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Meghan Rediske Action Plan

12-1-09 Professor Wysocki

Human Relations And Student Diversity 308 Tuesday/Thursday 12:30-1:50

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Action Plan #1

Source: Website

Vermon, Shelley. "Teaching Preschool ESL: Ideas and Tips for Successful." Web. 22 Sept. 2009.

http://www.teachingenglishgames.com/Articles/Teaching_ESL_Preschool_Ideas_and_Tips_for_Suc

I plan to student teach abroad next year. As of now, I am looking at Costa Rica or China

as possible countries to student teach in. I want to move outside of my comfort zone, and

ideally work on a second language. Either way, I will more than likely be teaching students

whose first language is not English. One thing I would like to work on is strengthening my

knowledge and toolbox of effective games and activities for teaching beginning reading and

writing. My major is Elementary Education with an emphasis in early childhood. So, whether I

am working inside or outside the United States I am sure that throughout my career I will be

working with students and parents who have had limited exposure to English. This is why I have

chosen a website about teaching ESL learners in an early childhood environment.

The website I chose for my Action Plan is called, “Teaching ESL in Preschool.” The author

of this website is Shelley Vernon. She has obtained degrees both in Education and Music, and

has taught both in and outside of the United States for over twenty years. The material and

lesson plan ideas on the website have been tested and approved by teachers from around the

world.

In the websites introductory paragraph Vernon states that no matter what native

language the child speaks, all three to five year olds have things in common. Preschoolers are

full of energy and have a difficult time staying focused on one task for long periods of time. This

is why it is of vital importance to incorporate games, stories, and songs into teaching this age

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group regardless of their native language. Movement stimulates neural networks and activates

mental capacities. Also, learning through music, games, and physical activity generates

children’s curiosity and helps them learn and retain information (Vermon).

One of the examples they gave for incorporating language development and physical

movement was a diving game. Have the children pretend that they are pirates and have lost

their treasure overboard. Then, have the children hold their breath, dive down and retrieve one

of the vocabulary cards. When they come up for air have the children name the vocabulary on

the card, or you name it depending on if you are working on a listening or speaking activity. I

think this activity would be enriching for ESL learners, because it allows for vocabulary to be

repetitive and allows students to practice both speaking and listening.

Another important aspect of teaching English, or really any other language, is to

remember that the more you hear and experience the vocabulary the more likely they will learn

it. Also, Vernon brings up that children need to experience material in several different ways.

Varying teaching strategies will help reach all different types of learners. Vernon touches on the

importance of incorporating Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligences into teaching

English. I completely agree that instruction should be varied so that teachers can reach a

diverse group of learning styles. I also think that students are going to grasp the language more

easily if you approach teaching vocabulary and syntax from a variety of angles. I hope that by

doing this I will be actively incorporating standard one into my classroom by, using multiple

representations and explanations of concepts to capture ideas and link new information to

previously learned information. It is especially important for children that are learning a

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language to have a wide variety of methods in which they practice speaking and listening to the

language. Also, children are going to retain information best if it is repeated and linked to

previous information they have learned.

Other key points I picked out from the information on the website was bring in real

objects whenever possible, not expecting them to fully grasp a second language when they are

still trying to master their native language, repeating and reviewing materials frequently, and

make the vocabulary relevant to their lives. As we have discussed in class, when abstract

information becomes personal and relevant it becomes more meaningful. It is also easier to

retain information that we put in our own personal schemes of information.

Reading the article written by, Genaro Armas on the Census Bureau is really what

sparked my interest in student teaching in South America. I think predictions such as Asians and

Hispanics being the most dramatic increase in our population in the next midcentury means

that we have to take a meaningful look at how we are going to prepare and accommodate for

this increase. I think that it will make me a lot more marketable if I have experience working

with ESL learners, and have some personal knowledge of a second language.

This website has not only providing me with some basic background knowledge of how

to vary my teaching methods, but it also has a plethora of activities that exemplify these

methods. I am confident that as I begin to plan lesson plans I will be able to refer back to this

website for some activities that have been proven to benefit ESL learners.

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Action Plan #2 Source: Journal/Magazine

Kilman, Carrie. "One Nation, Many Gods." Teaching Tolerance. Sept. & oct. 2007. Web.

The anthropology definition of culture is learned attitudes, beliefs, values, ideas, and

traditions, are shared by members of a society, and are passed on from generation to

generation. In many cases these factors are largely influenced by religion. I know that there are

many other factors that play a role in shaping these factors for people, but I think that in order

for educators to be culturally competent they have to take into consideration how religion has

influenced these things for people. The reality is that Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Sikhs,

Jehovah Witnesses, atheist, ect hold different views, and practice different traditions. I think

that it makes a significant difference in a classroom when educators have knowledge of many

religions, because it helps educators become more equip to deal with a diverse student

population. If educators are truly going to work towards being culturally competent, I think that

acknowledging and understanding how different religions influence people’s lives is necessary

for making sure that educators can interact effectively with different cultures. Also, religions

can easily be examined as a social construct that influences how people think and act. This is

why I choose an article entitled, “One Nation, Many Gods” from the Teaching Tolerance

Magazine.

This article focuses on how a high school in California implemented a Religious Class into

their curriculum. I don’t think that I will ever be in this position, but I think that the article

confronted several valid points about being sensitive to diverse student populations that

practices and is influenced by a wide variety of religions. There are faith-based intolerances,

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and religious adversity should be addressed. Many people fear what they don’t understand.

Incorporating different perspectives and experiences into your classroom can helps students

become more familiar and comfortable with some of the differences they many have from

classmates. Hopefully, it will also give students an opportunity to draw similarities to the values,

needs, goals, beliefs, attitudes, expectations, and feelings of their classmates.

All students, regardless of their beliefs or lifestyles, have the right to feel safe at school.

NEA also brought up this point, and stated, “the appreciation of diverse cultures is a core value

built on the American ideals of freedom, justice, equality, and human dignity.” It is important

that educators work to make all children in their classroom feel safe and comfortable. I think

that many students feel more comfortable and respected if their teacher understands the

religious practices and traditions that students may be a part of, and respectfully and

appropriately incorporates them into their curriculum.

My group read the article, “Strategies for Inclusive Teaching.” Throughout our

discussion we examined the importance of instructors explicitly stating their respect for

diversity and their intentions to treat all students fairly. It should be well understood that

children’s work and ability is in no way previously determined by their religious preference. We

also discussed how Standard 3 can be addressed through religion preferences of students, by

helping educators recognize how individual experiences, prior learning, culture, and family

values influence a students learning.

I have an early childhood emphasis. When I think back on my elementary school

education I know that a lot of the craft projects we did, songs we sang, and parties we can were

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Christian based. We had Halloween parties, sung songs about Christmas, made Easter Eggs,

celebrated birthdays, and had days off for all Christian based holidays. I grew up in a

community where this was widely accepted. However, I think it is important for me to realize

that I may teach in a community with a much more diverse population where this would not be

appropriate. I don’t think I need to completely abandon doing anything related to Christian

holidays, but make sure that incorporate activities from a wide variety of religions and beliefs.

For example, I might incorporate a celebration for the Chinese New Year, a craft from the

celebration of El Dia de los Muertos, or in honor of respecting the fact that Jehovah Witnesses

don’t celebrate birthday assigning children a special day throughout the year to focus on them.

It is important to expose students to a wide variety of materials and activities so that your

classroom also becomes a place where each child increases their personal cultural competence

as well.

It is inevitable that in many circumstances educators need to be aware and respective of

a variety of different religious practices and beliefs to be culturally competent in the classroom.

Cultural competence involves the ability to successfully teach students who come from cultures

other than your own. “Cultural competent educators understand that students benefit from a

learning environment that increases the connection between home and school culture and

involves families and the broader community in students’ education.” –NEA policy brief. I think

educators can work towards accomplishing this through knowledge, acceptance, respect, and

incorporations of children’s religious beliefs in their classroom. Educators don’t have to be

experts on all religions and their practices, but it is important that educators make sure that

their curriculum connects and is respectful to the beliefs and traditions of the students and

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their families. As student populations become more diverse, so do religious beliefs, and so do

values, morals, and traditions. It is my belief that exposure to many different traditions and

perspectives help children become more familiar and tolerant of each other’s differences, and

makes them feel more connected to one another. Understanding culture, social constructs, and

cultural competence can be increased through realizing that we are one nation with many

Gods, and more specifically a nation with diverse attitudes, beliefs, values, ideas, and traditions.

Action Plan #3 Source: Book

Zigler, Edward, and Susan Muenchow. Head Start, The Inside Story of America's Most Successful

Educational Experiment. New York: Basic Books, 1995. Print.

Our politicians continuously put it on their agendas, closing the gap between the rich

and the poor. There are several different factors that need to be addressed for real progress to

be made in closing this gap, but it is my belief that one of the basic and most influential ways

we can go about doing this is to provide quality education for children age’s birth through five.

Developing a high quality learning environment for low income families would be extremely

beneficial to our society on a multitude of levels.

Economically disadvantaged students are more likely to be assigned to schools

inexperienced teachers, inadequate buildings, overcrowded classrooms, and schools that lack

educational supplies and materials. These factors influence the quality of education students

receive, and therefore affect the student’s future opportunities. These spiraling conditions play

a role on the symentic discrimination low income families face. I think that one important way

of reducing this discrimination, and helping children escape the cycle of poverty as by

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intervening at an early age. This is why I choose the book entitled, “Head Start, The Inside Story

of America’s Most Successful Educational Experiment.”

Recent research is helping us make substantial gains about children from birth through

age five can learn, and how they learn it. There are several important developmental gains to

be made during these beginning lines. Families with higher income often have the opportunity

to enroll their children in programs that foster these educational gains, over low income

families (Muenchow, Zigler). In several cases there is already a large gap in achievement by the

time a child reaches Kindergarten. If students begin formal education already behind, it

becomes increasing harder for them to make substantial gains.

Head Start helps meet the basic needs of children first. We can’t expect children to be

open to learning if they are hungry, or sick. Head Start programs work hard to provide these

basic needs for children involved in the program. Also, Head Start programs try to provide

qualified individuals to help in areas such as special needs, mental health, and psychology.

The chapter I choose to focus on in the book is entitled, “Head Start: The Next

Generation.” The chapter brings up several key components to creating successful Head Start

Programs. First, Head Start must offer salaries and benefits to attract and retain lead teachers

with professional training. Second, it needs to strengthen health services. Third, Head Start

needs to reduce class sizes to accommodate children with special needs. Lastly, Head Start

needs to enhance parent engagement and provide a multitude of services for families (Zigler,

Muenchow). A vital part of Head Starts success comes from their commitment to Parent

Involvement. Head Start needs to provide several different methods for supporting student’s

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families. Quality Head Starts programs can make a significant difference, but the children are

most highly impacted by their primary caregivers. This program works to support parents to

raise their children to reach their full potential. Head Start’s greatest strength is its

comprehensive services and parent involvement.

Zigler and Muenchow emphasis that Head Start was created to help the efforts of

closing the achievement gap, combating poverty, and providing the fair opportunity for all

Americans to thrive. However, in order for things to happen effectively though the program has

to be properly funded and supported. Head Start needs the funding to make smaller class and

additional staff a reality so that they can better accommodate children with special needs. As

an early childhood educator, I believe that this program has the potential to be very powerful in

making gains towards giving all students a fair chance to succeed.

I think that working as a Head Start teacher is a very practical option for employment

after I graduate. Because of the requirements to get into the program I know that the children I

would be working with would come from low income families. I think Herbert Gan’s article,

“Deconstructing the Underclass,” has several valid points to consider when working directly

with low income families. First, it is imperative try and move past the connotation that lower

income individuals are antisocial and part take in harmful behavior, such as crime. Lower

income individuals are deserving of respectable education, and that this group of people is

highly diverse and need different kinds of help.

I think this topic closely relates to both Standard 3, and Standard 9. Standard 3

addresses that, a teacher need to understand how students differ in their approaches to

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learning and create instructional opportunities that are adapted to students with diverse

backgrounds and exceptionalities. Many students that qualify for the Head Start Program are

students whose first language is not English, and many of them have learning disabilities.

Teachers working for this program must be able to adapt to the diverse group of learners they

are working with. Standard 9, reiterates what Gan’s point about understanding how a teacher’s

behavior can effect a student’s growth and learning.

I know that the quality of education plays a large role in determining someone’s

economic statues. So, why don’t we address this disparity right from the start, and provide a

quality education environment for our youngest citizens.

Action Plan #4 Source: Movie

Starting Small: Teaching Children Tolerance. DVD.

In one of my education classes my professor had our class watch a movie called,

“Starting Small: Teaching Children Tolerance.” When the movie ended I did not have the usual

feeling of “what a waste of time,” but rather I left class that day feeling energized and excited

about how powerful my career has the potential of being. If teachers really take the time and

compassion necessary to create a multicultural curriculum, fear of differences can slowly start

to diminish as children discover a sense of belonging. As the narrator in the movie stated, “Even

big ideas start small. Little people are thrown together and asked to go beyond their differences

and create common ground. We can start with children and teach them to live together in

harmony, not hatred.” I think this video shows several effective ways of addressing diversity in

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a respectful, meaningful way. Educators need to help children discover not what drives us

apart, but rather what keeps us together.

The first clip in the video takes place in a classroom where the teacher is working on a

welcoming unit with the children. The main goal of this unit was to help children see that there

are unique aspects to every child, but we also have many commonalities. It was the teacher’s

belief that every child should have the opportunity to talk about what makes them special and

different. The teacher did a project with the children where she had them paint their skin with

colors such as cinnamon, peach, almond, hazel, and butternut. Often times they had to mix

colors, and she made it a point to share that no one’s skin color was white like socks. Everyone

in the class had their own unique color of skin. However, no matter what color skin they their

skin universally had the same purpose. I liked this activity for the fact that it showed children

that skin color is not just black and white. There are many categories of skin colors, there are

many different mixes, and often times we share common base colors with other. We are more

alike than we will ever be different. I would love to incorporate this activity into my classroom

someday. I believe it is a great way to acknowledge student’s differences, while at the same

time drawing on commonalities.

The second clip in the video takes place in a classroom where the teacher is trying to

have the students focus on being good friends. Through teaching children to listen, share, and

be compassionate, loving, understanding individuals’ tolerance will come. The teacher used five

I care rules that I think I will use in my future classroom. They are; listen to each other, use I

care language, be responsible for what we say and do, hands are for helping not hurting, and

we care about each other feelings. I thought these I care rules would be helpful for children

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when thinking about what it means to be a good friend. I too believe that as soon as we start to

communicate effectively, we start to understand one another, and when we start to

understand and acknowledge one another’s thoughts and feelings we become tolerant.

This teacher also used the strategies of talking about feelings through discussing

characters in stories, and having a peace table in the room for children to work out conflicts at.

Books are an excellent way to get children thinking about the meaning of friendship, and what

actions make people happy, and what actions make people sad. I plan to use this method in my

own classroom to truly get students to think about the impact actions and words have on

people around them. The peace table in the classroom is set up as neutral ground for resolving

differences and discussing conflicts. I also think this is a great idea for helping students sit down

and communicate openly about how they are feeling and come to an understanding with one

another about why some actions are hurtful.

The last clip in the video takes place in a classroom where the teacher is working on

continuously teaching a multicultural education. It was this teacher’s belief that it is of vital

importance to create a strong sense of belonging through establishing meaningful connections

to people and things. Facts do not mean much too little kids. It is more meaningful to create

real life experiences and connections to differences. Children must learn to value all types of

people. The teacher of this classroom worked towards that by having several guest speakers,

making connections to all sorts of community members, and exposing children to many

different languages. I think this exemplifies standard 7. The teacher understands how to plan

instruction using contextual considerations that bridge curriculum and student experiences.

The teacher did something simple, yet powerful that I would like to try with my students. She

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had the students count to ten in many different languages. I think this not only helped

familiarize students with different languages, but showed them that one language does not

trump another. I love the philosophy of bring the world into the classroom!

I think this teacher’s work is also an example of how teacher can incorporate Standard

10 into their curriculum. This teacher did a great job of communicating with families, and the

community to support student learning and well being. This teacher truly understands how the

community environment can play a role connecting students to their community environment.

The United States of America is a nation of differences. This is both our greatest

strength and at other times a source of our most divisive troubles. As I enter a career in

education, I am excited at about the opportunity I will have to reach children at a very young

age to teach them about creating meaningful friendship that emphasis tolerance and

compassion. As I sit in my 308 class currently I can see how some people’s hatred for diverse

groups of people stems from fear, lack of understanding, and a lack of exposure to differences. I

hope that I can provide the children in my classroom the kind of experience that works towards

eliminating fear of the unknown and diminishing the mentality to pick out each other’s

differences rather than embrace our commonalities.

Action Plan #5 Source: Online Journal Article

Reaching Students Where They Are |." Teaching Tolerance. Oct. & nov. 2009. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. <http://www.tolerance.org/magazine/number-36-fall-2009/reaching-students-where-they-are>.

Within American Education the achievement gap between children of different races is

undeniable. The most significant educational challenge facing the United States is the tragically

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low academic achievement of many students of color. My article is entitled, “Reaching Students

Where They Are.” It was published by the Teaching Tolerance magazine. This article lays out the

framework behind a new online source the journal will soon be providing to help educators

identify ways to reach all students where they are and to guide them to academic excellence.

The goal of this tool is to make school a more productive place for children of color (Harley,

2009).

The online source is a researched based tool for improving the teaching of racially and

ethnically diverse students. It also works towards helping teachers and administrators create

schools that support effective teaching and student learning. There are several parts to the

program. One of the sections is on “Unpacking the Influence of Race.” This section is designed

to help raise awareness about the role race plays in your own person thinking, and how the

meanings of race influence our society. Many times teachers have not identified how their

feelings towards race and ethnicity may have had an unintended negative consequence on

students. Actively working through this website allows educators to critically examine their

assumptions, and work towards being effective teachers for students from different races and

ethnicities. As Rothenberg states, radicalization refers to the process by which social, economic,

and political forces determine the content and importance of racial categories. As educators,

we need to tackle the role this influences play straight on, and work towards minimizing

racialization.

All of the tools on the website include a number of resources that include video

interviews with dozens of leading experts in the field. There are many different learning tools to

help educators deepen their understanding. This source also keeps an emphasis on racial,

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ethnic, and linguistic diversity. The focus is less on improving teaching through simply being

aware, and more about the improvements that can be made through teachers developing

caring and trusting relationships with students.

I think this is going to be a great tool for educators and administrators. However, it will

be important that educators work as team to change approaches to teaching and work towards

meaningful relationships with students if they really want to change school atmosphere.

Another aspect of this article I appreciated was the websites focus on language and literacy. A

lot of students struggle with this, and until this issue is properly addressed several others with

accumulate.

This article most strongly correlates with standard 5. The achievement gap between

white students and students of color can be significantly reduced through teachers working

towards a positive, comfortable, engaging learning environment for all students.

Tackling the issue of the achievement is a complicated process, especially because the

problem has several longstanding issues that play a factor. However, I think any steps towards

eliminating the gap are positive and I believe that after taking several small steps we will start

to see a meaningful change. In my classroom I want to make sure that I am creating meaningful

relationships with my students and their families, so that I can openly talk about issues and

meaningful ways to resolve them. I also want to continuously examine how my own personal

opinions and beliefs may be playing a role in my perception of my students, and do the best I

can to ultimate these attitudes. I want all the students in my class to know they can achieve

whatever they work towards, and that the color of their skins does not create automatic

barriers.

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Action Plan #6 Source: Article Online

Ryang. "Asian-American Identity Problems [laze.net]." Twist of fait accomplis. Web. 01 Dec. 2009. <http://www.laze.net/papers/asianamident.php>.

I choose to do my last action plan article on Asian American Identity Problems, because I got a

couple questions wrong on my midterm about this topic. I also chose this topic because I find it

intriguing. I found an article online written by Dr. Ryang. I believe this article explicitly explains several of

the identity problems Asian Americans face. The article also discusses Asians as a model minority myth,

and describes some steps educators can take to eliminate some of the stereotypes Asian Americans

have, and how to incorporate Asian history and customs.

Ryang states that the model minority myth is based around the idea that Asian immigrants to

the US tend to be already highly educated and from the middle or upper class. As Noy Thrupkaew

addressed in his article, this stereotype leaves out Cambodians, Vietnamese, Laotian that arrived in the

US from refugee camps and rural, impoverished areas. It is true that a majority of the first group of

Asian immigrants was highly educational, and had close connections to people already settled in the US.

However, after much political turmoil in Southeast Asia several immigrants came over as refugees. A

majority of this wave of immigrants suffered from traumatic experiences, had little education, could not

speak English, and they did not have close ties to people already established in the United States.

While reading the article “Beyond Black and White,” I started to think about how skewed the

information collected from the census can be. Rothenberg states that, “ Many Southeast Asians in the

United States experience an extremely high rate of poverty, by grouping them within the broad category

of ‘Asians,’ the government is able to both keep alive the model minority myth and fail to identify and

address the particular needs of these specific populations (p.201). “ Most of the people that have

emigrated from Southeast Asia came after very traumatic events. For example, many of the Cambodia

fled the country after escaping the Pol Pot Regime and many Vietnamese after the Vietnam War, not to

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mention the political turmoil that pledged this region of the world for decades. Instead of properly

addressing the depression, anxiety, malnutrition, and other medical conditions many of these people

were facing, we simply turned their struggle into their genetic make-up. That it was a part of their “race”

or biological structure to fail. Social aspects such as poverty, inability to speak English, and political

hardships often go overlooked when trying to determine why some races experience hardship.

On the other hand most of the first waves of Asian immigrants are striving in America. They are

doing well economically, and are experiencing great success in school. It is important not to lump Asians

into one racial group, because it does not allow the United States to properly address the needs of this

diverse group of people. The government label of “Asian American” fails to identify that this is a diverse

group of people that come from different histories, cultures, social and economic experiences. Many

times American associate Chinese as a synonym for Asian. We need to start to realize that there is no

single set of Asian food, philosophies, or traditions.

Children’s attitudes towards their race and ethnic group can begin to form even in their

preschool years. Young children can easily absorb negative stereotypes. Children are easily influenced by

the culture, opinions, and attitudes of their caregivers. With this being said, I think that as an early

childhood educator I need to be careful about what messages I might be giving about race and ethnic

groups. I also think that I can do a lot at this age to begin to foster tolerance and acceptance of

differences. Ryang stated that, “The current state of public school education is frightening. History and

culture is taught throughout the United States is whitewashed, not showing more than an inkling of an

attempt at a multicultural education.” It is my hope that I will properly include different traditions and

beliefs into my classroom, to help familiarize my students with differences.

Class readings and discussions have helped me to redefine and emphasize how important it is

for me as a teacher to have the mentality to teach children, not boys or girls, blacks or whites, poor or

privileged. All children/people have differences, but different doesn’t have to be dangerous. Different

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doesn’t mean deficient. Every child deserves a nurturing environment where compassion and respect

are prevalent. I was always taught, and believe that I can accomplish whatever I put my mind to. I want

every child that walks through my classroom door to believe this about themselves, and know that

neither their race nor sex limit them. I agree with Rothenberg in that, “skin color and other physical

attributes provide only the most obvious, and in some respect most superficial, indicators of one’s

personality (p. 14).” I hope that one day I can be a part of a classroom, and ideally a world, that views

everyone as one race, humanity.