Theory Connection #3
My next theory connection is about something that happened during one of my service learning visits that I felt related to both Rodriguez and August, so I did a connection piece to both!
Quotes
“Without question, it would have pleased
me to hear my teachers address me in Spanish when I entered the classroom. I
would have felt much less afraid. I would have trusted them and responded with
ease” (Rodriguez, p.34)
Explanation:
Rodriguez didn’t have a classroom that suited him and his abilities. As an ESL
student, he had no way to use Spanish and English in an appropriate and
successful way – which is a huge aspect in teaching multilingual children. He
was forced to use only English which made him uncomfortable and as he says in
the quote afraid. One simple thing his teachers could have done to make him feel
more comfortable was just simply greet him in Spanish.
Explanation: In
August’s “Safe Spaces” she stresses the importance of a safe classroom where
everyone can feel comfortable and can be themselves without being judged. She
says that teachers are the ones who can create safe classrooms – they set the
tone for the students. If they create an environment that is safe and
inclusive, the students will most likely be more open and inviting to people of
different backgrounds, cultures and beliefs.
Every time I go to my
service-learning classroom at Charlotte Woods Elementary School, I get the
chance to work with ESL students. During one of my visits, there was a boy who
was trying to get through a math problem, but his language got in the way. The
head teacher asked him a question in English and he tried so desperately to
answer but could not because he really had no clue she was asking. As he was
struggling and quickly turning red, some of his classmates who can speak some
English began laughing at him. They looked down at this student because he was
Spanish and didn’t understand how to answer the teachers question in English.
While I was standing there watching this encounter, I grew increasingly more
frustrated. I was so upset that these students who spoke the same language as
that child felt like they had reason to laugh at him just because they knew a
little more English than he did. The last thing that I want to see is a student
feel embarrassed because of his culture. Because the teacher wasn’t doing
anything to diffuse the situation, I stepped in and I told the student he was
doing great and told the other students that instead of making him feel bad,
they could help him through interpreting. The kids wound up feeling really bad
about laughing at the boy, and were then eager to interpret and help the boy
through the problem. After the question was interpreted, the boy was able to
answer the question successfully.
Going back to my quotes, this student in
my service learning class began to feel the way that Rodriguez felt –
uncomfortable and afraid to speak. As an educator, I know it is my job, as
August points out, to create a classroom that is safe. In that moment I could
tell the child did not feel safe, so because the teacher wasn’t doing anything,
I felt as if it was my duty to step in. It is sad to see students feel afraid
to speak because of their language and a teacher not doing anything about it to
be proactive. I’ve been in this classroom for a total of 19 hours now and not
once have I seen the teacher speak Spanish, I also have never seen any posters
or material around the room that connected with the culturally diverse
students. There’s nothing in her
classroom that promotes cultural diversity. The one thing she does is let
students interpret for other students which I definitely think helps in
creating a safe space atmosphere but it doesn’t really go beyond that. The
quote that I chose by Rodriguez explains his feelings about being an ESL
student in school and could probably explain the feelings of most ESL students
in this classroom. I think that by the teacher doing that one simple thing (greeting
the students in Spanish) it would help in creating the safe space that August
argues every classroom should have and the space that Rodriguez lacked. August
says that educators are in the perfect position to create an environment where
everyone is welcome, and comfortable. Just by simply greeting the students in
their own language could make a world a difference. The students will feel more
comfortable and will feel like they can relate to her more. They wont feel as
pressured or ashamed when they don’t understand some of the things she is
saying.
This video is a video on strategies for teaching ESL students in a manner that promotes academic success and a safe learning environment