Prompt 2- Kozol

My class is a third grade inclusion class, as you might have gathered from my 1st prompt. The class is pretty diverse, a mix of majority black then Hispanic and white students. This classroom in particular seems more diverse then the school as a whole. On infoworks the school demographic states that 70% of the students are Hispanic, 11% African American and 13% white. With this information it is clear that this school is segregated, and with segregation other inequalities begins such as economically and educationally. Jonathan Kozol expresses the extent of which these inequalities exist throughout the United States. Kozol makes a point by comparing the number of highly segregated school that are named after famous African American activist, strangely enough my school is named after a educator who has worked in the White House prompting economic equality in a school that info works informs me that 88% of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
I believe my classroom may be more diverse than other because it is an inclusion class. From being in the classroom a few weeks now I do pick up on some sociocultural and ethnic qualities of the students. One morning after the students put their bags in their lockers, they quietly conversed before class began. I heard a few boys responding to each other in Spanish, just simple “si” instead of yes but still, it showed that in a relaxed nonacademic atmosphere students will use their home language. This point of bilingualism in my class was further made known to me while sorting the children’s homework folders as a few had old English Language Learns information sheets in them. This ability of the students can be seen as an example of them having cultural capital, but instead of the skill being embraced and used, it is never acknowledged by the teacher, or at least I have not seen this.
I was able to gain a real look at one student’s life this week when I was helping him in writing. The project was to get information on a state and write a booklet on it. Sharp, the student had his home state. So after finding the general information like state bird, and population the prompt asked what activities could someone do while on vacation in that state. He explained to me in detail the time his mom brought him to a children’s museum and another time to a beach. Sharp also expressed how he lives with his mom and how their moving so he won’t come to this school next year. And how he expressed how he is his mom’s helper and is the man of the house, because his mom kicked his dad out. From this, in a non bias way, it was my assumption that Sharp was part of a lower class family. Kozol interviewed and read many letters from school children who considered themselves in a category of wanting what “the other kings have”. Sharp along with many of his classmates would say similar things, even though the school is new and clean it is lacking in diversity and patience for slower learners.Kozol main focus in his articles is to bring to light the huge gap between the education children are recieveing in different neighboorhoods. This school as a whole may be cosmetically nice but underneath, I believe the children deserve more understanding teachers.
I do not see any incorporation of socioeconomic, linguistic or ethnic differences by the teachers however. This lack of participant says something for itself .

First Impression; Prompt 1 and Shor

Plugging in the address into the gps and still missing the school street wasn't the best start to my first day volunteering at the elementary school, but as I pulled onto the right street I was instantly reassured that today was going to be good. On the dead end street sat two elementary schools, buseling with children in bright jackets and character backpacks, bright buses and an entry way marked by huge crayons. It was like an elementary school out of a Hollywood movie, the inside reflected that atmosphere. Every wall has student artwork and large painted murals, promoting sharing, diversity and friendships. Meeting my teacher in the main office, she led me up to the classroom, friendlily greeting everyone. The classroom number 208 was a warm and comforting; student made quilt hung over some of the windows the back wall was covered with calenders, important African American people, the scientific method outline along with different categories of writing posters.
As the students filed in there was racially a good mix, I noticed a small number of non Hispanic white 3 or 4 out of the 20 kids. And before the child had entered the teacher told me that there were 11 special needs students 5 of them had behavior problems. So as I sat there watching them write a morning journal I tried to pick out the 11 with a disability, somewhere evident; a black boy, Samuel, constant tugged at the left side of his hair, there is was slightly thinner than the other side. Another boy Nicholas was getting frustrated as he tried to tie his shoe while still seated. This one I offered help. But aside from the few acting out at the moment I could not identify all 11 students.
It was at the beginning of math when I first saw the teacher teach. She had instructed the students to take out their textbooks and notebooks, and she spoke loudly to a girl Taya , accusing her of not being able to focus all week and threatened that if she didn’t do good today there would be no recess. She then assigned her to work with me. Taya was one of the special needs students as I quickly found out. But I was shocked to see the teachers react to the student, she had not acted out yet she was being punished, mostly for how she behaved all week, but even if she behaved badly or couldn’t pay attention earlier in the week why be yelled at now? I had learned from taking care of mainly autistic children before that every day is a new day for them really that a bad day doesn’t necesary mean a bad week.
This idea of punishing a student, over and over again or for something that happened earlier relates to the ideas by Ira Shor “Education can either develop or stifle their inclination to ask why and to learn.”(Shor pg 12 Not only with the girl Taya but within that class I saw the teacher harshly correcting students on what number they were on, not because they weren’t paying attention but because the teacher did not inform them in the first place. This negativity can and does make students “shut down” not participant in class or ask question. Shor supports this saying “students’ refusal to perform appears as low motivation, low test scores and achievement and a “discipline problem” I believe this is what I witnessed my first day in my school, students who had lost interest or had been coined as a bas student and therefore essentially given up. Not the great first impression I hoped for but I still have at least eight more weeks.