prompt 2

The culturally diverse teacher should be able to account for, demonstrate awareness of, and respond to the sociocultural differences of her students, families, and community.
The classroom that I had the privilege of volunteering in had students from many different backgrounds as many city schools often do. The 8th grade English class I worked with they all spoke English. The theorist Lisa Delpit talked a lot about the silenced dialogue and how cultural differences can lead to misunderstandings of the rules and thus undesirable behavior. The teacher of the classroom I was in made it very clear of what was expected. At the age of the students a huge part of their lives is socializing. It is very important for them to socialize with each other and it is something that they take seriously. The teacher respects their needs and allows them to do to so. By assigning many group projects they are able to work together and interact in a way that they socialize and still get work done. The students understand this privilege and they respect it. They know that they are expected to get work done and complete the tasks they are given. These children are very smart and there are no social barriers here that allow them to fail. They are able to work together, the teacher is engaged in the lessons, and are fully aware of what they must do. The real challenge is maintaining the attention of these students but that is not because of cultural differences, it is something that exists in all classrooms. The teacher does a great job of addressing this issue with group products that help them learn.