Literature
The idea that poor people share more or less monolithic and predictable beliefs, values and behaviors defines the "culture of poverty" (Gorski, 2008). Differences in values and behaviors among people of lower socioeconomic status are just as great as those between poor and wealthy people. There are multiple myths held by the culture of poverty view that stand in the way of low-income students' success.
The "Culture of Classism" does exist and leads people to low expectations for low-income students. The deficit perspective (defining students by weaknesses instead of strengths) leads to Deficit Theory: poor people are poor because of their own moral and intellectual deficiencies. (Gorski, 2008) This theory draws in stereotypes and ignores systematic conditions (inequitable access to high-quality schooling). "Poor students are more likely to attend schools with less funding, lower teacher salaries, more limited computer and internet access, larger class sizes, higher student-to-teacher ratios, a less-rigorous curriculum and fewer experienced teachers,"(Gorski, 2008.) The inequities above demonstrate classism in the classroom. Gorski (2008) gives intriguing suggestions for how teachers can eradicate the systemwide problems that influence low-income students in the classroom:
through my internship at The Boys and Girls Club. This week, I have focused on assimilating visual arts with the learners I work with. Teachers should strive to meaningfully integrate the visual arts into core curriculum to increase student capacity to create deep meaning across subject areas (Cornett, 2014). By enhancing student’s visual literacy, they will be led to becoming more creative thinkers (Cornett, 2014). To me, the most important benefit of arts integration is the potential for art to promote respect for diversity. Art reveals the beauty found in our differences and allows students to recognize value in others' lives. Below, you can review my experience while crafting origami and drawing to music to enhance student's learning experiences. These activities come from C.E. Cornett's Creating Meaning Through Literature and the Arts: Arts Integration for Classroom Teachers (5th ed., Pearson, 2014). Arts Integration at the ClubOrigamiBrief Description: Japanese paper folding can be done with students of all ages. I included the simple sheets I utilized during the activity below.
What might need to be improved? Younger students (kindergarten) struggled with the folding, as their motor skills are not yet refined. The instructions were not always clear, so the lesson would benefit from videos that demonstrate the folds. Recording yourself, or finding instructional videos on the art, would assist in understanding. Classroom Integration: Japanese paper folding involves the study of shape, line, symmetry, and angle. These concepts can be connected to students’ study in mathematics for geometry, shapes, fractions or proportions. For science, origami can illustrate physics properties. A thin piece of paper is not strong, but if it is folded like an accordion it will be (this is the concept behind bridges). A social studies lesson on other cultures could integrate literacy with the addition of the children’s book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (Coerr, 1977). Advantages for differentiation of instruction and student learning: This lesson is best accomplished through scaffolding, so students experience the opportunity to witness modeling and work together before they attempt the art on their own. Additionally, origami folding techniques range in difficulty levels. The art ranges from very simple folds to more complex pieces. Students can work at their own pace and choose their own origami to make. Drawing to MusicName of Activity: Draw to Music
Rating (1-5 Stars): 5 1. Description: Listen to music about a relevant place, person or topic. Write or draw to the music and then share how the music communicated important messages. The Boys and Girls Club promotes positive social relationships and friendships among peers.
3. What might need to be improved? Providing the students with more access to materials would enhance their experience, I just gave them markers. Paint, construction paper, scissors and glue could allow for more creative expression. Also, listening to multiple songs on the same topic could provide an overall theme and lengthen the student’s creativity time. Count On Me (Bruno Mars) and My Best Friend (Weezer) are child-appropriate songs that discuss friendship. 4. Classroom Integration: There are catchy songs on nearly every topic, especially in science. I performed a song with my kindergartners last semester about different types of clouds. Students could do this activity as a warm up to activate background knowledge on a subject or to review a previous lesson. Creating these visual art artifacts provides more opportunities for retention of learning. 5. Differentiation: Students who have trouble communicating, ELL’s or speech language impaired, will enjoy the creative outlet to demonstrate understanding. Students are able to choose whether they include words in the illustrations or just visual representations. Songs can be found that are more complex/abstract or that are simple.
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Literature
developed in the article, students are given the opportunity to collaborate in order to run a self-governing classroom. By working together the students build a stronger sense of community and ownership in the classroom. “We each have a distinct fund of knowledge that draws on what we’ve learned from life experiences as part of our particular family, school, socioeconomic group, race, ethnicity, age, gender, geographical area, and religious affiliation”(Templeton, 2013.)
attention. The article reminded me of schema theory, through which schemata (previously comprehended knowledge) influences how people perceive information. In the classroom, students must learn unfamiliar expectations. One way to address this change is to always speak to students in a soft voice, regardless of the noise level in the classroom. Throughout my internship this past semester, I witnessed my collaborating teacher practice this strategy frequently with the kindergartners. As she kept her voice quiet, students would settle down in order to hear her soft-spoken instructions. In this way, the teacher was able to avoid yelling. Teachers should explictly model appropriate behaviors and have students practice the skills in small groups. Application at the ClubBoth of these articles highlight the importance of recognizing student needs and the various backgrounds they come from. At the Boys & Girls Club, I have had the pleasure of working with Elementary students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade. The students are multicultural and though they come from the same area, they still bring their own unique backgrounds to the club. In an effort to guide these young students to appreciating the value in each other's backgrounds I was able to organize a fun storytelling opportunity. To ensure that the students acknowledge that judgments should not be made on appearance, but to realize that everyone has a unique story, they made balloon masks. The learners blew up balloons and drew a face on the balloon. They were instructed that they will be sharing a story about their balloon and why the face looks that way. The student on the left drew a happy face on her balloon to signify that it was "a good day". The student recalled her 6th birthday, when she was given an American Girl doll and went to Applebee's. The student on the right said she "had a little bad day, but it was good." For her story she recalled a gift from her Aunt, a fishing kit.
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