Moments Of Difference

All classrooms have moments of differences. All places that have any sort of social gathering contain moments of difference. As long as people are not all identical these moments will exist. Sometimes these moments are good moments. They provide opportunities for others to learn from each other and to include each other. Other times, however, moments of difference can be harmful. They may cause a student to be not included, left out, and isolated because they are not what seems to be how everyone else is. No matter what types of moments of difference occur it is a teacher’s responsibility to notice these moments and try to make them a positive thing for all students in their classroom. During my field experience in a twelfth-grade general education …show more content…
The classroom had a large ESL population. According to Mr. Cann, approximately one-third of the class are in either ESL I or ESL II with their primary language being Spanish. There were other students that spoke Spanish in the classroom that were not considered ESL students but could interact with both the students who spoke only English or only Spanish. I saw this as an inclusionary moment of difference. Not every single person was able to interact with one another through their own language, but it seemed everyone had one way or another to interact and express an idea or thought with each other. Some students, I noticed, went in between groups. A girl in the classroom was talking to another student who, according to the teacher, did not know much English. The two of them conversed in Spanish while the teacher was getting set up for notes. Another student was talking to one of his friends in Spanish as well. At first, I assumed it was simply a conversation between the two of them, but then I noticed that it was a much larger conversation amongst four students. The first student was interpreting for his friend. I try not to assume, but it seemed to me his friend understood English as he did not translate that, but could not speak it. I found this to be very interesting and heartwarming too. I liked seeing the teamwork they used in order for the whole group to be able …show more content…
As I previously mentioned, the classroom contained a high ESL I and ESL II population. The teacher did not have any issue teaching the students who were not in ESL. He set up a PowerPoint with notes on it for them to copy down. He explained what different things meant and expanded on some information as well as connected the content to the world the students are living in today and how it impacts their lives. His lesson seemed very effective for those students, The ESL students, on the other hand, required a little more work. He printed out the notes for those who are in ESL and required that at some point during the week they copy the notes into their notebooks, but did not require them to copy them while the rest of the class did. He claimed that doing this enables the students to have a chance to listen to what he is saying and process it without trying to also read the slides at the same time. It is less for them to process all at once. He still has them copy down the notes because the content in the notes that he does not speak about is still important, and he believes writing them down helps students retain the information. I think this is definitely considered inclusion. The students are taking notes in a different way than their peers, and are learning in a different way, but this method helps the students retain as much information as possible. Doing his notes this way