Interacting with Children of Diversity Introduction: The purpose of this paper is to discuss my personal interactions with children of diversity in my Pre-K classroom. This classroom is a special needs classroom that mainstreams students with special needs in with regular education students. The classroom consists of four girls and five boys with one teacher, teacher assistant and teacher aide. Of the nine students inside of my classroom I have two students who are identified under special needs. One student is autistic and the other student who is deaf and blind suffers from a rare genetic condition. Data collection for this classroom is observations of student/student interactions and student/adult interactions. These observations were …show more content…
A diverse organization is one that values the difference in people. It is one that recognizes that people with different backgrounds, skills, attitudes and experiences bring fresh ideas and perceptions(http://www.teenink.com/opinion/environment/article/465407/The-Importance-and-Benefits-of-Diversity/).”Our ability to give children a chance to succeed in school greatly depends upon our understanding of culture and learning styles. “After all, effective educational decisions and practices must emanate from an understanding of the ways that individuals learn” (http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may94/vol51/num08/The-Culture~Learning-Style-Connection.aspx). When I think of my classroom I often think that we do not have a diverse classroom. When I think of diversity I think of other nationalities and languages but diversity means so much more. My classroom may not have students from different nationalities or students who speak different languages but I found that after this paper they are truly a diverse group of children. When we structure our activities to acknowledge different perspectives we enhance student learning (http://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/cultural-diversity-at-school/). As teachers we must find ways to teach our children in ways that they learn and this at times can be difficult and for …show more content…
It is a rural location and is located in the highest poverty area of Mingo County. Our area is suffering from the recent loss of coalmines and jobs in our area. Because of these events we have had several members of the community move to other states for jobs. My students come from various backgrounds and all of my students will be moving into Kindergarten next year. Zoe is a five-year-old child with an eighteen-year-old brother. Both parents work outside of the home. The mother is a nurse and the father is a police officer for the railroad. Zoe is a well-adjusted child who has an outgoing personality. Tucker is a five-year-old student with a two-year-old sister. Both parents work outside of the home. The mother is a nurse and the father is a corrections officer for the local regional jail. Tucker has a slight speech impediment that impedes others from understanding him at times this however does not bother Tucker. He has an outgoing personality and if very confident in all that he does. Gunner is a five-year-old student with an eight-year-old sister. Gunner has been diagnosed with autism. Both parents work outside the home. The mother is a secretary for a local hotel and the father works as a mechanic. Gunner currently takes speech in the school and at a local
Some say love is blind. I would like to disagree. When a person falls in love with another surely, they are aware of that individuals many characteristics such as gender, race, and age. And I believe it’s those very differences which attracted people to one another. This belief of mine made the concept of Diversity Awareness very interesting to me. Within this paper, I will describe and explain why I found the Diversity Awareness concept most important to me, the implications of not applying the concept, the actions I will take to apply the concept, and the impact this new insight will have on my supervisors, peers, and subordinates.
Hunter Anderson is fifteen. His parents are Karen Anderson and Randy Anderson. He has a very strict family, especially to him. Hunter also has one sister and four step sisters. He has many animals such as goats, sheep, and cows. Hunter's father works at a saw mill, and his mother is a stay at home mom. Hunter’s father has the most influence on him because of the hobbies that he has.
I observed Harper, a 23 month old little girl that is full of energy. Also participating in the interaction with Harper was her mother and five year old sister, Mya. Harper is very friendly and outgoing. She is very interested “reading books” and loves to be read to. She enjoys helping her mother clean and do simple tasks. She seems to be very confident with and without her mother in her sight. Harper’s father is not actively involved in her life because he lives in another state.
Jeremy’s mother brought the baby into the living room. Jeremy’s sister is not happy that the baby is around and tries to hit the baby but, Jeremy sits quietly beside the baby and pets his head and starts humming. Jeremy seems to have such a sweet disposition and caring heart. There are few objective ways to rate one’s own characteristics, abilities and values, and children often turn to other people, particularly to peers for help (Parke & Gauvain, 2009).
Javonte Beddifield is the oldest of three children. His mom, dad, sister, and brother lives in his household. His mother and father are married. His mother is forty-three, and his dad is forty-four years old. His brother is eighteen and, Madison, his ten-year-old sister, and they are a nuclear family. Madison is going through the industry vs. inferiority stage. She is doing very well when it comes to being more independent, but she is still working on fully building up her self-esteem. His brother is going through the identity and role stage in his life. He has no problem with this stage in his life, because he has already found his self and personal identity. His parents are going through the generatively vs. stagnation stage. They already
I grew up in a family without much diversity, both of my parents are African American but my father is half Cuban. Growing up diversity wasn't something that was talked about; it was better to fit, to conform.My family isn't the most accepting to things that are different so they normally talked down about people who are overweight, gay or just people that didn't look or dress like them. I didn't understand that growing up and I just followed what my parents did and said even though I disagreed with it.
This case study will focus on an athletic and cheerful child named Timothy Jamal Hood. Timothy is a growing fifteen-year-old male with fair skin and dark brown eyes. He is five feet and seven inches tall. Timothy was born on August 4, 2000, to his father, Irvin, and mother, Maria Hood. The family owns a four bedroom home in Missouri City, Texas. Timothy has a dog named Max. Timothy is a sophomore at Elkins High school. Timothy has an older brother named Robert. The family’s socioeconomic status is middle class. Timothy’s mother and father did not attend college. His mother, Maria works for Sunoco Logistics Partners LP as a right-away agent. His father, Irvin works for a local printing company as a computer technician. The reason I chose Timothy to develop my case study is because of his developing characteristics.
Jackson is a relatable, humorous 5th grade student at Crestwood Elementary School. Jackson who has autism, is a very social student. He has lots of friends who he loves to goof around with, and considered the class clown of his friend group. When interacting with his peers he wants to make them laugh and evoke a response, so he tends to speak through jokes and crude humor. Because he works to shock and humor his peers, he has a habit of drawing crude and inappropriate objects in his art. Although he may get distracted with his drawings, when he completes the projects they are always creative and proficient. In class, Jackson responds well to talking about his favorite topics, and when reading comics and books. With his friends, peers, and teachers, Jackson loves to talk about his interests, which include robots, pirates, videogames, cartoons, sharks, and fantasy world characters.
Cory is a 16 year old 10th grader. He has been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and has been receiving special education services since the age of 3. He is currently placed in a special in-district class for students with moderate to severe disabilities. Cory has a one to one aide assigned to him. He receives: adaptive physical education, speech and language therapy, applied behavior analysis, transition services,and assistive technology services. Cory has also been diagnosed with high anxiety by a clinical psychologist.
They live with their parents and their father’s mother. Ana’s father is a chiropractor, and her mother stays at home with the younger brother and grandmother. This gives the counselor information on the family dynamics and who cares for the child on a consistent basis. Also, because the grandmother lives in the home, it may also be necessary to understand the relationship between Ana and her grandmother.
The Peterson family resides in a small residential suburb in Southeastern Virginia. Previous, the family had lived in Italy due to Mr. Peterson 's position in the United States Military but had moved to Virginia two years ago. Mrs. Peterson works at night and the parents have five children together. Christian is an intelligent 12 year old boy that was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) by the United States Navy Developmental Pediatrician in Naples, Italy when he was 9 years old. Christian has one older sibling, Sarah and three younger siblings Rebecca, Martha, and Elisha.
To complete my Preschool Atypical observation I went to Bruceton Elementary School. While there I observed a 3-year-old boy named Tucker who was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism. Tucker is a little boy who was born and raised in Preston County, West Virginia and is attending the Preschool offered at Bruceton Elementary for half a day. He is an only child who speaks only English, both Tucker’s parents are local and have been part of the Bruceton communities for years. I observed Tucker from 7:30 in the morning till his lunch at 11:30 while he participated in multiple activities showing off his development in all 5 major areas.
Caymen Meyers is seventeen years old and lives with her mother on top of their doll store. Caymen likes to study the rich like it’s her job. She and her mother have struggled through hard times financially. Caymen’s dad is not around because her mom was a teenage mother and his parents gave her money to disappear and her mom’s parents kicked her out.
The Sandoval family consists of parents Elijah and Rachel, first born son Debster, and their young daughter Adrienne. Debster is of average height and build for his age with light skin and green eyes. The family are of middle class income and currently live in a single family home in a nice residential neighborhood known for it’s good schools outside of Houston, Tx. Debster is fast approaching his 13th birthday and just finished his 7th grade year at a nearby public middle school and has been evaluated to see how he 's progressed since his last report at age 6. This child has been chosen for a long term study to observe how his motor skills, cognitive learning and socio-emotional behavior progresses over the years from infancy to up until he turns 18 years old.
Lyle and Autumn don’t have much money at all and they are different kids to say the less. Autumn is not like the other kids, she is albino and very tiny. But she is also very smart and is golden at English. She knows she is different and tries her hardest to fit in and find a boy that could possibly love her. I look up to her, she is always positive and just seems to be able to move right on if something doesn’t seem to go how she thought it would. Her brother Lyle is very different; he seems to keep everything bottled up inside and he finds out that he can take it out in violence. He tries very hard to protect his sister and be the big brother she needs. The whole town hates their family and Lyle wants to blame his dad, but I can see that his dad is doing everything that he can to provide and protect his family. He is doing his best to try and make his kids proud but they are young and just don’t understand yet.