Teaching Culturally Diverse Students
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As the millennium progresses, we are seeing more and more children in our school systems who speak English as a second language. With these increases, teachers now must assist these children and their families in understanding the content of the curriculum through the use of their first language. As a student attending Western Kentucky University, there are many resources available to help you in preparing to teach to a culturally diverse classroom. However, it is not solely the responsibility of the educational system to assist these families, the community in which they live also plays an important role. Cultural diversity is apparent in our schools today, and we, as incoming teachers need to be prepared for the future.
As a teacher in Kentucky, the probability that I will encounter students who do not speak English as their first language is very high. Kentucky is ranked seventh in serving students of migrant workers. Teachers are responsible for teaching these students by using any means necessary, unique to the language and the student. This may mean showing them pictures and having them associate their native word with the English word or by simply conducting a special lesson for them that is personal to their situation. I think the family of the student would also benefit because they would be able to understand their child's homework more easily when it is done this way...