Meghan Draudt

EDES 640

Week 1 Field Experience Journal

I will be completing my field observation hours at Cherry Hills Village

Elementary. CHVE has unusual demographics because of the enormous socioeconomic

gap between many students, as well as the presence of several languages in one class in

each grade. CHVE draws its students from the surrounding neighborhoods, which

includes a series of low-income apartments and extremely high-income homes. In

addition to the diversity in socioeconomic conditions, students are of many different

races, cultural backgrounds, and language backgrounds. While the school is

predominantly white, many different races are present in the student population,

including Hispanic, black, Asian, and Indian. Diverse cultural and lingual backgrounds

are also predominant in each grade. Many students have, in fact, immigrated with their

families to the United States from a variety of countries, including Germany, Pakistan,

India, and Mexico. The majority of students at CHVE speak English; however, several

students in each grade speak Spanish, Hindi, or German and need support in acquiring

English language skills. In each grade, students who are learning English as a second

language are grouped together in one of the four classes and make up about a third of the

class.

The teachers in the school appear to greatly value diversity. Differences in skin

color are casually acknowledged, such as with the kindergarten project of creating a chain

of classmates made out of many different shades of skin colored paper. Cultural

differences are celebrated by providing opportunities for students to share their culture
with the school and class. The teacher I am observing described activities that recognize

cultural differences, such the first grade feast when students are encouraged to bring

foods from their cultural heritage. Teachers appear to embrace language differences as

well. In kindergarten, for example, students who speak another language at home are

encouraged to teach the class words from their first language. The building, however,

lacks recognition of diverse languages because all posters and signs in the hallways and

common areas are in English.

CHVE employs two general ELL specialists to visit classrooms and provide

language support. Because it usually takes at least five years for second language

learners to catch up academically to their native English speaking peers but

conversational fluency in English is often attained within two years, these teachers work

individually with students on assignments and teach various lessons to the class to

address existing academic gaps (Cummins, 2003, p.50). In walking through the school, I

observed ELL teachers working with students in small groups and individually in many

different grade levels. The students were working on the same assignments as the rest of

the class, but the ELL teacher provided extra language supports, such as explaining

various words and directions. One teacher in each grade is also chosen as the CLD

specialist for the grade. This training is less formal, but teachers are responsible for

learning how to best support the students in their class with English and their first

language, as well as address any cultural differences that may cause confusion.

In the kindergarten class where I am observing, I have already noticed many ways

the teacher attempts to connect with the CLD students. She makes a point of addressing

cultural and linguistic differences in a positive manner that [generates] maximum

identity investment on the part of students, together with maximum cognitive

engagement (Cummins, 2003, p.51). Different cultures and languages are celebrated

and recognized, such as by bringing up the Hindi, German, and Spanish names for

vocabulary words. The teacher also provides extra support for these students individually

and in small groups, but, because all students are pulled aside to work with the teacher,

this extra support is unnoticed by peers. The CLD students in class appear proud of their

diverse cultures and languages, even when misunderstandings occur. For example, one

student whose first language is Hindi was speaking to the teacher and repeatedly told her,

you look like my dad. This led to a conversation about the words mom and dad in

English versus Hindi and the student was not embarrassed by her mistake, but seemed to

enjoy improving her English. I also observed several situations in which cultural

differences impacted peer interactions, such as taking turns and speaking about home

routines; however, the students appeared unaffected by the miscommunications and small

arguments.

References

Cummins, J. (2003). Challenging the construction of difference as deficit: Where are

identity, intellect, imagination, and power in the new regime of truth? Pedagogies
of Difference: Rethinking Education for Social Justice, 39-57.