Re-Imagined Classroom

1. Five images of my classroom:

http://www.displays2go.com/Article/Effective-
Classroom-Seating-Arrangements-32

I still want to have my class set up like this because I feel like it will allow me to get to interact with my students more and be able to keep a closer eye on what is going on in my classroom.  I won't know how to change my teaching to fit the needs of my students if I don't know my students.

http://www.transpacificproject.com/index.php/maps/  

  I still want to have a map of the world split differently so that the emphasis is no longer on North America and Europe but rather on Asia and the Pacific Ocean.  It will communicate to my students that my classroom is a place where the traditional Western way of doing things is not the only culture that is welcome in my classroom.

http://forum.worldofwarplanes.eu/index.php?
/topic/39376-flags-of-the-world/

I still want to have flags of the world all over my classroom-- not so much that they are distracting but I definitely want flags from the countries we are studying in class.  I want my students to realize that there is a world outside of the classroom that has different ideas and perceptions of the world.  I want to teach my class to be open to seeing things from other points of view.

http://thenextweb.com/apps/2013/12/11/
google-play-books-for-android-now-
lets-users-upload-their-own-books/

I originally wanted books in my classroom because it puts me at ease and makes me feel more at home.  However, I have realized that this could cause some of my students stress.  Therefore, I probably shouldn't cover a wall in my classroom with books.  However, I do want to have books in the back of my classroom that can help my students with their projects.  I want to help my students be familiar with the research process but some of my students might not have the resources available at home to be able to research.  I want my students to be able to check out books from my classroom to be able to research.

http://www.safeschoolscoalition.org/RG-posters.html

Originally I really wanted to have models of things from history around my classroom.  That still is something I want but more than that, I want to make sure I have a poster like this somewhere in my classroom and want to make sure that this is the atmosphere in my classroom.  This is more important than any of the model ships or old maps or anything like that.  Even with those, I need to make sure I have researched my old models because I need to make sure that I know the significance they hold to the culture they come from.

2. What resources are available for students?
I want to make sure that I never give an assignment that I cannot provide the necessary materials for.  I need to have markers and scissors and pencils and paper and books for research.  When I assign a research assignment, I need to make sure that I have time in class for them to work on their assignments and have resources so that my students who live in poverty can finish assignments on time.  I also want to have resources available for those who have no place to sleep and nothing to eat.  I wanted to allow my students to use their phones but I definitely want to make sure that my impoverished students feel left out.  As such, I should probably have the music during study time come from my computer so my students aren't divided.

3. Describe the students in your classroom.
This question seemed difficult before but now I am even more aware of just how many different combinations of traits, culture, and life experiences my students will consist of.  There are an infinite number of possibilities.  Ideally, my students will be participating in class discussions, taking notes, and participating in class activities.  I want to make sure that they feel comfortable and that my students are aware that they each have unique perspectives that are necessary to the class.  I know that some of my students will be shy or have events in their lives that they don't want to share with the rest of the class and so I want my students to write in journals so that my shy students can express their ideas in a way that makes them comfortable.
4. Describe your classroom policies.  
I still believe that my rules should be built on mutual respect.  I feel even more strongly about my late policy knowing what these students might be going through.  My most important rule will be that everyone is treated with respect.  My subject matter will deal with different cultures and through these I want to teach my students how to deal with different cultures in the classroom.
5. Describe a typical lesson you will teach in your classroom.  
My original lesson plan was as follows:
" I will probably be teaching several different classes- probably a geography class, and a couple history classes.  A typical lesson would be a lesson about the start of WWI.  I chose this topic because it would be a lesson that would need to be taught whether I was teaching world history or American history.  I would teach it by breaking the students into groups and have them move around the classroom, each station teaching about a different reason why WWI began.  Then we will pull together at the end, discuss, and wrap up the day by doing a brief overview about what the rest of the unit will cover.  The main thing I want the students to learn is how alliances, militarization, and a misunderstanding of the horrors of war led to WWI."  
However, I have become aware that this is not a very diverse lesson.  I want to throw in how other areas of the world were affected and try to make it seem important to all of my students.  So I will show how Russia was affected, how Africa and India were affected, and other groups of people as well.  I will then have them apply this to themselves and write a reflection on how their lives would have been affected at this time considering their own culture and lifestyle.
6. Imagine your work as a teacher during this lesson.
In addition to moving around, asking and answering questions, and making sure people are on task, I want to talk to students about their lives during down time so that they feel like I actually care.  I want to keep an eye out for unfair treatment or a student that looks like they are struggling because of a disadvantage.
7. What are your students doing during the lesson?
They are reading, answering questions, engaging in discussions, like I mentioned before.  However, I want them to be sharing and applying what they are learning to their life experiences.  I want them to be writing in journals so that I can understand them.
8. Imagine how you will assess what your students have learned.  
I will have them do projects at the end of each unit so that they can prove how much they have learned and I want the projects to be very open to interpretation so that they can make them their own and be able to show what they have learned in their own way.

I want to pay more attention to the diversity of my students.  In order to do this, I need to make sure that I know my students and what their wants and needs are.  I want them to feel comfortable coming to me.  I was not aware when I first started this class how very slanted my lesson plans were.  I need to keep in mind the different groups and interests I have in my classroom and try to cater to them.  That should be my top priority.

Community Experience

For my community experience, I attended a court session.  My father is an attorney and so I am no stranger to the inside of a courtroom (research purposes only, I've never been summoned to court for any reason other than my father asking me to come).  However, this time was different because, instead of looking at the case, I was studying what this case could teach me about teaching students from different cultures.  The case helped me see several different things.  First, the defendent couldn't speak English-- or at least he wasn't confident enough in his English to attend his hearing without an interpreter.  Both his lawyer and his interpreter spoke to him in Spanish.  Legal jargon is hard enough to understand when you speak Spanish and there was some point in which it seemed like the man was a little lost.  How hard must it be for students who don't speak English in a classroom?  It would be hard for them to learn, let alone enjoy my class and feel comfortable there.  Additional stressors from events outside of the classroom-- like this man's experience in the courtroom-- might make it harder for them to feel like they fit in and might make them feel like school is one more thing they don't understand.  It would lessen their motivation to work hard in the classroom.  Even if they speak English, if their parents do not, they may have to translate for their parents.  This could be stressful because they might be translating for really important things and they might not know how to best translate ideas. That's a lot of pressure for a teenager to live with.  It would make sense that that student would be a bit distracted.
This man also was of a lower socioeconomic class and so was unable to pay his dues right up front.  A great number of my students will be from that class and will have to deal with these problems.  Some of them might even end up in the justice system because they feel like they have no choice or because they were raised in a neighborhood in which that was common.  Once a teenager gets in the system, it can greatly hinder them in their quest to reach their dreams.
In short, this experience helped me see an example of what experiences my students might have to deal with in their daily life that can interfere in their ability to learn in the classroom.  I hope that I can help my students who have these problems find a place of security in my classroom.