Teaching candidates in the Rutgers Alternate Route Program are exploring the phenomena of Stereotype Threat, a theory developed by social psychologists Claude Steele and Joshua Aronson to describe the anxiety students experience when confronted with situations in which they fear confirming negative stereotypes about their social groups, especially members of groups believed to be academically inferior.
Throughout this semester, we have learned how to avoid stereotyping the students we have and how to handle stereotyping students may make about other students.
Enrique’s Journey recounts the unforgettable quest of a Honduran boy looking for his mother, eleven years after she is forced to leave her starving family to find work in the United States. Braving unimaginable peril, often clinging to the sides and tops of freight trains, Enrique travels through hostile worlds full of thugs, bandits, and corrupt cops. But he pushes forward, relying on his wit, courage, hope, and the kindness of strangers. As Isabel Allende writes: “This is a twenty-first-century Odyssey. If you are going to read only one nonfiction book this year, it has to be this one.” Now updated with a new Epilogue and Afterword, photos of Enrique and his family, an author interview and more, this is a classic of contemporary America.
Enrique's Journey taught us the journey that some immigrants take to come to America. America needs to learn that immigrants aren't coming here just for fun, but rather for safety, stability and protection. Enrique's mother came over in order to work so she could earn enough money to feed her family. Enrique finally made the journey to be reunited with his mother and also to work, but his journey was far from easy. On the way, he got beat up, had to illegally ride trains (the beast) and had to cross a river that there were armed guards at. This piece of literature is good for future teachers to read because it shows the lengths some families take to come to America, and we may have families like this in our future classrooms. Especially living in Florida, we will encounter many immigrant students since are on the south east coast.
Diversity is very important to have in a classroom. Children need to be taught young not to stereotype and to love others, and diversity in class will help with this. This will help students become friends and not make quick judgements. It is also important as teachers not to make quick judgements of students and/ or their families. We need to be very accpting of everyone.
The OAH TPP Program is a national, evidence-based program that funds diverse organizations working to prevent teen pregnancy across the United States.
America needs to stop being scared to teach Sex Education in schools because it could make teenagers uncomfortable. Sex Education is very important for young adults to know. This is lowest teen pregnancy rates have ever been in America but we can still do better. We also need to teach students and ADULTS that having a baby as a teen ager isn't the worst possible case scenario. Some teenagers have a good support system and a lot of help with their little one. Maeve is still the best thing to ever happen to me and I love her dearly.
Similar to promoting diversity, it is important to promote acceptance in the classroom. We will encounter students from different countries, different family dynamics, different learning types and levels of mental capacity. We have students that have learning disabilities and we need to learn to understand that they are trying, but they may just not understand the information. In this sense, we need to know how to explain information differently in order to help the child understand.
Teen Health & Wellness: Real Life, Real Answers is for educational purposes only. If you have a question on a health or wellness issue, we strongly encourage you to call one of the hotlines below to speak to a qualified professional or speak to a trusted adult, such as a parent, teacher, or guidance counselor.
I feel like it was necessary to add the Hotlines, which I will keep in my classroom for emergencies, to the lastly. Bullying, family problems and much more happen to most students and they need to know that if they need to talk to someone, and they don't want it to be their teacher, that there is someone there for them. This usually doesn't apply to the younger students as much, but the rate of suicide for elementary aged kids has increased mover the passed couple years.
Bullying in your classroom – Do you know how to deal with it?
As a teacher, we need to keep a good eye out for bullying or situations that can hurt their students. There will never be a day that bullying does not exist, but we can try our best to avoid it and stop it. If we don't see the actual bullying happening, there are some signs in the victim we can see. Bruises, loss of appetite, sitting alone, not wanting to talk and exhaustion can all be signs of a student being bullied. If we see these signs, we need to pull the student aside and talk to them and learn what the problem may be. Sometimes, the student wont want to discuss the issue. In that case, we need to talk to the classroom, not name names, and remind the students how to act
Violence can happen anywhere, including school and home. Some signs on a student that they are getting abused at home are random and mysterious bruises, loss of appetite, lack of participation in class, not wanting to work with others and much more. We as teachers need to keep an eye out for these signs and see how we can help. If it comes to an extreme point, we may need to be the ones calling CPS or the police, but hopefully it never comes to that.
Abuse also happens in schools by incredibly crummy staff a nd faculty. Schools need to check and double check records of incoming workers in order to keep our kids safe.
For homeless students, stability is the great enabler of academic success. How teachers can help students feel at home and thrive at all grade levels. Team building is critical!
We will encounter students who don't have permanent homes. These students may not eat their whole lunch so they can bring it home to feed their families. It is truly heart breaking. We need to be as accommodating as we can for homeless students. In my classroom I am going to make a "Comfort Closet" that will have things like soap, shampoo, toothbrushes and toothpaste. I will also always keep allergy free snacks in my classroom so that if a student doesn't have money for lunch or didn't eat breakfast, that they can still eat and be productive with their class
Find out if your child is an Auditory, Visual or Kinesthetic learner and learn how to help your child succeed through these different learning styles.
I am a Kinesthetic and Auditory learner meaning I learn through doing and listening. Classrooms are full of many different learning styles. I may have 6 auditory learners, 8 kinesthetic and 2 visual learners. As a teacher, I am going to need how to teach a whole classroom and keep them all on the same track. I will always be willing to repeat direction, as long as the child was actually listening when they were being stated. I will also do creative projects like coloring and poster making for my kinesthetic learners.
