University of Puerto Rico in Humcao Department of English Practice Teaching
Diversity Having 22 third graders, and five of them being from special education is not easy. Primarily because each of them has a different characteristic and a different personality. The great majority of the special education students in my classroom had ADHD, and one of them had ADHD plus emotional disturbance. Before promoting diversity in my classroom, I had to embrace it myself. Learning to manage 22 as individuals also and not just a group, was harder than I expected. I couldn’t make them do what I wanted to anytime I wanted to, even if they were still kids and in third grade. Some of these third graders thought they were 15 for all I know. Instilling diversity also had other challenges. Not all, but some of the students in the classroom were blatant about how they felt, and did not know how to express their feelings appropriately. If someone said something about them, they would blow up and start fighting. Once I went outside to receive my group and I caught one my students speaking like a sailor if you know what I mean (If you don’t know what I mean, I mean obscene words). I know where these words may come from, because almost all of my students live in residential apartments. I understand that these could be the vocabulary that they are exposed to in their environment, but letting it pass because of that is not acceptable. In some cases were one of my student blew up and started hitting another, after I separated them, the cooperating teacher would help me calm them down by telling them to take deep breaths, or going to the bathroom to wash their face. Every student I saw that was bullying another, name calling, or speaking mean words, were stopped immediately. Some situations I handled after class and spoke calmly to the student about their conduct and how they can handle it better in the future.
Core Disposition Reflection, Shirlenne Peralta
University of Puerto Rico in Humcao Department of English Practice Teaching
Regarding the difficulties I encountered, I believe that I achieved my goal of promoting diversity in the classroom. Besides of doing that by working directly with the students, I also instilled diversity indirectly. I did this through my lesson planning. It is a requirement in the English Department that we integrate one or more of the four core dispositions in our lesson plans. I covered the area of diversity in stories such as fables and folktales, others about immigrations by speaking how there are different cultures. Other ways I integrated diversity was by having the students working in groups because they have to be able to accept each other and get along, in order to work well. Empowering diversity was done, but that is a continuous work. Around the classroom we (practice teachers) put up posters on the wall that also promoted diversity. Sometimes children tend to be too harsh to one another, and the key is to not just correct them, but show them other ways they can work out their feelings and situations.
Core Disposition Reflection, Shirlenne Peralta
University of Puerto Rico in Humcao Department of English Practice Teaching
Core Disposition Reflection, Shirlenne Peralta