Prompt #2 - KOZOL

Describe the linguistic, ethnic, and sociocultural characteristics of the students in the classroom in which you are tutoring (Use the data on Infoworks as well your observations). What cultural capital do the children bring into the classroom? What assets can be developed that will strengthen our society/democracy?



First of all, I would like to say that every article I have read in this class have helped me understand the classroom I tutor in. If I were put in this classroom without prior knowledge to ELLs, the transfer method, and so on, I would have many unanswered questions. Every child in this classroom is an ELL. Every child's primary language is Spanish. This ethnic equality between all the children and their teacher forms a bond and ties them together. Although they all speak good Spanish, their levels in English vary.

I have witnessed various activities when some children succeed while others try to hide and not be picked on. For example, there is a word wall in the front of the class. When ever Mrs. Berna is doing something else and a group of children need to be given something to do in the mean time, she hand out her pointer to one child. That child must point to a word and recite it to the class while all fellow classmates repeat after her. Some children are louder than others, and some, simply have no idea what is going on. Therefore, there still is a gap between the intellectuals of these ELLS.

I am very happy to have been introduced to the info-works website. I used it once before for my mid-term project. That time, I compared the results of 2 schools, only 10 minutes away from each other, but in very different neighborhoods. School number 1 was the elementary school I attended as a child, and school number 2 was the school i tutor in now. I created a venn diagram, and almost every piece of information was the complete opposite. I am know looking at the results on info-works for this school again, and 100% of English Language Learners are not proficient in reading or math. That means that every single one of the children I have met with for 15 hours during this year, is not proficient. Clearly something needs to be done about this. The reason why these innocent children aren't proficient is because the same tests given to them are the tests given to children whose primary language is in English!!!! By knowing this, it makes me feel very happy and proud to have gotten to help these children with their reading skills. I wish I could have also tutored them in math. If I had more free time and I would have known these statistics when I first started, that would have been a very big motivation for me to work my hardest with the children and spend a few more hours a week there.

Another very important thing that the info-works website told me was that Hispanic and African American children made up the largest population of the school. According to the charts, there were fewer than 10 schildren that belonged to each of these backgrounds: White, NAtive American, and Asian. Just by walking through the hallways, I could have told you this. To tell you the truth, my whole 15 hours there, I did not see one Asian child or Native American child. I did see about 2 white children, but no more than that. These statistics lead me to my connection to Jonathan Kozol.

Jonathan Kozol, an educator, activist, and writer, belived that segregation in all schools still exist. JOnathan kozol could use the chart on inforworks in his article and it would fit in perfectly. An ethnography is an example of qualitative research, and this is what Jonothan Kozol did. He was immerced in everyday activities as opposed to lab-based reseach. Kozol went to various schools in different areas. Kozol states, "Even these statistics, as stark as they are, cannot begin to convey how deeply isolated children in the poorest and most segregated sections of these cities have become." In most of the schools that Kozol visits, Hispanics and African Amricans represents the bulk of the population. In one of the schools, one of the teachers who have worked at the school for 18 years said that she has only taught one white student. This relates to my experience, which I talked about above.

IN conclusion, the school I tutored in would be a great example for Kozol to add to his article. It fits in with his statistics of schools in poorer neighborhoods. These students miss our on opportunities. Some of the schools Kozol talked about did not even have school nurses, or nice land, or music or art classes. Kozol was one of my favorite articles because it opened my eyes. Segregation does still exist and every future teacher must be aware of these eye-opening statistics and facts. We must open our eyes and help the children of the future.



Important Links*

http://www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu/2009/pdf/achievement/28134E-achi.pdf