4.3 Diversity, Cultural Understanding, and Global Awareness
Candidates model and facilitate the use of digital tools and resources to support diverse student needs, enhance cultural understanding, and increase global awareness. (PSC 4.3/ISTE 5c)
Artifact: Diversity blog post from ITEC 7430, Internet Tools in the Classroom
Reflection: Standard 4.3 involves understanding diversity in students
and changing tactics to meet those diverse needs. For my artifact for this
standard, I chose my Diversity Blog post from ITEC 7430, Internet Tools in the
Classroom. In the process of crafting the blog post, I researched diversity in
education and compiled the information that I found to create a blog post
explaining my philosophy on diversity in the classroom. The post was researched
and written independently and posted to my blog.
The main aspects of this artifact that stick with me are the characteristics of diverse learners in my classroom and at my school. While many people think of diversity as involving nothing more than racial and ethnic differences among students, I learned that there are many other characteristics and factors that can affect the abilities of diverse learners. Among these factors are English language proficiency, socio-economic status, and differing learning abilities. All of these factors can impact the way that students learn, but teachers can employ different methods and tactics within their classrooms to meet the needs of their diverse students.
In the process of writing this blog post, I learned more about the different ways that my students are diverse. In the past, I have worked as a special education teacher, so the emphasis that was put on different ability levels was not new to me. Likewise, the different techniques for reaching students that have different needs based on ability levels were also already in my tool box. At the same time, I learned about the needs of students with higher ability levels through my study for a gifted endorsement. While that was not something that I focused on in creating this blog post, the fact that gifted and talented students also require different strategies is not lost on me.
Perhaps the biggest area of surprise for me in researching the blog post was in students who are learning English. In that case, many teachers, and many people in general, believe that the most impactful aspect of the diversity is language acquisition. Through the research, I learned that the bigger impact could come from the cultural differences that many English Language Learners exhibit. In many non-English-speaking countries, emphasis is placed on working to support a family rather than on education. One challenge that teachers face in reaching this particular brand of diverse learner is in overcoming this cultural belief in order to encourage students to invest time and energy into education when that is not their first inclination.
While I learned a lot in the process of creating this artifact, I have not had many opportunities to use the knowledge that I gained. In my current position, I do not have a chance to interact with the more diverse population at my school, so I would like the opportunity to do so. In the future, I would work to include some real-world research in my blog post by working with a diverse group of students and including my findings in the blog post.
The impact of this artifact was first and foremost on the classroom experience of my diverse students. The research that I conducted will allow me to better reach them. In addition, the understanding that I gained of their diverse needs will allow me to use more appropriate methods in the classroom so that they learn more from me. An additional impact could come from my ability to spread my knowledge to my colleagues through both proactively providing information through professional learning opportunities and being available to offer advice when needed.
The main aspects of this artifact that stick with me are the characteristics of diverse learners in my classroom and at my school. While many people think of diversity as involving nothing more than racial and ethnic differences among students, I learned that there are many other characteristics and factors that can affect the abilities of diverse learners. Among these factors are English language proficiency, socio-economic status, and differing learning abilities. All of these factors can impact the way that students learn, but teachers can employ different methods and tactics within their classrooms to meet the needs of their diverse students.
In the process of writing this blog post, I learned more about the different ways that my students are diverse. In the past, I have worked as a special education teacher, so the emphasis that was put on different ability levels was not new to me. Likewise, the different techniques for reaching students that have different needs based on ability levels were also already in my tool box. At the same time, I learned about the needs of students with higher ability levels through my study for a gifted endorsement. While that was not something that I focused on in creating this blog post, the fact that gifted and talented students also require different strategies is not lost on me.
Perhaps the biggest area of surprise for me in researching the blog post was in students who are learning English. In that case, many teachers, and many people in general, believe that the most impactful aspect of the diversity is language acquisition. Through the research, I learned that the bigger impact could come from the cultural differences that many English Language Learners exhibit. In many non-English-speaking countries, emphasis is placed on working to support a family rather than on education. One challenge that teachers face in reaching this particular brand of diverse learner is in overcoming this cultural belief in order to encourage students to invest time and energy into education when that is not their first inclination.
While I learned a lot in the process of creating this artifact, I have not had many opportunities to use the knowledge that I gained. In my current position, I do not have a chance to interact with the more diverse population at my school, so I would like the opportunity to do so. In the future, I would work to include some real-world research in my blog post by working with a diverse group of students and including my findings in the blog post.
The impact of this artifact was first and foremost on the classroom experience of my diverse students. The research that I conducted will allow me to better reach them. In addition, the understanding that I gained of their diverse needs will allow me to use more appropriate methods in the classroom so that they learn more from me. An additional impact could come from my ability to spread my knowledge to my colleagues through both proactively providing information through professional learning opportunities and being available to offer advice when needed.