Prompt Three Claude Goldenberg

A culturally competent teacher should be able to use many techniques that suit the needs of the students within the class, especially in the diverse classrooms we have today. I see how important this is both my kindergarten and first grade classes, however, for different sides of this and for different reasons. Although on 26% of the students attending this school, a good number of the students in both k and first grade speak Spanish as their first language and/or it is spoken frequently in their home. They bring that part of who they are to an educational setting and it shapes how much and how well they learn. And with my little reading buddies, I can see that these students' differences from the kids who are already proficient in English, hold them back in a few areas within the classroom.

From the very first day, I could see that the kindergarten teacher I worked with was quite aware of the differences between her students, both educationally and socially. Throughout the morning, she would speak to each child in a way that best suited what they were used to and how they needed to be spoken to, whether it was for praise or to reprimand them for some reason. I could see that Ms. "K" worked closely with her students to be an understanding teacher, rather than just another person with authority. When I walk into my first grade class, however, Mrs. "F" does not know her students very well and it is quite apparent that she does not care to find out much about them or their educational and social needs. From the time I open the door, to the time I close it behind me with my group of students, I hear nothing but yelling from both the students and the teacher and an all to familiar phrase "I don't care, go sit down" repeating over and over, at each weekly visit.

As Goldenberg's article Teaching English Language Learners says, the students should be taught English and guided through to become proficient in it by the use of transference. Because the students already know what they are learning, or can understand it already in one language, that proves that they do know what they are learning, they just need to learn how to do it in English. And we cannot measure what they know if they do not understand it in English fully. Goldenberg's article goes on to explain some ways of how to begin teaching ELL's; in which speaking clearly, deliberately and slowly, using pictures and even motions to help reinforce the ideas and meanings, and really helping the children to understand, not just remember until a test comes along. As teachers, we need to recognize that these children need the extra help, and learn how to help them as well, not just use generic methods and deciding that that is enough.

When I see that Ms. K is helping the students on a more personal level, by asking them what they already know about something, working with them through to the answer and using transference as much as she can, I see a teacher who is good at what she does, understanding of her students, and someone I would want to be like. But, when I get to Mrs. F's class, it's a different story. She does not use any form of guidance with her students who aren't proficient in English, yet she's treating them like they understand and she tests them on information I'm not sure they understand in a language they are struggling in.