PRACTICUM REFLECTION

Practicum Reflection
Kimberly Raskin
Minnesota State University, Mankato

PRACTICUM REFLECTION

Reflection Focus
The focus of my practicum reflection is on the culture of a school environment to best serve and support
different cultures and ethnicities of students. My focus is also on analyzing and reflecting on
observations of ELL and African American students in this school environment.

Leadership Competency
This experience allowed me to gain further understanding of what its like to be a student who is black or
brown, or a student who is new to the country, at a racially diverse school, in comparison to the school
district that I teach in. In my school district of Edina, our population of students of color is about 20%,
so there is not a large diversity of student cultures visible. The culture of my school feels very focused
on a white, privileged culture. There is tends to be an academic, social and economic gap between the
white students and black and brown students. Besides the annual multicultural assembly, there is a lack
of celebration of cultural diversity within the school and the vibe is very white. I sensed that difference
as soon as I walked into the Rondo summer school program. Not only do you see students who look
racially and culturally different from each other, but the artwork, welcoming signs and climate of the
school is clearly diverse. Even though white students represent the majority of the population at Edina,
there is an importance of creating a culturally diverse school climate so all students and families feel
welcome.
From a leadership perspective, this experience helped me gain greater insight into how
important the role of the teacher is to set the culture and climate of the classroom. There were teachers
in the Rondo school who didnt seem to know how to teach black students, therefore those students
were continually getting kicked out of class. It showed me the importance of getting to know your
students and their life outside of school. What is influencing their behavior in the classroom? What are
the cultural differences that are keeps students from doing their best? There is no room for assumptions,
it is my job to communicate with others to seek whats best for the students.

Practicum Experience
The practicum experience that I participated in was with Sarah Schmidt de Carranza at a remedial

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summer school program in St. Paul for middle school students. For two days, I observed and engaged
with students and staff in their learning environments. The school population was about 90% black and
brown students, coming from a variety of different cultures and ethnicities. On the first day, I helped in
an ELL science classroom by checking the understanding of students knowledge regarding vocabulary
and procedures from an experimental lab they participated in. ELL students in this class had less than
two years of experience learning English, and many students were either Karen, Hmong or Somalian. I
also observed a mainstream 6th grade elective course about transitioning into middle school.
On the second day, I shadowed the principal Sarah, seeing what situations she encountered and
discussing her role and point of view as an administrator. I observed her interactions and relationships
with students, parents and teachers. In a school that is so culturally diverse, she was continually called
on to translate for families who did not speak English.

Key Learnings
One key thing that I learned from this practicum is the importance of understanding the culture of black
and brown students, and that the approach to teaching this student demographic is often different than
white students. When talking with Sarah, she shared that there were some teachers who everyday
would kick black students out of their classroom and send them to an administrator. Because the
cultural differences between black and white students, when a black student is being loud, it is often
seen as disrespectful and the student is disciplined. However, it may be that a white teacher doesnt
understand the cultural differences and may not know how to teach or interact with black students.
Because of this lack of understanding, the disciplined student in turn ends up missing out learning in the
classroom because they are not in class. Disruptions need to be turned into teachable moments for the
student to learn best behaviors in the classroom. Teachers also need to be culturally responsive to their
students.

Another thing I gain from this experience was the importance of empathy and perspective. When
working with ELL students, I could see how frustrating it would be to be in a new place, where you are
learning not only the language, but the norms of the cultural expectations. These students have a large

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undertaking ahead of them and they need encouragement and support to get to a place of success. I
feel like I try to be accommodating to my ELL students, but this experience taught me how I can push it
even further. I would like to communicate with them more to make sure that are understanding what is
being taught. I would also like to use the language line we have through my district to connect and
communicate with parents that dont speak English.

Course Content Connection

A connection I made while working with ELL students was with the Color of Fear video. In that video
there was a lot of dialogue regarding the societal expectation of black and brown individuals to
assimilate to American culture, which is ultimately white culture. Spending time in this school with such a
richly diverse population opened up my eyes to how easy it is for students to have to let go of their own
cultures to be able to fit in with the American norm. The beauty of different cultures is very evident
among the ELL students, and rather than suppressing the values and traditions of their cultures, they
should be embrace and ingrained in the classroom and school system. I believe if students are able to
hold onto their identities, that they will have a more positive school experience.

Research Literature and Key Learning

The article, The Trouble with Black Boys, resonated with me as I watched the behavior of the African
American students in the 6th grade mainstream class. Both the boys and girls in this particular class
were acting in the stereotypical manner that society has set up for African American students, where
they were disruptive and disengaged in the lesson activities.. However, this article explains that our
society has set up this self-defeating expectation for African American students, males in particular. Dr.
Pedro Noguera states in his article, For African American males, who are more likely than any other
group to be subjected to negative forms of treatment in school, the message is clear: individuals of their
race and gender may excel in sports, but not in math or history (2002). Being in this remedial summer
course suggests to these students that they are not academically successful.
We need to change the attitude and identity of students towards a positive school experience.
One of the most important factors to Black, male students success is having teachers who care about

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them (Noguera, 2002). It my job as a teacher to support and nurture all students, especially African
American students, with high quality instruction. My instruction must also be culturally responsive,
integrating African and African American history and culture into the curriculum. Its also important to
have an understanding of youth culture, to be able to relate to who they are.

Educational Leadership Understanding

I think one of the biggest things I got out of this experience is the reinforcement of the idea that no
matter the difference in how students look or act, in order to achieve they all want to be cared for and
loved. They all need to be pushed to their highest potential. It also showed me how conversations
about race need to continue to take place. One thing that sticks out in my mind about this experience is
regarding a 6th grade African American girl. She was spending some time with Sarah to cool down her
temper before she went back to class. She was upset because yesterday in class her teacher was
discussing race and the achievement gap. This girl interpreted the teachers message as black students
arent as smart as white students. Another administrator empathetically listened as this girl explained her
feelings towards this topic. She said she would speak with the teacher about it, but also encouraged the
girl to think about what could be done to close the achievement gap. This is a big problem for a 6th
grader to take on, yet creating that dialogue and thought process is important for everyones
consideration.