Sydney Seed

FAM 487

Field Experience Journals: Fall of 2017

Journal #1: Oct 4, 2017

The event that stood out to me the most was a specific student's change in behavior. Let's

call him El. El has proved to be a great math student, often solving the worksheet before the

teacher has taught it in lecture. In previous weeks, I have spent time praising him, and giving

him additional problems to further challenge him, but even those he solves with ease. He has

enjoyed this exchange.

This week the class was working on Order of Operations, and he got every problem

wrong. I considered that maybe he missed the class where this new concept was introduced, but

as I worked with him he claimed to not even know how to solve simple arithmetic like 7 divided

by 7.

After class I asked the teacher whether or not El missed class last week, and she said yes,

but he has also generally been resistant to learn this week. This caught my attention because it

was such a dramatic change in behavior, and in only seven days time.

My Social Work case studies were screaming at me to pay attention to these red flags,

and to figure out what changed. Look beyond math, and search for what is different in any of his

various systems. This requires me to think about changes in public policies that could be

impacting his family, and changes at school or home that could be affecting him.

As a volunteer I have no idea what his home environment is like. Are both of his parents

here with him in the United States? Is he in a mixed status family? Could a relative of his be
incarcerated causing him and his family to be concerned that ICE might unfortunately stop by

and deport this relative? Maybe he is being abused. He was wearing jeans and a hoodie in warm

temperatures which could possibly be covering up bruises, or he could actually be cold if he

recently moved and is more accustom to a harmer climate. I have zero information.

There are several at-home possibilities that could be affecting him at school. Maybe his

family moved again recently, or they are dealing with the possibility of deportation. These are

extreme possibilities, but as a volunteer with absolutely no knowledge of his background or

home environment, it could be anything. For all I know, this student was born in the United

States, and he and his family are all United States citizens.

I enjoy helping students with math, but I do not like making assumptions about their

background based only on what they look like, and what I perceive their English level to

be. This feels wrong. It is one thing to be aware of issues, and another to make assumptions.

Journal #2: Oct 11, 2017

El seemed back to his usual self today which was great to see. I spent a good chunk of

these past 7 days asking various people for advice, and wondering if I was doing enough. It was

a huge relief to feel like I was overreacting to the situation.

What I did today though, was talk to him about non-math things. I found out he is about

to level up in Taekwondo, and he has a birthday coming up. Now if his attitude changes in the

future, I have established a connection with him and he might be less resistant to my concern.

I’m also looking forward to asking him about his birthday presents, and routinely asking about

his Taekwondo progression.

 Knowing what students are interested in is fun! Sometimes I see their eyes light up when

they finally understand a math concept that was difficult for them, but they really get excited

when they are talking about activities outside of academics.

Journal #3: Substitute

A substitute came in today. She seemed to feel disrespected by the class, and in an effort

to exert authority inappropriately ridiculed students. There were many interesting aspects, but

firstly it is worth noting that the students’ behaved the same way for the substitute as they do for

Mrs. Yoder.

The substitute wanted the students to work independently and in silence, but that is not

the culture of the classroom Mrs. Yoder has created. The students are used to helping each other,

be it math skills or translating from English to their peer’s native language. Mrs. Yoder has

placed weaker students with more advanced students who are fluent enough with the weaker

students’ native language to translate, and explain concepts in the student’s native language. The

substitute was not at all understanding of this.

I was uncomfortable with how she was treating the students, but I did not want to

overstep, or insult the substitute, by telling her how the classroom typically functions. I decided

to just be there for the students, and act as a safety net to check in after the substitute criticized

individual students.

I think I expected more from the substitute because she had an accent, and looked to be of

Asian descent. I assume she was not born in the United States, and at some point was in a

similar situation to what many of the students are currently in. However, instead of

demonstrating empathetic behavior, she acted as if the students were disrespecting her and only
pretending to not understand. I heard her yell at a student who I know to have low English skills:

“I know you understand. This is easy.” This was the only situation I directly intervened in

because the situation felt extreme. I was horrified, the student was upset, and I had already

helped several students with this difficult math problem.

I learned a lot about how different perspectives perceive situations differently, and what

the substitute deemed to be disrespectful, was actually their usual interactive behavior. I also

learned that I have unaddressed expectations for people I perceive to be immigrants. I never

directly realized that I thought immigrants would naturally support each other, so this was an

important realization for me to have, because it is an incorrect assumption.

Journal #4: Reading exams to ELL

I found reading math tests to English Language Learners to be an interesting process for a

number of reasons. Firstly, it was hard for me to find the line between explaining the English,

and giving more away about the math problem than the teacher intended. Word problems are

about visualizing what is happening, and writing out the problem numerically to solve. Plenty of

students struggle with this concept, language barriers aside. How can you tell if the

misunderstandings are fundamentally math or English, and is it better to walk them through the

process, or let them get the wrong answer when you realize they don’t understand the question?

If it was entirely my call, I would assist them in solving the problem to maximize learning, but

since they aren’t my students, I felt the need to accept their wrong answers so Mrs. Yoder could

assess their current abilities.

Secondly, the dynamic of cultural differences became more apparent. Not all

misunderstandings are due to not understanding the language. Sometimes people do not
understand references, or other aspects of culture that are so integrated into our culture and way

of understanding life that we forget other cultures have different experiences and need to be

taught ours. One example of this was a word problem about a football field that was

conceptually about understanding a number line. First of all, it is confusing to think of a football

field as a number line because it counts up to 50, and then starts decreasing. That is not

fundamentally a timeline. Secondly, after asking the student enough questions, I realized she has

never seen an American football field. Is having a math question about a football field culturally

insensitive? What about exams that only have names like Jack and Allison? I would say names

should definitely be diversified, and if I ever have written exams in music class I will make sure

the names match the demographics of my classroom, but football? I half think it would be a

disservice to the child to not inform them of American football traditions, but I think the answer

is American culture should not be assessed on a math test. However, can you avoid assessing

American culture entirely? We are more aware of some cultural differences than others, and we

cannot be sensitive to what we are not aware of.

Journal #5: What teachers should know about the Immigrant and Refugee population

Teachers need to know that it is not enough to be nice. It is essential to research what

you do not know about populations in your classroom, and strive to be inquisitive for life. Catch

your unconscious bias. It is common for humans to judge cognitive ability based on the

language level they perceive. Would you want people to judge your abilities in 9th grade based

on your language level in your foreign language class? I know I would not, because I had

capabilities beyond the few sentences I could form in Spanish. Immigrant and refugee students

do too.
 It is also important to recognize that immigrant and refugee children have had more life

experiences than students who have grown up locally and have never left the state before. Both

personally, and as a family system, they will be affected by their transition. Be aware of that,

and consider possibilities for emotional scaring, and economic impacts on their family. Be

aware of how isolated they might feel. Consider how disorienting it would be for everything to

be unfamiliar to you from the food you eat, to the language you hear, because that is how they

feel.

Understand that their family may have been successful doctors and entrepreneurs in their

native country, and now work night shifts at a poultry plant. They do not have as much family

time with their parents, and they are living a more constricted lifestyle based on their parents’

new salary. Even if the child is resilient, how are their parents adjusting to the changes, and how

is that impacting your student?

Journal #6: What Human Rights are these students enjoying?

The most obvious is that they are all in school. However, not only are they receiving a

free education, but they also have access to multiple meals every school day. Thomas Harrison

Middle school has a second breakfast system, and it is my understanding that all school meals

are free to every student regardless of family income. Aside from Tolkien, I have never heard

second breakfast, but I think it is wonderful that the school has the resources to provide an

additional meal. I also think it is great that there is not a division between the children who can

afford to pay, and the children on free or reduced lunch. Peers know the difference, but by

treating every student the same, everyone eats, and the economic divide is reduced (obviously
students can still perceive status levels based on clothing etc, but I appreciate that the school is

attempting to reduce this divide).

The students also have services around to monitor hygiene, and other health factors.

While it is possible for some students to still be homeless, I think these statistics are greatly

reduced in the United States in comparison to other countries, and when families are living in

homes, they are more likely to have a higher structural integrity which makes them safer. Of

course, Harrisonburg also has specific Refugee resources, and because the population is higher

here, there is a larger support system.

Journal #7: Saying goodbye

The students were finishing up a poster project today, and it felt like a very fitting way

for me to end my time with them, because it was a cumulative project that incorporated several

math concepts I have helped them with. It was also an opportunity for me to see a creative side

of them, and spend more one on one time with individuals because there was not a lecture. The

project was a nice conclusion, and I think it is easier for me to leave at the end of something

because there is a sense of finality and accomplishment.

What stood out to me was how slow time felt. Normally the class period goes by really

fast, and I’m not sure why today would have been different. However, it was as if I was savoring

every moment with every student because I knew today was my last day. It was also strange

because it felt inappropriate to make some sort of announcement about it being my last day, so

while one student knows and asked if I could come back in January, the rest of them don’t. If

you watch The Office, and are familiar with the episode where Michael has his last day, if felt

like that.
 I am glad I got to exercise my new awareness for issues that specifically affect the

Immigrant and Refugee population in a service learning experience, because it reinforces the

importance and meaning behind the material and statistics we have learned. Practicing these

skills, and implementing this curriculum knowledge with the population I intend on working

with in my profession (young students) reinforced the concepts, and has created a natural

transition for continuing this established mindset when I start my first job. I feel these concepts

have already been integrated into my teaching, and it is one less thing for me to integrate for the

first time in my first year of teaching.

Journal #8: What I learned from this service learning opportunity

This semester I learned that I enjoy working with middle schoolers. They get a bad

reputation, but really they just want to be heard and seen like everyone else. They don’t want to

be treated like children, so give them choices and autonomy, and be understanding of their

mistakes, because they are still learning. Developmentally they are establishing their identities,

so take the time to mold them positively, and create opportunities for self-expression.

I also learned the importance of building connections early, so if you notice a problem

you have the rapport to help them. You cannot build trust in a day, and it is more authentic to

demonstrate that you care about them as individuals in advance of a problem to avoid coming

across as intrusive during a problem. Students are also generally more interested in doing what

you ask when you have had non-math conversations with them. It helps with classroom

management, and for spotting problems when you know a little bit about what is going on in

their lives outside of the classroom.

 I’m even more reassured that teaching is the right profession for me because of this

service learning experience. Going out to Thomas Harrison was the highlight of my week. I’m

very excited to move on from JMU and begin sharing music with children. It has been a

wonderful experience building relationships with these students, and watching their math skills

develop.