This lesson had two parts. One where we watched a YouTube video about Asian Americans and the myths about them, and second, an Anita podcast about Asian Americans. It was amazing to find out so much about Asians that I didn't already know, so I found this lesson rather interesting.
EDUC 2130 - Lesson 5 – Personal, Moral, and Social Development
YouTube Video Questions:
What are some of the myths about Asian American students in the classroom that Diane speaks about?
People always categorize Asian American students as “the smartest students ever”, because they are Asian. People believe that Asians are smart at everything, especially math. Diane mentions that, yes, Asians are smart, but not smart enough to the point where they don’t need any help with any subject throughout their school career.
How does Diane suggest teachers reach out to Asian students?
Teachers should find the students interests and skill levels. Then they should start off with basic learning. The teachers could use things like small groups for learning and/or flashcards. You should always start out with basic phonics and work your way up with your students. You need to know that they are comfortable with what they are learning before moving on to the next step. Knowing how a student learns, not only builds up their basic fundamental skills, but also can make learning fun.
How are Asian students and their non-Asian counterparts affected by inappropriate teacher expectations and stereotypes?
Teachers who believe these stereotypes about Asian students, think that they have everything down pat and don’t need any extra help like their other non-Asian peers. They are most likely to focus on their non-Asian students than their Asian students. Teachers need to realize that Asian students are going to need help, just like the others. Asian students don’t come into a classroom and know everything right off the bat, like some teachers assume. All students are individuals and nothing is going to come naturally to them.
Describe some things that you would use to build cultural cohesion and understanding in your classroom.
I had a class in high school where we would learn about different cultural settings. The things that we did, taught each of us a lot about the culture that we were learning at the time. We would make and bring foods that were people ate in those types of cultures. We learned about what they did and everything. So I think that I would do the same. I would bring food that the people from that culture would eat, and while my students were snacking, I could show pictures of what people, buildings, etc. looked like in that type of culture. I could do this at least once every two weeks. This way we would cover multiple cultures by the end of the year, and they would know all about them.
Podcast 2 Questions:
According to Anita, what percentage of the current population speaks a language other than English?
According to Anita, 18% of the current population speaks a different language other than English. Half of these families speak Spanish. It is believed that in the year 2020, over 66% of all school aged children will be African American, Asian, Hispanic, or Native American, and many of them, from new immigrants.
How do children from countries such as Columbia address their teacher? Why?
Columbia students are a lot different than American students. Just from what Anita stated about Columbia students, I believe they are much more polite. Students from Columbia approach their teacher as “teacher” because they believe it is rude to address a teacher by his or her name.
People from Argentina think that it is rude to do what? Why?
Anita says that Argentina children never look directly at adults. They think it is rude to do so. Even if a child is demanded to look at their teacher while being lectured to, they may have a hard time doing it.
Asian children are too polite to do what?
Asian children are too polite to disagree with their teacher. They are taught at an early age to nod yes to the teacher to let them know that they are listening carefully, even if they disagree. An Asian student doesn’t like to speak up and tell their teacher that they disagree with them, they just nod and listen.
In some cultures, a note written in red means what?
In some cultures, a note written in red usually means an insult because red is the color of death. If a teacher sends a note home with a child and it’s written in red, the child and the parent are most likely going to get upset about it because usually anything written in red is bad.
Summary
The culture differences really shocked me. The video that was required showed how Asian students get looked at like they are the smartest students and should already know everything, but really, they need help just like all their classmates do. The podcast really surprised me because I wasn’t expected the cultures to be totally different, involving the students and teachers. The students there seem much more polite than most (almost all) here in the United States. This lesson really shows how different everyone and every culture really is.
Research Question
How should teachers manage a culturally diverse classroom?
Reference(s): http://www.glencoe.com/sec/teachingtoday/weeklytips.phtml/230
https://www.teachervision.com/teaching-methods/resource/6039.html?page=2
Research Analysis
Teachers need to educate and sensitive themselves when it comes to culture in the classroom. They need to set their beliefs and feelings to the side, so he/she can have time to communicate and learn things from their students in the classroom that are different than his/hers. Something else that may help with management in a diverse classroom is communication between the parents of your students. Teachers should respect the parents culture, and with how they raise their child. The lesson plans and homework should also be culturally diverse. Teachers should always try to find the best way to teach his/her students without being biased.
Teachers should get to know each of their students individually and appreciate and accommodate the differences that he/she finds in each of his/her students. When teaching a diverse group of students, teachers need to consider the different cultures and language skills that are throughout their classroom when doing lessons and activities in the classroom. Teachers need to be aware of their student’s culture and language, so they can help teach them the best way to learn. Teaching diverse students, teachers should monitor their students when learning and give frequent feedback on their work.
Research Summary
The research I found to my question really helps with how future teachers should handle a culturally diverse classroom. It gives great ideas that we could all use. We, as future teachers, need to respect each student and their culture. We should find a way to make each of our students feel comfortable in our classroom. Every one of the ideas are helpful, and I would try to use as many of them as I can in my future classroom.