C. What questions or comments can I bring forth to help my colleagues and I extend, expand, explain, question, or clarify issues surrounding this reading?

I am curious to know if any teachers have encountered any significant differences in their students based on cultural variations. If so, what kinds of differences have you seen? I do not know what to expect for cultural diversity in my classroom, so any specific examples based on different ethnic groups would be appreciated (meaning families that may not have been here for in America for so long).

Kirsten, My response to Kirsten

In answer to your question about cultural diversity it will all depend upon the school district in which you teach, and the types of challenges that you face. I have seen just as much deprivation in lower SES kids as I have seen in bilinguals. In one instance that I can think of, I had a Panamanian girl several years ago who spoke fluent English and Spanish and could switch between two languages very easily. Sometimes that diversity works to the childs advantage. She often served as a translator for her mother who spoke absolutely no English whatsoever. It all depends on their role model, obviously her dad was from the US and he had an impact on her language learning, yet she maintained the language of her mother as well as she was obviously the caretaker. Dad was in the field a lot and so she had to become resourceful in both languages. If the child is bright and can teeter between the two languages then there is no problem, but if they are struggling gaining language skills in their own language, then there is a definite problem.

Did you receive your undergrad degree is Texas? Do you speak Spanish? If you do it is a definite plus in many cases in Texas. But if you are in an affluent predominantly Anglo/AA community then you may never encounter the need. You will just have to learn the TEXAS SLANG

I have also encountered Korean children. Their push to learn the English language is great. They support English language learning and oftentimes the mothers are enrolled in language classes themselves. Their philosophies in education far surpass others and are real achievers.

Also your district may have bilingual or ESL programs where you will not have to teach English content because they are accommodated in another class. But I believe that I remember that you will be teaching 7th grade, the supports for children of that age group, in my experience seem to drop off and are not as strong as in the formative years. Again, it is hard to discern, it will depend wholly on the district, the supports, and the abilities of the children.

You will deal with lower SES I am sure, and that is a challenge in and of itself because so often there is no parental support, and in fact sometimes they work against us and try to undermine that which we teach because they are suspicious of the new thoughts and ideas we are putting into their children's heads, if they take enough time to care. I am not sure if I answered your question or if I confused you more, but I don't believe there is a standard answer for this question.: )

Thank you so much for sharing this information. I asked for it, because I did grow up in a small, predominantly white community in upstate NY. Our diversity consisted of whatever foreign exchange students we had and one Philippino student. In grades 7-12, we had five African-American students. I am trying to be as prepared as possible for all students when I walk into a classroom, but I really have no idea what to expect.

I do not speak Spanish and understand very little. This is something I plan on studying a little further down the road.