Diversity 3

Those students from low income families have a difficult time in school because their families are having a difficult time at home. It is tough to pay all of the bils and live comfotably if the income is not sufficient. The parents are, most likely, stressed or aggrevated, which is not a safe or comfortable environment for a child. These students likely receive little help on their schoolwork, while those students from higher income families probably have parents who have the time to help with homework and studying. Sonia Nieto and Patty Bode state in their book "Affirming Diversity" that, "the (achievement) gap between African American students and Hispanic students compared to white students remains very large" (10). This is true in my district because the African American and Arabic families live mostly in low income housing. These students are not as fortunate as many of the White students who have comfortable home lives. As a teacher, I try to give little homework and, instead, give classwork so that those less fortunate students have my assistance if needed.

Diversity 2

After I kept track of the diversity in my classes, realized that the behavioral issues are spread out through every ethnicity. Although I never have, many people associate behavioral problems with minorities. After observing this in my class, it does not seem that race has anything to do with it. However, I did notice that socio-economic status does. In most cases, the students with disruptive behaviors are from a lower socioeconomic class, which is understandable because they are not as lucky to have a wonderful home life.

Diversity Reflection 1

As a teacher in a low socio-economic district, I come across a great amount of diversity every day. The breakdown is around 40% Caucasian, 30% African American, 25% Arabic, and 5% other. I am a caucasian male, age 24. I find it exciting to become friends with those of other races because there is so much to learn about the different cultures. The same thing applies to the classroom. I learn so much about different lifestyles because of the diversity in the schools.

I realized that sometimes I actually favor those students who are not white, because they are a minority and often get stereotyped or get a bad reputation for no reason. In favoring them, I wonder if I am neglecting some of the white students. Most of the African American students in my classes fall behind because of no parent involvement so I try to help them as much as I can during classtime. I will have to see how many white and Arabic students are behind because of the same reason.