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Thinking about my future: A challenging but rewarding career

Teachers are challenged by multiple situations throughout their career.

While these challenges can be quite difficult at times, most educators agree
that the main reason they continue with their jobs is because they love what
they do. Lack of support or monetary resources, disabilities, intolerance,
cultural diversity, uninvolved or too involved parents are some of the speed
bumps teachers find along the road. Having the opportunity to observe
teachers at various schools was an eye opener; It was a gratifying
experience that allowed me to live the daily obstacles teachers encounter
and how they manage difficult situations.

At Heathrow elementary we find a diversity of cultures, races and

languages. Every class I visited had children whose first language was not
English, some were born in different countries. These kids have been
exposed throughout their life to multicultural diversity, due to parents
moving constantly because of their jobs. Most of these students have great
economical stability, parents have good paying jobs, so support and
resources are not an issue. I had the opportunity to observe Miss Jo's VPK
class which is a very varied group, as well as Miss Collard gifted 3 rd graders.
Miss Jo is a special education teacher, with 20+ years experience and Miss
Collard has been teaching at Heathrow for over 10 years.

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In Miss Jo's classroom you will find children with multiple disabilities,
including Down syndrome, autism, ADD, speech disorders to name a few.
There's a smart, sweet girl with Down syndrome that is getting ready to go to
pre-kinder. Molly's independence is quite admirable and when she finds
herself "really stuck" she requests assistance. Her disability does not stop
her from moving around (with or without her walker), from reading, coloring,
singing, dancing, playing outside or any other activities a 5 year old would
do. While this could be a challenge for Miss Jo, she handles it quite well,
providing a very comfortable & positive environment for her children to
learn, breaking the barriers of differences among her class. Maddy, an
autistic 4 year old girl, has a very hard time focusing, staying in her seat and
is easily distracted by lights. Miss Jo, gives her a little extra attention during
class activities and ensures she constantly participates in discussion, to
avoid these distractions from affecting the rest of the group. Once she is
given a specific task, she remains focused and completes all activities
thoroughly.

In addition, there is Multiple cultures present in this classroom, which

in some instances results in a language barrier. Within the group there is a 5
year old boy that doesn't speak English, as he recently moved from
overseas. The transition into the school was hard on Adam, he constantly
cries asking for his mommy, one of the few words in English he knows. This
language Barrier is tough on the teachers as the child can't understand

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much. The way they overcome this is by using sign and hand language, in
addition to clearly spoken words so the child assimilates one with the other.
The motor skills and the eagerness to learn from this group of VPK students
amazed me. A 4.5 year old boy even surprised when he ran to the door, on
my second visit, and welcomed me by giving me a hug and saying my name.
Miss Jo runs into daily obstacles within her class, but this doesn't prevent her
from providing equally and fairly for all the children in her classroom. Her
lesson plans are done taking into consideration the variety of students. Her
hard work and love for these children are noticed constantly, Miss Jo won
teacher of the year at Heathrow Elementary.
Miss Collards class was very interesting. The dynamic used when she
teaches gives this students the opportunity to learn in a way that is easy for
them. For instance, some like to stand when they make notes, some are
more comfortable sitting on the floor, and some just stay in their seats at all
times. Miss Collard is focused on making sure they absorb and learn as much
as they can by allowing them to be comfortable. For the second hour, Miss
collard asked me to go observe "her kids" at math class next door with Mrs.
Halkides. The teacher divided the class in 4 groups and they went through 5
stations. This group of gifted students was given the opportunity to learn
math in 4 different ways: playing games (geometry bingo), using computer
games, doing activities on the white board and working individually on
worksheets at their desk. This method of teaching made the class a lot of
fun, due to constant movement and variety of activities.

I also had the opportunity to observe Adult high school at Seminole

State Campus. Unfortunately, I had to sit for an hour of US history class, a
subject I've never enjoyed. A challenge Mr. Javen faces is the lack of
motivation from the students to participate and even come to class; Only 3
students were present. He uses movies for his lesson to move expeditiously
through the material considering the amount of information that must be
covered in a short period of time. He provides the students with worksheet
containing questions, and as they go through the movie lessons he pauses as
the documentary answers those questions. He also takes the time to explain
and elaborate, making it clear for the students and preparing them
thoroughly for their tests.

I was fortunate enough when I was invited to visit Rosemont

Elementary, by Mrs. Adams, the speech pathologist. Being able to observe
how different is the environment of a low class school was definitely an eye
opening experience. At Rosemont Elementary the resources are not always
available, there is a lack of support from the parents, as some have to work
to feed their families and in some cases they live based on the money the
government is supplying them. This Title 1 school participates in free
breakfast and lunch programs for all students. Mrs. Adams has been working
at this elementary school for 8 years and she loves "her kids". While the
students are predominantly African Americans, there is other races present

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at this school.

Mrs. Adams students are mainly children who have either a speech or
a language disorder. Her lesson plans mainly include reading comprehension
activities and she uses the Story Grammar Marker method to re-tell stories to
ensure the kids understand the lesson. Due to the small groups that come to
class, they are able to focus on working through the specific troubles the
children are experiencing. Since all students within the group have some
kind of speech or language disorder, they are a little more comfortable
reading and participating in activities, as they are all at the same educational
level. I was very impressed with one of her 1st grade students. Kimberley
has a speech disability due to the fact that her mother and brother are deaf,
so the lack of verbal communication at her house has affected her speech.
Considering the circumstances, she does very we'll communicating, thanks
to the hard work the speech pathologist has done in just one year.
Unfortunately for Kimberley, her mother will be withdrawing her from this
school in April, as they only get one year of free rent from government in one
specific complex. Kimberley and her family are continuously moving which at
the end affects the child's education. Poverty is a continuous cycle at schools
like Rosemont Elementary and even though the parents think they are doing
the right thing and want the best for their children, this kind of decisions
affect them immensely. Mrs. Adams also encounters language barrier
situations, some students are from Haiti, so their parents only speak Creole.

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One of her resolutions for this year was to learn different languages, so she
has the ability to communicate with parents without and interpreter.

Teachers confront a huge challenge with standardized testing.

Observing

multiple

teachers

and

visiting

different

classes

during

standardized testing season, allowed me to compare how students prepare

for this test. This Florida Comprehensive Assessment test (FCAT), now Florida
Standards Assessments (FSA), is an unfair testing process that doesn't
measure students ability, knowledge and strength accurately. Keeping in
mind the resources some of this schools have, the fact that some of these
students come from low income families is a big disadvantage. By no means
are students smarter at either school, just the tools provided for students to
prepare for the tests is quite different. While most students in upper class
schools have the ability to prepare themselves with advanced computer
programs and mainly their parents support at home, the minorities are at a
disadvantage as they lack these materials, money, parent involvement and
extra assistance to effectively prepare for the FSA. This results in even more
stress for teachers as they feel solely responsible for providing students
needs to do well on test. Most teachers do go beyond their duties to ensure
these kids get as much assistance at school as they possibly can.

If there is one thing I learned from observations is that educators face

very tough situations. It takes a special someone to be able to handle all the

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curve balls thrown at teachers. Most of them have the ability to overcome
these

obstacles

whether

it's

in

the

classroom,

finding

funding,

exceptionalities, or ignorance and intolerance to cultural diversity, because

they enjoy and proudly hold the title of teachers. Not everyone could
maneuver as well as they do on a daily basis, considering how stressful some
challenges can be. Teaching is one of the most rewarding careers that one
can embark on. Becoming a teacher requires patience, passion, selfmotivation, out-of-the-box thinking capabilities and above all love for the job.
It takes a big heart to help shape little minds and teachers who love
teaching, teach children to love learning.

Thinking about my future: A challenging but rewarding

career.

EDF 2085 Intro Diversity for Educators

Mrs. Ryan

Nina Alsworth
April 20, 2015