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My educational and field experiences have helped to prepare me to meet the diverse needs of my students. The classroom experiences have shown me in a real life situation how my classroom students could possibly be diversified. The education classes have taught me about theories that will help me to understand the different students I may have the opportunity to teach. My field experience at Head Start in York, for Ed 424, taught me a wealth of information on how to meet the individual needs of each student. When I went to this field experience, I was expecting to see socioeconomic situations but I was surprised at the diversity of the learners in the group. There were four students that spoke very little, if any, English. They had a teacher aid that spoke Spanish and English. She was so helpful in communicating with the children so that they knew what they were supposed to do or not do. The entire classroom had both languages observed through the books, the signs posted and they even sang some of the everyday songs in both languages. Through the help of having a teacher aid that spoke Spanish, having both languages throughout the classroom and the classroom teacher being willing to learn Spanish words so she speak communicate with her students; it was an amazing classroom. My field experience for 324 was at the blue house for St. Johns Lutheran. There were four students that came over during study hall to get help. The students ranged from aspergers, MR and LD. The learning experience I brought from this was how unique each student is in their own personal learning journey. The personalities were each unique and required a different personal approach to get the most out of them with their school work. As a future teacher, it is very important for me to get to know each individual student in my classroom so that I know the best way to help them learn to their potential. There was also a need for classroom management because one of the students could cause all of the students to get off topic by her disruptions.

The teacher was very good about placing the student that caused the disruptions at her own table facing away from the other students work area. She could come join the others when she was ready to work on her schoolwork. The teacher was good at showing the students everyday situations on the board with pictures to illustrate math problems; this helped the students look at the problems in a personal way to make sense of them. My experience from Intro to Ed was in Grand Island. The diversity in the Grand Island schools is huge, but the main thing that I took away from that experience was the poverty and immigration issues. It is difficult for students to be focused on learning when they come to school hungry, worried about having a safe place to sleep, and struggling with learning because they have no help at home. The students came dressed inappropriately for the weather. They did not have breakfast and many didnt have supper the previous night so they were hungry. They didnt have their homework done and were tired because they didnt get enough sleep. I, as a teacher, need to make a concentrated effort to take my students personal situations into consideration. The teacher that I worked with had healthy snacks for the students every day. She also talked to the students about what they were wearing such as shorts when it was really cold and encouraged them to dress more appropriately. She did not make a big deal about homework; the students just knew there would be after school consequences. She would adjust the work to be a few problems while making sure that the student had to do at least one problem from each concept after school. It was also very common that the students did not have or even know where their homework paper even was. In this situation, she would make another copy and explain to the student that it cost the school money every time they lost their homework. She posted on the board that the student owed the school five cents; she did this knowing that most likely the student would never pay, but she wanted to teach the students responsibilities.

Banks defines multicultural education as providing a positive education by improving the outcomes that children have for all ethnic, social class, religious, genders and exceptionalities. I feel that this should be every teachers motto. Every student is unique, with different home environments, and different ways of learning. A teacher cant discriminate their students any more than the school system can discriminate when hiring a teacher. The Cultural Lens Theory taught me that every culture looks at life and relationships differently. In order for me to meet, the needs of my students I must understand and learn about my students own culture and how it affects their lives. I must determine if my students culture is high context, where the listener is responsible for understanding or if their culture is low context, where the speaker is responsible. The time lens is a very important lens to understand about my students and their families. Are they time orientated where they are punctual and use their time to the maximum, or are they event orientated where they are more concerned about the activity being completed and it is normal to start late? The authority lens is also important; I must know if my students come from an egalitarian background or a hierarchical background. I must determine if my students come from an individualistic perspective where each one of my students is an individual and conflict is okay or collectivist perspective where they are viewed as a group, conflict is not okay and I must make sure to not cause a student to lose face. In conclusion, between the varieties of field experience, with the multi-cultural and diversified situations, I feel more prepared to meet the needs of my future students. The educational classes have provided me with valuable educational theories that help me to hopefully not make horrible mistakes with my students. It is invaluable for me to know what to do and what not to do with my students and their families so that I avoid making irreversible consequences for my students.