Through my investigation, I found various statistics about the diversity of Seffner. I didn’t realize how large of a hispanic community there is. In our school, hispanic children make up thirty percent of the population. This makes me reconsider how seriously I take my teaching ESOL classes, this information would be necessary in a future class even though my class has no ELL students. I also found through an interview with my pastor who has lived in Seffner for over twenty years that although Seffner came by it’s nickname “Meth-ner” honestly, (from it’s high levels of manufacturing and distributing of Crystal Meth), that underneath the surface there is a rich tapestry of people trying to live an honest, simple life. In my coursework, we have been discussing the importance of addressing misconceptions in prior knowledge. I had not thought that I would need to address my own, but I am so glad that I did.
A large part of my heart resides in Seffner. It is where I met my husband, it is where I teach several times a week, both academically and religiously, and it is where my place of worship is. Up until this semester I could never believe that all of these great things came out of little old “Meth-ner.” My knowledge of Seffner, prior to this project, was limited to the places I would stop to grab a bite to eat on my way to church or my internship school, the Publix where I would stop and pick up supplies to teach Sunday school, and the people constantly asking for money while driving down MLK. I assumed, when I came to teach that all of my students would have drug addicts for parents and I would be teaching underfed, under-cared for students. While there are definitely students in poor situations, they are less common than I had thought they would be. In our school, I have found many parents who are enthusiastic about their student’s education and students who are well-cared for.
Through my investigation, I found various statistics about the diversity of Seffner. I didn’t realize how large of a hispanic community there is. In our school, hispanic children make up thirty percent of the population. This makes me reconsider how seriously I take my teaching ESOL classes, this information would be necessary in a future class even though my class has no ELL students. I also found through an interview with my pastor who has lived in Seffner for over twenty years that although Seffner came by it’s nickname “Meth-ner” honestly, (from it’s high levels of manufacturing and distributing of Crystal Meth), that underneath the surface there is a rich tapestry of people trying to live an honest, simple life. In my coursework, we have been discussing the importance of addressing misconceptions in prior knowledge. I had not thought that I would need to address my own, but I am so glad that I did.
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At Rivertree Elementary in Mrs. Lowry's Kindergarten class, there are fifteen beautiful, diverse children ready to tackle the day. In our classroom, we have students from all over the county with some students living right up the road from the school to some of the students having to ride the bus for more than an hour each way. Two of our students, Philip and Josh, have siblings in the EELP program because they are deaf with Phillip and his brother riding the ESE bus an hour each way. Blake is still struggling with behavioral issues in class, but now has a one-on-one aid to assist him day to day. This simple accommodation has really made an impact on the overall classroom community. Mrs. Lowry is able to focus on the class as a whole and other students who are struggling as well as work with Blake rather than having to focus solely on keeping Blake's behavior in check. Going forward this semester I have done a spelling inventory and a sight words assessment and I am concerned with the class as a whole (with the exception of Philip who is in need of enrichment in these areas) in both of these areas. I have been able to divide the class into the students who need intervention, the students who are at the core (but still need some practice) and the couple of students who need enrichment in these areas. I intend to focus on differentiating language arts instruction so that every student has the potential to succeed.
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Mrs. randolph*For the purposes of this blog, all student and faculty names have been changed to protect their privacy. All identifying information has been removed.* Archives
March 2017
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