Education 352, Cultural Diversity Practicum and Education 283, Understanding Cultural Diversity greatly influenced my perspective on diversity in the classroom. EDUC 352 taught me that diversity in the classroom is not just about differences in race and culture, it also includes students' behaviors and their specific learning needs. I also learned that diversity can include the forms of schools, ways information is taught, exceptionalities, and gender identity. EDUC 283 introduced me to the importance of recognizing multicultural diversity in the classroom. As an educator, I will strive to get to know each student individually. This will allow me to create relationships with the students and learn about their unique backgrounds.
I had the opportunity to substitute teach for paraprofessionals in the Fargo Public School District and the West Fargo Public School District. Working with students one on one throughout the school day gave me a new perspective on how students learn in the classroom. As an educator, it is important to be in constant communication with the paraprofessionals so that they can support specific students. The material needs to be presented in a form that supports student learning at their ability level. While substitute teaching for paraprofessionals, I learned techniques to help the student if they become overstimulated. These experiences greatly impacted my knowledge of teaching and supporting all students in the general education classroom.
Throughout my student teaching experience, I was immersed in a classroom with diversity. There were many learning levels, races, socio-economic statuses. I created lessons for students of all learning levels to participate in. During whole group instruction, I learned that turn and talks allow me to reach all students. I can rephrase the question and provide prompts to lower students, and I can ask higher-level thinking questions to challenge all learners. I learned how to modify material to match learning levels and provide accommodations to students who benefit from changes in the way the material is taught.
Disability Handbook
I created this handbook in EDUC 240 to be a quick, immediate, and effective way to gather information about a specific disability. The handbook includes 10 disabilities commonly found in today's classrooms. While creating the handbook, I learned about characteristics, strategies and interventions, resources out of school, and tips for teachers to use when interacting with students with special needs. I found the tips for teachers' section of each disability to be the most useful. This section will guide my instruction and interactions to create a classroom environment that meets the needs of all students. I will use this handbook and other strategies discussed in EDUC 240 to engage with students with special needs.
Diversity Practicum Reflection
For EDUC 352 we traveled to Maple Grove, MN and Saint Paul, MN to learn about and explore diverse schools. This reflection includes my experiences at each of the schools, my overall impression of schools, and my misconceptions about diverse schools. Before the practicum, I had a closed mindset that diversity in the classroom was centered around race, culture, and ethnicity. Throughout the practicum, I learned that diversity in the classroom can be seen through race, culture, ethnicity, students' behaviors, forms of schools, exceptionalities, and gender identity. I will use this experience to create a classroom environment that supports all areas of diversity.
