Module 2

Module 2 reading of chapter 4,5, and 6 was jam packed with information. I learned about about cultural differences and diversity and the role it plays in and out of the classroom, in chapter 6. I learned about English language learners and how they are taught and and the different needs of different types of learners. As this post goes on these are some highlights and takeaways from each chapter.

In chapter four it is said "The future is not bright for students with emotional and behavioral difficulties, who do not get the appropriate help"(Woodfolk 154). This short statement about students with emotional and behavioral difficulties resonated with me because its a short but true statement that I've seen more often than not to be true with students I've worked with as a paraprofessional and aspire to work with as a teacher. The chapter goes on to talk of the characteristics of students that suit the bill for ED and BD-- "... these students aggressive, anxious, withdrawn, or depressed and who often have difficulty following rules, paying attention, staying in their seats, or interacting with others,"(Woodfolk 154). As I though in reflection of the contents of the chapter this stuck with me because these are students that may very well be quite remarkable as far as intellect goes but have a difficult time with their emotional and or behavioral disturbance. Without the proper learning environment, and an educator that can work with them beyond the surface of what we perceive as just troublesome, these students go to the wayside. It is said in the text that students of this kind, need structure. As I read on I am prone to agree just from experience. The students I've worked with were very capable students, they just required structured schedules, structure in the classroom and in activities that they participated in. I hope to continue as a teacher working with that demographic of student.    

As I read into chapter five learning about English Language Learners, the specific part that I really enjoyed in this chapter was learning about the differences between Bilingual Maintenance Programs (BMPs) and are they more effective that English immersion. The question was posed "...is it better to teach students who are ELLs to read first in their native language or should they begin reading instruction in English," (Woodfolk 202). As the chapter goes on we learn that studies shows that learners retain and preform better in BMPs than in total English immersion. As I though about it, I questioned why that is the case. I think if I had to immerse myself in another country, challenged to learn their language, I had to be taught what I don't understand in a language I don't know, the stress of learning itself would make it hard for my to perform. Also I'd imagine that learning another language in my native language first would help my comprehension. It made me think of how students are taught second languages as electives. We don't learn that language by being totally immersed in a setting only that language is spoken. We learn by reading in our native English language and slowly the foreign language we are being taught is integrated more and more until eventually we have learned enough to speak read and write in that language, so the idea that ELL students would learn and better perform in BMPs made more sense to me. 

Lastly reading that studies and statistics of studies of diverse cultures piqued my interests because it speaks to something that I'm passionate of-- and that is teaching students of different races, backgrounds and demographics. It is important to me to reach every student I can-- the student that doesn't present me with much of a challenge, the student the doesn't speak English, the student that has an emotional disturbance or learning disability, right down to even the students that experience homelessness and poverty. As I read more about that, the portion of chapter six that focuses on the influences of students that experience poverty made me think of what they go though at school when their home lives are so hard. "Increased stress is related to increase school absences, decrease attention span, and concentration ability, problems with memory and thinking, reduced motivation and effort, depression and reduced neurogenesis," (Woodfolk 226). As a student in college full time currently, I work full time, I'm a single mom, I've experience hardships financially and had to over come a lot of things that have been added pressure as I pursue my education, as an adult some days I get stressed, so I picked this quote because if we as adult experience these things it made me empathetic to a young high school student that may be experiencing hardships of poverty, teen parent hood or other difficulties of living in poverty. It made me think as an educator that what we teach is very important but students don't learn well when they are not mentally or emotionally present. They don't learn well when their stomachs are empty or their angry because they had a rough night or morning. These are worries of students that come from difficult backgrounds. My hope is as a teacher that I can reach those students by being as resourceful with them. I hope to provide them with different options and solutions to some of the problems they encounter.