In the fall of 2017, I spent a lot of time in a eighth-grade social studies classroom as an education student. Anyone who has spent a great deal of time with young teenagers can only imagine how eclectic this learning experience was for me. As a student I had become versed academically and as a person, I strive to bring awareness and kindness to those who may need it. As an educator I had a moment that shifted my perspective of the world we live in today.
I was teaching a lesson about coordinates and United States Geography where teams of students were using maps to chart as many state capitals as they could. I had been checking in with all the teams as noticed one of my students hesitating to participate. Knowing that this student was usually a key classroom leader, I went and sat down with her to check in. As I pondered why she was not participating I heard her classmate’s question why she was not helping. When I went over to check in on her she still seemed hesitant, then a lightbulb went off. This student was a recent immigrant to the united states. It became clear to me that she did not have the same cultural information as all of the other students who had grown up in the United States did. Seizing this opportunity to bring the students together, We all had a discussion about how she knew a lot of things about her native country that we do not know, and they know a lot about the US that they could help her learn.
When I heard about this class I was instantly intrigued to learn more. I saw an opportunity to learn about migration.Which is important because migration has built this country in the past, but has been polarizing recently. As a future educator and human I feel as though it is important to amplify the voices that are not always heard. I think that these voices are important because in my experience if anyone in your community is struggling, then as a whole, your community could be better. Recently I have felt that due to the wedges our political climate has put between some of the population and our migrant population, that people in are communities are being underserved, undereducated, stereotyped and held back. As a person I find this to be tragic, and by being a part of this class I hope to help these voices be heard.
In the coming few months Christa, my project partner, and I will be conducting interviews with migrants in our surrounding communities. In reading this blog you will be able to join us on this journey through posts that will be shared here. Through these interviews we hope to hear the stories of some of the immigrants that are a part of our community. To effectively tell these stories we will be using many technology mediums while collecting and sharing the histories of these people.
Cali,
Your ability to connect with the youth is admirable. I feel as though the educational system, particularly with grade school, lacks proper accomodation for immigrant students. It’s unfortunate that these young, marginalized children feel such deep levels of disenfranchisement and pressure to assimilate to the “dominant” culture, that they’re brought to tears. You will bring so much light to the impressionable youth, especially as adolescence is such a critical period of norm internalization. This will have a positive cultural impact, I’m sure. Keep up the great work in the classroom; those children are very fortunate to have an instructor such as yourself.
Thank you for such kind words! I too, do find it unfortunate that to adjusting migrants often times sacrifice their culture or beliefs. I hope this is something that educators can help to change because diversity can be priceless when trying to educate communities.
Wow, what a great story! I bet your students learned a lot from a new experience like that, what a cool teachable moment.
It was definitely a great moment to be a part of!
I loved the story that you opened up with! Were there a lot of immigrants at the school you worked at? Were there a lot of ELLs?
Thank you, it was such a teachable moment! The school I was working in had very few migrants or English language learners. I think the few migrants that do attend the school have provided a great deal of enrichment to their academic communities though.
A quick note to say how wonderful it is to see so many voices in response to this blog post!