WhoareYouasaPersonandasaStudent?Name:AnneliseVanDykenMr.

th
Workmans5
GradeClassatGomezElementary
Usereadingsfromthepasttodescribeyourself:
Taylor&Whittaker
BridgingMultipleWorlds
DelpitNieto
UnderstandingCultureBrief
HoeksemaPetersen&HittiePearson202
bookWoolfolkChap2,3,5Levine
Therearemanydifferentculturesthestudentsbringtotheclassroom.Itappearsthatmostofthestudents
areeagertodowellandlearn.Itiseasyformetogettheirattention,andIdonothavetospendmuch
classtimekeepingthemengaged.FrommydiscussionswithMr.Workman,Ihavelearnedthatsomeof
thestudentscomefromhomeswithlittlestructure.Forexample,oneofthestudentshasswitched
schoolsseveraltimesanddoesnothavemuchencouragementtofocusonhisschoolworkfromhishome
Culture
environment.MostofthestudentsareHispanic,sotheyhaveaMexican,Spanishspeakingculturethat
theysharewiththeclassroom.Itappearsthattheboysaremoretalkativeandeagertoparticipatethan
thegirls.Idontknowifthisisculturalorjustbasedontheseparticularstudents,butIwouldliketo
continuetoobservemore.WhenIworkwiththegirlsinasmallgrouporoneonone,theyseemtobe
verytalkativeandeagertoparticipate.Asfortheirdailylives,itappearsthatmanyofthemenjoy
playinggames,tradingcards(i.e.Pokmon),andplayingsports.

Outofthe24studentsintheclass,thereare18studentswhoappeartobeHispanic,1studentwho
appearstobewhite,and5studentswhoappeartobeAfricanAmerican.Someofthosestudentsmight
havetworaces,butIamnotsure.ManyofthestudentsaskmeifIspeakSpanish,soitseemslikethey
Race&Ethnicity
wantsomesortofaffirmationthatIcancommunicatewiththeminanotherlanguage.Maybetheyask
thisofmanyofthewhite,Englishspeakingteachersoraideswhotheycomeintotheirschool.AsI
mentioned,themostoftheHispanicstudentsaresecondgenerationcitizensoftheU.S.,andtheyare
ESLstudents.Thisisadefiningfeatureoftheschoolasawhole.

Therearevariationsinthesocialsystemsregardingthepeersandthefamily.Itappearsthatthestudents
haveastrongandcomfortablecommunityoverall.Italsoseemsliketheboysspendmoretimewiththe
SocialSystems
boys,andthegirlsspendmostoftheirtimewithothergirls,whichisnaturalfortheagebracket.Many
Peers&Family

ofthestudentshavelargefamiliesIknowthatafewofthestudentshaveuptosevenoreightsiblings,
andmanyofthemarealsointhesameschool,middleschool,orhighschoolsystem.

SinceIaminapublicschoolsystem,itshardtounderstandthespiritualandfaithidentitiesthestudents
have.ThereisonestudentinmyclassthatisobviouslyfromaMuslimfamily,sinceshecomestoschool
Moral,Spiritual,and
withahijab.IhavealsoheardfrommyteacherandcommunitymembersthatmanyoftheHispanic
FaithDevelopment
studentsareCatholicandattendCatholicchurchesinthearea.ManyofthosestudentstalkaboutJesus
andGod.OnestudentevenbroughtacardwithaverseandChristonitthathermomgaveher,telling
herthatitwouldshowhowHeisalwayswithher.

Itappearsthatmemoryisanissueintheclassroom.Myteachersaysthatitcanbehardforsomeofthe
studentstobuildonpreviousknowledgeorremembercertainthingsthatweretalkedaboutearlierinthe
unit.Iwoulddefinitelyliketolearnmoreaboutthisaspectofthestudentslearningsinceitisavital
Attention&Memory
elementtotheirlearningprocesses.Themajorityoftheclassseemstopayattentiontotheteacherwell
andhavelongattentionspans.However,therearethreeorfourstudentsthathavesignificantlyshorter
spansandmaybedistractionstotheotherstudents.Theyalsotakeuptheteachersclasstime,sincehe
hastodealwiththemandtheirbehavior.

18ofthe24studentsappeartobeHispanic,andMr.Workmansaysthattheyareallstudentswith
Englishastheirsecondlanguage.ThosewhospeakSpanishaskmeifIcanspeakit,andareexcited
whenIcancommunicatewithonlyafewwords,sinceIhaveabasicknowledge.Mostofthemseemto
Language
beablereadersfrommyworkwiththeminreadinggroups.Inaddition,the5studentswhoappeartobe
AfricanAmericanhavedialects(AfricanAmericanVernacularEnglish),sothiswouldalsobeabarrier
withtherulesfortheStandardEnglishlanguagerules.Theonestudentwhoiswhitespeakswitha
Midwesternaccent.

Motor&
Spatial/Sequential
Ordering

HigherOrderThinking

Ability&Disability

FromwhatIknow,thestudentsallhaveproficientmotorskills.Theycanwriteandformtheirletters
well.Unfortunately,thereisonestudentthatIknowwhostruggleswithfinemotorskillsfrommy
conversationswiththeteacher.Ontheotherhand,heseemstodowellwithgrossmotorskills.Iknow
thatmanyofthestudentslikeplayingsoccer,whichhopefullystrengthenstheirgrossmotorskillsas
well.Ihaventbeenabletoobservemuchofthestudentsspatialandsequentialorderingskills,butI
wouldliketositinonanartclasstowhatgoesonintermsofthespatialabilities.However,Ihaveseen
avarietyofdifferentlevelsofcleanlinessofdesksintheclassroom,whichshowsthattherearemany
studentswhoareneatandotherswhostrugglekeepinganeatworkspace.

Thestudentsseemtopracticehigherorderthinkingwhentheysolvemathproblemsordeterminewhatis
wrongwithasentence(intermsofgrammarorusage).Itseemsliketheyarefamiliarwiththeprocesses
(whichalsogoesunderthesequentialthinkingcategory),whichallowsthemtocarryouttheirtasks
appropriately.Theyalsoexercisethisskillwhentheyarereadingpassagesandneedtopickout
importantinformationanddrawconclusionsfromwhatitsays.Iknowthatonestudentinparticulardoes
verywellinthisaspectwhenhehasthepropermedications.Otherwise,itshardforhimtostayfocused.

Thereisonestudentwhodoesnotfunctionwellinaclassroomenvironmentbecauseofalackof
structureinthepast,accordingtohisteacher.Eventhoughhehasntbeentestedfordisabilities,hehas
stillbeenlabeledaslearningdisabledduetohisactionsintheclassroom.Thereareacoupleother
studentswhocangetoutofcontrol,butareonmedicationsforthemostofthetime.Oneofthestudents
whoisonmedicationisbrightandprocessesthingswellwhenheisabletofocus.Itappearsthatthere
areacoupleofstudentswhounderstandwhatsgoingonandpickuponthingseasily.Thestudentwho
hasthehighestmathandlanguagescoresintheclassroomhasbeendescribedbyhisparentsasa
highfunctioningautisticstudent,whichmakesmewanttolearnmoreabouthimandhislearning
style.Iwouldliketocontinuetogettoknowthelearnersabilitiesbetter.