Last Class Blog

Hello Class,

We have come to the end of this class. I hope you have learned some things about the importance of considering the culture of your students. Students are people and come in many shapes and sizes, and all have something to contribute if given the opportunity. It is up to us as instructors to make sure we are trying to engage everyone in our classroom. In the research article by Smith and Smith (2009), they stated that their research showed there is a need to incorporate the student’s perspectives into the curriculum content and instructional processes. They stated that their data showed that if this is not done, then the instruction is impeded by the attitudes of the instructors. This being said, please remember to take your student’s circumstances into consideration when doing a lesson plan for a group of diverse students.

Finally, I have enclosed a final survey I would like you to complete. Thank you for all your attention, and best of luck in your classrooms.

Smith, D. L., & Smith, B. J. (2009). Urban Educators' Voices: Understanding Culture in the Classroom. Urban Review: Issues and Ideas in Public Education, 41(4), 334-351. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Teresa Kitchen

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DKM5W29

The culture of poverty

Well class, we are coming to the end of our class and there is another group I would like to consider in the talk about culture. It is one that is always present, but seldom talked about. It is the culture of poverty. People who live in this culture can have a very different view of life, and education than those who do not. I would like you to watch this video and then imagine that one of the people in the video has decided to come to your class to try to better their situation. What type of problems do you think they will bring with them? If we remember Maslow, we can imagine that education for them will be difficult. According to Bensin and Dundis (2009), the need to be free from stress, and to feel a sense of belonging can lead to concerns in the workplace. The classroom could be considerd the workplace of the student, and so these things must be considered.
 Let me know what you think after watching the video.

Benson, S., & Dundis, S. (2003). Understanding and motivating health care employees: integrating Maslow's hierarchy of needs, training and technology. Journal of Nursing Management, 11(5), 315-320. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Teresa K.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXyJM5taqNI&feature=related

Stay Creative!

Hello class! I hope you enjoyed the voki! It was a lot of fun, and something different. The mechanical voice could be a bit distracting, but that was the reason I wanted to use it for that particular blog on ethnicity. The mechanical voice was meant to represent a student who might have an accent. The accent can be distracting and as a result the message the student is trying to deliver may get lost. This can happen when a student writes as well. If English is not a students first language, then you may notice that their writing resembles their speech pattern. This can make it difficult for them to communicate their ideas through the written word. In order to truly evaluate how much they are learning it might be necessary to get a little creative. Perhaps they can produce a project in pictures and music, or if in a classroom, maybe acting a scene out would help. It is up to us to find a way to help them communicate what they know to us and to the rest of the world until they can get their English skills to match their knowledge. So, be creative, and stay in touch with your students!

Teresa K.

The culture of ethnicity

Hello class, I am going to try something new today, I hope you enjoy it, and possible try it at some point yourself. It is called a voki, and is more intesting than just reading all the time. Just paste the link in your browser, or click on the link if available.

Teresa K.

http://www.voki.com/pickup.php?scid=3746886&height=267&width=200

Our world village

Hello again class,

I was talking to a fellow instructor about our class, and she was very interested in having me share a video with you. This video does not talk specifically about culture, but it does give an interesting perspective on our world. As you know, we live in a global society these days, and everything we do has some effect on someone else. In addition, in order to live in this world, we need to be able to be ourselves while allowing others to do the same without judgment from anyone else.  America has often been called the melting pot, but many people believe this is the not the right image for the America of today. Today, many people have started calling America the Diversity Salad. In a melting pot, everything is melted down and loses all individuality. On the other hand, in a salad all the ingredients are tossed in together to blend their flavors but retain their individuality at the same time. It is a much better image in a lot of ways. The video I am attaching helps us to understand this village we are living in called earth. Enjoy the video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNnbO8x4JAY

Teresa K.

Aspects of Culture

Hello class,

In this week’s blog we are going to look at various aspects of culture. In class we talked about what makes up a person’s culture, and you brought up some very good examples. I would like to delve a little deeper into how a person’s religion might affect how they respond during a class. Since we are going to be dealing with adults in our classes, this may have more of an impact than if we were dealing with children. I know you might think that this is not an issue you need to worry about because this is not a topic you plan to discuss, but remember the outside impact. What people experience on the outside, they bring with them to class. This can be especially evident during holiday seasons. As instructors, we need to try to be sensitive to the increased stress that students might be experiencing at this time. We also need to remember that not every student celebrates the same holidays, and so holiday stressors might come to different students at different times. For instance, during the Muslim season of Ramadan, students will be fasting from sun up to sun down. This might make them a little less attentive in classes, and they might need a little extra help to retain information presented. This might be as simple as providing a copy of powerpoint slides, or suggesting they record lectures if attention is a problem. This sensitivity can show your students that you care about them as people and students.

Teresa K.

Cultural Group Introduction

Hello Class,

Welcome back! We have been having fun learning all about culture and it s impact on the people with whom we come into contact. Whether we think it is important or not, it does define who we are as people. As instructors, we will come into contact with all kinds of people, and it is up to us to try to find a connection with each one. For the next few blogs, we will be addressing some of the major cultural groups you might run into here in the United States. I have to limit it to the major ones because there are so many that we could never hope to cover them all. Some of the groups will be based on ethnic groups, some religious, and finally the socioeconomic ones. One of the major cultures that cuts across all ethnic lines is poverty. When a person is living at or below the poverty level, their entire culture may have to change because of the lack of money.  There are times that socioeconomic status has more of an influence in a person’s life than does their racial or ethnic background. We will examine this culture a little more in depth in later blogs.

As a little warm-up, I found this wonderful photo collage on multiculturalism. Enjoy!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yprbmGHKNg&feature=related