Cultural, Socio-economic, and Linguistic Diversity

At the current high school that teach, there are a lot of challenging in the population that effect my approach to teaching. The majority population of my school is minority, mainly consisting of Black, Latino, and Middle Eastern students. More than half of the school population is on Free and Reduced Meals. A lot of the Latino population that come into my classroom are Level 1 and 2 English learners, so there are some challenges when it comes to communication at times. A lot of my students also come from a variety of home situations, such as a one parent household, foster care, or homeless. With these challenges, it is important that I take these things into account when creating lessons and activities for students.

In adapting to theses variables, I do a number of things to ensure I am allowing every student a fair opportunity in being successful. When assisting my English Learners, I try to scaffold my lessons more. I write out step by step on mathematical processes, create diagrams and color-coded visuals, and have some Spanish worksheets that coincide with the English version. I also will teach to the class and work one-on-one with my ELL students to break down what was previous done.

In combating some of the gaps that there may be in my classroom due to home situations or prior loss of teachings in earlier grades, I use similar techniques as those for the ELL students. I create scaffolded lessons, multi-tier activities, and I work to use student interest in the problems and activities I create. A lot of my students enjoy basketball and football, so I use a lot of those types of references in my problem creations. I have students working in groups based on their comfortability with a topic and those that struggle the most, I try to give more one-on-one time for during the class period. I do what I can to spike student interest also through music, by using a reward system that allows students to pick their favorite songs to listen to while they do work. As long as students are working hard, I play the music they like to listen to most.

In working with a low of lower income and minority students, I have to be sure that I am addressing their needs. I have to create more lessons that are scaffolded and that lay out each step in a process. I have to be more thorough and allow them the opportunity to ask for help during class. I give students the opportunity for self-discovery and collaborative work during class time. Though my student may need a little more assistance at times because of their backgrounds, they still are willing and able to learn at the highest level.