Reflection #4

a. Honestly, I can say that this probably happens a lot in schools. Teachers overlook "seemingly small" details about students based off of their race, ethnicity, or developmental level. It is easy to just trust the system to always be correct, but obviously the system needs to be checked up on. People make mistakes, as in this particular name confusion, but no one thought to check. Not even when the counselor suggested calling him Miguel. The teacher should have gone back through his folder on day one to check the facts. I am not saying that we should judge our students based off of what is written in the folder, but the common courtesy of getting their name right would be much appreciated. As teachers, we need to put in a valiant effort to get to know and connect with our students on an emotional level. Teachers will see a Hispanic student walk into the room and automatically assume that they will have trouble communicating, or even if a student is labeled with "ADHD" or other things, the teacher will assume that they are going to have problems with that student misbehaving or not paying attention. b. Students need to be treated the way that they show us they want to be treated, in my opinion. If there is a student that is constantly being rude or misbehaving, I'm not saying do this back, but the teacher needs to exert that they are in control and the bad behavior will not be overlooked. This all goes back to having rules, procedures, and classroom management established at the beginning of the year. In my classroom this semester, I have mostly Hispanic students. This has presented me with many challenges because there is a large culture gap and some students have problems with respecting a woman's authority. It is something I have to deal with every single day. Most of the students only require a minor level of me reminding them that I am in charge. However, I have had difficulty with one particular student in this way. I have learned that sometimes it is best to just ignore the behavior or offer a slight correction such as saying his name to get him back on track. I have also learned that not all of my students are this way and I do not need to generalize the culture based off one student.