Learning Blog 8

I really enjoyed Ch.11 in our book Reading to Learn in the Content Areas. This chapter is perfect and very important. As a future elementary school teacher, I know that all students are unique and can often struggle with academic courses, especially reading and writing. This chapter provides teachers with strategies to use to support those diverse learners in all content areas in classrooms and schools.

As educators we often define diverse learners as those who might be at risk for academic failure and who need special understanding and attention. In every classroom, teachers find students who are diverse in many different ways.  As educators we cannot treat all students the same because, they are all uniquely different and learn differently as well. I was very excited when the authors indicated that all content teachers, not just special education teachers, must practice equity pedagogy. This means striving to educate all students and not treating or instructing each individual the same way-but rather with respect to their different diverse needs.

I really enjoyed this chapter because the area of special education is of great interest to me even though I am getting my license in Elementary Education. As a first year teacher I could be put into an inclusion classroom so I want to understand what that is like. Also I am later on considering getting my masters in special education. I know a little about IDEA and differentiated instruction and they are important to the success of us as teachers meeting the diverse needs of our students. Also I learned more about RTI, or Response to Intervention, than I previously knew and definitely see it as a very useful tool. The RTI model is used as an alternative approach to determine the eligibility for special education and related services. This approach can be used on all students to determine where their strengths and weakness are.

At risk students are in danger of dropping out of school because of low achievement, because of educational disadvantages, low socioeconomic status, or underachievement. There are also many other reasons for underachievement such as poverty, low self-esteem, and poor school attendance.  Teachers might see to these students as the “lazy” or “hard to teach.” But it could be a product of learned helplessness; in that they have failed so many times that they believe they cannot do it. It is also very important for educators to be patient with these students. Educators need to be positive and caring enough to realize that change for the students takes time both academically and emotionally. It is important for educator to understand that not all students are able to be resilient to the long term and short term challenges they face. Teachers need to encourage resilience in their students by fostering positive communication and encouraging them that you will be with them every step of the way.

Students from low-socioeconomic status, low self-esteem, ESL students, and ELL students may need more encouragement and assistance in the classroom. But ultimately what the need the most is, a teacher who is patient in working them, positively encouraging them to do their best, and reassuring them that you will be with them every step of the way. These students often struggle with reading the most and as a result, they will try to avoid reading at all costs. As a future teacher I want to help change their attitudes toward reading and help develop a desire and joy for learning and reading that they can enjoy forever. The chapter gave some great strategies I can use to help my students like differentiation for struggling learners or the PLEASE strategy. The chapter also gave some great strategies for struggling readers like concept formation study guides, beginner-oriented texts, and interactive notebooks. 

As a future teacher doing all I can to help all my students succeed will require extra effort, patience, time, require the use of many different strategies, but in the end all my students deserve the best education possible if they are to develop a desire and joy for learning and can feel safe in my classroom because they will know that I will be with them every step of the way.

What are some of the cultural and economic issues that students have to deal with? The military has a huge impact on the drop-out rate of students. Resources are another key factor as well as lack parental involvement. No Child Left Behind has significantly impacted  the drop-out rate in schools. Support systems are also very important. As teachers we need to need to take all these factors into account in trying to help our students. 

In terms of resources talk to local businesses about donation resources like time funds toward resources. In terms of parental involvement offer parents to come in volunteer in your classrooms and establish a connection with parents of your students so they can be involved with their child's education as much as possible,