are learning “behind” and “in front”. The students can make a deeper connection between the words when the teacher points at the visual representation of the word shown on the graphic organizer but also when she physically demonstrates “behind” and “in front” using her pointer. B1B. A bilingual paraprofessional would be a useful resource for this teacher. I am currently working as a one-on-one paraprofessional in a self-contained special education classroom. In the classroom I currently work in, there is a second paraprofessional there to aid the primary teacher during instructional time as well as in other ways. This has demonstrated to me the benefits of having a paraprofessional aid. It not only helps the teacher with instruction, but also helps the students. The students’ needs are able to be met with more than one instructor available in the classroom. By having a bilingual paraprofessional in this classroom, the primary teacher would be able to implement small group learning. The students could be divided into groups based on their current learning level and abilities, and both instructors could work within the groups to enhance student learning. B1C. As mentioned above, I would use a paraprofessional because it would allow me, the primary teacher, to provide a more focused learning experience. A bilingual paraprofessional used in a culturally diverse classroom would have the added benefit of providing a feeling of comfort with their use of the students’ native language. Being bilingual would help the paraprofessional provide aid by helping the student express themselves, understand the topic, or their comprehension of an assignment. Having a bilingual paraprofessional would enable me to continue teaching while they aid a student who has either fallen behind or needs assistance without disrupting the lesson. I have personally experienced the benefits of a paraprofessional in a classroom, and that is why I would use one in my classroom if it were similar to the one shown in this video.1 1 Learning Positional Words in Spanish and English Retrieved from B2. In the video, case #113, a classroom is presented that is an English Language Learners class and is made up of students who range between ten and eleven years old. The teacher is implementing the strategy of scaffolding. Scaffolding is defined as “teachers providing successive levels of temporary support that help students reach higher levels of comprehension and skill acquisition that they would not be able to achieve without assistance.”2 In this case, the students are getting the opportunity, as well as the needed support, to obtain understanding of the English language while meeting their academic goals. The instructor is displaying verbal scaffolding through his use of slow speech, proper enunciation, the reinforcement of definitions, using simple questions to ensure they are easily understood, and finally by having the students read aloud. They are able to learn the correct way to say specific words. The teacher’s use of verbal scaffolding supports the student’s cultural diversity by taking into account the students’ difficulty in understanding spoken English. Procedural scaffolding was also used, in the form of graphic organizers. In this case they had a “What I Know”, “What I Want to Know”, and “What I Will Learn” section.3 Through the use of these graphic organizers, the teacher and his students are able to formulate together what needs to be worked on more so that the students can come to a full understanding of the material. These two strategies were implemented within a small learning group, which encourages teacher-peer interaction as well as allows the students to engage with one another on the subject matter. Their ideas are colored by their own personal culture, ideas, and backgrounds. This type of small group interaction, along with a more focused approach from the teacher, supports a culturally diverse classroom by allowing the students to foster confidence in themselves. The teacher acknowledges their difficulty in understanding spoken English and applied multiple verbal scaffolding techniques to counter those difficulties. He implements the strategy of “call and response” when he asks a question and calls on a specific student’s name to answer. He also applies “pause and response” within this same scenario. This in addition with the small group setting, verbal and procedural scaffolding, fosters confidence in the culturally diverse students. B2A. In this case, the verbal scaffolding and procedural scaffolding, worked well in my opinion. As English Language Learners, the students were able to understand the information easier, and in a way that accommodated their needs. The teacher spoke slowly and clearly, and repeated words to reinforce their retention. With the use of graphic organizers, the students were able to identify, through selfassessment, what they needed more work on. They were also able to understand and analyze the text within a small learning group. The students in this class were afforded the support they needed. The techniques that were implemented in this video demonstrated their effectiveness in the way the students interact within the group and with the teacher. Through the use of “call and response”, and “pause and response”, the teacher allows them to build up their confidence and encourages them to be active participants in their learning experience. The technique of scaffolding supports the culturally diverse students in their learning by answering their problem with spoken English and applying a respectful solution with the slowed speech, repetitive words, and clearly pronounced questions.4 B3A. In the video, case # 519, I observed a sixth-grade language arts class that consisted of twenty-nine students. The age of students ranged between eleven and twelve years old. Due to seven of the students