Jessica Marovich CI 401 November 7, 2011 Hilarie Welsh

Minority Experience Assignment

Throughout my teaching career I will probably encounter many uncomfortable experiences where I am a minority in some way or another, and because of this project, I believe that I am better prepared for these circumstances. For my five experiences I went to a Japanese language table, an educational discussion, the soup kitchen, the mens weight room, and Chester Street Bar. For my first experience, I went to a Japanese language table. At this language table, everyone was speaking Japanese and because I only know English, I did not understand what anyone was saying to me. This experience made me realize what it would be like to be an English Language Learner at a school. The discussion director and the other students kept asking me questions which I could not answer because I could not understand what they were saying to me. The director was extremely nice in helping me understand what she was asking me. For instance, she spoke very carefully to me while using visual images in order for me to understand better. As a linguistic minority, I had to work ten times harder in order to understand the discussion and I had to ask many questions in order to not fall behind. When I become a teacher, I am going to have to take into consideration that not all of my students will be able to understand what I am saying to them, therefore I need to adapt to their situation. In order to solve this problem, I will try many different methods. First, I will read up on the languages of

my students and label different things in my room in their language in order for them to learn English faster and more efficiently. I could also present my lesson to the class in various forms by incorporating visual and audio methods. When giving out a worksheet, I could add pictures next to each question in order for the students to get a visual image of what I am asking them. Another way that I can make sure that all of my students understand what I am teaching is by talking slower and separating the students who speak the same language into the same groups which will allow them to work together in order to understand the material to a fuller extent. For my second experience, I attended an educational discussion on the second installment of ALHs symposia on second books. Everyone that attended this lecture were professors and had written their own books. I was a minority in age and educational intelligence. While in this discussion, no one tried to help me understand what was going on. Instead, they used big words and asked me questions that I had no clue how to respond to. This opened my eyes to what it must be like to be a student in an honors class or any class for that matter, who cannot keep up with the material. As a teacher, I will make sure that everyone of my students understands what it is that I am teaching and if any of them are struggling, I will take time out of my day in order to make sure they do not fall behind. It is extremely easy for students to be inactive in lessons and not participate because they do not understand the material, but if they do this, their grades will suffer. At this discussion, I was an inactive participant because I felt uncomfortable, but when I become a teacher, I will make sure my classroom has a comfortable environment where every student feels comfortable to ask questions if they are confused. To effectively do this I will create a warm and well decorated classroom. I believe that decorating a classroom will

bring a sense of security and warmth to the students that will make them feel more at home. I will also make every student know that I care about them. I will reach out to every smile, address them by their names every time, and pat them on the shoulders when they seem upset. If I make a good connection with them, I feel as if they will feel more comfortable within my classroom which in turn, will make them feel more comfortable to ask questions. Also, in order to ensure that all of my students will understand the material that I am teaching, I will relate the work to them in some way. For instance, instead of doing a book report, I will have them use their creativity and write an interview with one of the characters. This will allow them to express their creativity in the project. Another thing that I can do is show movie clips of the books that we are reading. This will allow the students to have a visual of what is going on in the book if they are confused. For my third experience, I went to the Times Center Soup Kitchen. Being an upper middle class citizen my whole life, I have never encountered the problems that these people deal with everyday. Some do not have food, shelter, or clothes. It made me realize how lucky I am. The soup kitchen opened my eyes to realizing that not everyone has the same life as me and have life problems that I could not even imagine having to deal with. As a teacher, I will have to take into consideration that my students do not all lead easy lives. For instance, some may be physically abused by their parents or are dealing with their parents going through a divorce. Whatever the reason, my students will not be on their A game twenty-four/seven, and might even be acting out for reasons that I need to discover. The soup kitchen made me realize that I need to get to know my students inside and outside of school in order to get a better understanding of their behavior. If I get to know all of my students personally then I will be able

to make a deeper connection with them in order for them to trust me and want to learn. Creating a safe environment is key in order to obtain my students trust. In order to create a safe environment I will let my students know that they can come to me whenever they have a problem. I will also reach out to them if I know that they are going through a hard time. Hopefully this will create a connection that will ensure their trust. For my fourth experience I went to the weight lifting room in the lower level of the ARC. There were only guys down there lifting so I was a minority according to gender. I was extremely uncomfortable because I was not physically built to lift heavy weights and I must have caused quite a laugh while lifting only ten pounds. Being in a place filled with all men made me realize that not many girls go down to the weight area because they feel uncomfortable. As a teacher, I will probably have to deal with girls not joining clubs or sports because they do not want to make a laughing stock out of themselves. The same will probably be true for the boys too. I will try my hardest to make sure that students do not have to go through this uncomfortable gender state. If a girl wants to wrestle, then she should go try out for the team and if a boy wants to be on the flag team, then he should try out too. I will push my students to do what will make them happy and not worry about what their peers will think. The whole time that I was in the weight lifting room, I was only thinking about what the guys were thinking about me being down there. I do not want my students to have to experience the awkwardness that I went through. Gender should never be an issue when it comes to your happiness. For my last experience, I went to Chester Street bar for the drag show night. In attendance were all gays and lesbians dressed up in drag. Being a straight female, I was

uncomfortable at first, but as the night went on, the drag queens were pulling me up on stage and making me dance with them. It was actually really fun. The men and women at C-Street were comfortable with and proud of their sexuality, but that will probably not be the case with high school students. A lesbian or gay kid in high school will probably feel like an outsider and be shunned by his or her fellow classmates because of their sexuality. Declaring that you are gay is a huge step in any ones life. While in high school, the only thing that kids want is to be able to fit in and they know that that might not be the case if they come out. As a teacher, I need to be sympathetic to these problems because not everyone is straight. I will not tolerate any of my students making fun of another because of their sexuality. My classroom will be a bully-freeenvironment and anyone who steps out of bounds will have a detention or worse depending on their actions. All in all, I learned a lot by doing the minority experience assignment. I was able to take a look into different ways of life where I am a minority. I have never been put into a scenario where I am a minority, so this assignment was very beneficial for me as a teacher and a person.