Journal #2 : Demographics and Diversity

After looking at the RI Department of Education’s website, finding the school that I volunteer at and seeing the statistics I was not surprised by the numbers presented. Inside the classrooms, the kindergarten teachers are in charge of 25+ students with one aid coming in and out of the classroom. The website says that the student to teacher ratio in the elementary school is 1:18 while statewide it is 1:13. I have been in Mrs.C’s classroom for two weeks now, but when she was absent this week and I went into Mrs.D’s classroom a third of the class was split up, so when we went into room 107 there were around 30 kids in the room. Even with the help of the teacher, her aid, my friend and I, it wasn’t enough to keep the kids calm. For the two hours and change that we were there for the students were being disciplined for acting out hitting, throwing, talking, and just behaving badly. The decorations in Mrs.C’s room are decorated with five rules that the students all have memorized if you ask them about rule number one they can recite it without looking at the poster. The books that the students read for their daily reading time are old books in plastic bags assigned to each student depending on their reading goal. Half of the top of the walls have the numbers 1-100 decorated with stars which the teacher uses a long pointer finger to have the students count in Spanish and in English. A lot of the students bring their troubles to the classroom so Mrs.C has set spots in corners of the room where students can be alone sit in bean bags and read or play with legos if they’re upset. For the materials given Mrs.C works with what she has and tries to give her students a variety of ways to learn in stations where she can do different activities with them. The ladder is a tan piece of paper with a green backdrop where the students have pins and move their names up if they do something that the teacher appreciates. The look a student makes when you tell them you appreciate them for doing something correctly is that of pure trust and joy. Having a ladder could be a good or bad thing though because for those who get placed down or are behind the other students sometimes feel embarrassed. Most people I asked said in elementary school that they hated that system where if you were bad you had to move your name down or write your name down because it was degrading. The demographics of the school through observation is mostly Hispanic. The website said that 68% of the school is Hispanic, 12% African American, 10% White, 6% Asian, 4% Multicultural, and 1% Native American. Most of the students seem to get along and are friends in a community. There are five girls in Mrs.C’s class that are sisters, three of the girls are different ages and race but they are all so close. The number of children at this elementary school that is receiving ESL/  Education Services is at 42% while statewide it is 8%. This school is very diverse and the students have a very good cultural understanding. In the classroom, a lot of the students speak Spanish even though Mrs.C’s class is not bilingual. She also teaches the class other languages, she had a white poster board filled with different ways to say “hi” when she asked the other volunteers if we knew how to say “hi” in other languages I told her one in Arabic which she said and then the class repeated it all together. The languages varied from street talk such as “yo, what’s up”, to “chao, and gutentag.” I love how this class is open to all languages and is welcoming to everyone. I also found the students eligible for subsidized lunch. This elementary school has 90% eligible while statewide it’s at 48%. That is a big difference, and you can tell that a lot of the students do not have food at home to eat because the whole class gets breakfast, lunch, and snack time. The last demographic I discovered that is very low are students receiving special education services is at 7% while statewide it’s at 15%, some of the kids in Mrs.C and Mrs.D’s classrooms had learning disabilities and behavioral issues that if they had the resources, they could be addressed. The demographics presented on the site do influence my experience because I believe that it is important I get the chance to work in a rural school and see if that is where I would feel best placed when I become a teacher. The diversity of this school isn’t something sadly I’d find back home in Foster Glocester, or even when I shadowed in Johnston. I am so grateful that the students have a place where they can get food, feel safe and learn. I only wish that they didn’t have to deal with some of the troubles they see and experience at such a young age. This field experience has helped me realized that I want to teach where I am needed and can do the most good.