Kelly McDermott

• What are your students’ greatest needs for support in understanding and coping with the contentious debates and actions on immigration?

Many of my students are ELL or are significantly behind grade level due to chronic absenteeism or being placed in and out of the DYS system. In general, my students need strong support in understanding any written source or information. In class I try to follow the “I do, we do, you do” model with most of the activities that we do. In a particularly contentious debate I would support my students by providing evidence from both sides of the argument. I would spend time modeling how to read through a source, ask students to practice the method with me, and then slowly release the responsibility back to them. I also always try to provide an organizer where the can record information to support both sides of the debate. This helps them organize information in one place where they can reference when they develop their own arguments or debate points.

• How can you help students to consider widely differing viewpoints? What can you do to help students comfortably discuss ideas they don’t like?

In order for students to consider different viewpoints, I think it is important to expose students to as many different types of sources as possible. For example, in one recent unit on the Juvenile Justice system, I made sure to include sources that “went against” what most students were familiar with. Since my students are in the JJ system, it was easy for them to identify with the ideas surrounding restorative justice. On the other side it was very difficult for them to understand the other side. It was important to expose them to both sides because it helps students learn to recognize strong and weak points of a contentious topic debate. In order to have these types of discussions it was really important to establish ground rules and structure the debate. It was my job to help keep the ground rules and structure as the students engaged in the lively discussion.

• What approaches, tools, or resources have you found most useful to support diverse learners in your classroom and school?

My school is part of the Department of Youth Services system which provides secure environments for incarcerated youth. This enables my school to work very closely with each student’s sending district to ensure that their time on learning is not disrupted by being incarcerated in DYS. My job as the lead teacher at my program is to provide detailed transcripts to the student’s home district so that when the student returns to their sending school, their education is less disrupted. It is also my job, along with DYS as whole, to ensure that the students are receiving the same standards-based, high-quality education while they are serving time with DYS. The constant collaboration and communication between DYS and sending school districts is what enables the student’s education to be as seamless as possible. It cuts down on the amount of “interruptions” to their education and ultimately provides a foundation for their education to continue despite their incarcerated status.

1. What are your students’ greatest needs for support in understanding and coping with the contentious debates and actions on immigration?

The greatest support I could provide my students with contentious debates and actions on immigration is to build a positive learning environment where shame and blame have no home in the classroom. Students of all different social economic background, political difference, diversity of race, and multilingual or not, need mentors as teachers to display a role model who is willing to listen and encourage dialogue about working together to solve debate and conflict in our communities. According to TeachingTolerance.org “Schools should be safe havens that embrace all students and families, regardless of citizenship and national origin, and that includes unaccompanied and refugee children. The 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe ruled that undocumented children have a constitutional right to receive a free public K–12 education, which provides the means to becoming a “self-reliant and self-sufficient participant in society,” the court wrote, and instills the “fundamental values necessary to the maintenance of a democratic political system.” This message is pretty clear that our fundamental values in the democratic process is to provide self-sufficient participants and active learners for our societal needs. Our judicial system supports a constitutional right to teach all students, whether undocumented, illegal or not.  Our school systems needs are to be educators for all students.

 "English Language Learners." - Mostly Spanish and Chinese in MA. Most are born in America, making them US Citizens = 62% in 6-12 grades. About 7% in MA.  NPR found that no matter where they go to school, most ELLs are struggling because they have little or no access to quality instruction tailored to their needs. Although 90 percent of these kids are enrolled in designated ELL programs, at least one recent study argues that the quality of these programs is suspect. Overall, as many as half a million do not receive any special instruction to learn English. Only 63% of ELL kids get the graduation rates of their peers in MA, which averages 86% as a whole. Most schools report not having enough ELL teachers to support ELL students. Schools should be safe havens that embrace all students and families, regardless of citizenship and national origin, and that includes unaccompanied and refugee children. The 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe ruled that undocumented children have a constitutional right to receive a free public K–12 education, which provides the means to becoming a “self-reliant and self-sufficient participant in society,” the court wrote, and instills the “fundamental values necessary to the maintenance of a democratic political system.”

2. How can you help students to consider widely differing viewpoints? What can you do to help students comfortably discuss ideas they don’t like?

I have student read my “Classroom Climate Expectations” and we discuss them as an entire group. The top three points are:

• Treat everyone in the room with respect and patience.
• Take advantage of every opportunity to strengthen your “character muscles” and thereby increase your capacity to contribute and lead in positive ways.
• Be willing to “try stuff on”

As a result, students and I really build a value that respect, patience, opportunity, and trying stuff on are values that we all will be sharing throughout the school year. Moreover, I have students each quarter review this guide of expectations and rate themselves on how they adhere and uphold these values in our classroom. Therefore, I make this a living and breathing part of our classroom culture. This build comfortability and the last three norms in our class are:

• Intent vs. Impact.  Consider how the impact of what you say might be different from its intent.  Think before you speak.
• Recognize your own bias and understand that everyone has bias
• Be curious and ask questions—of me, of each other, of yourselves, and of our sources.  It’s okay to disagree--with each other, me, as well as the sources we read.

It’s important that we all recognize our biases and we build good impact conversations in our classrooms. If we debate and create dialogue that encourages a proactive approach to solutions within our communities.

3. What approaches, tools, or resources have you found most useful to support diverse learners in your classroom and school?

Teachers can approach the importance of taking proactive steps to ensure the safety and well-being of children and entire communities, both in the classroom and outside. One new tool I recognized through research was to distribute “know your rights” materials to students, families and communities about what to do if a raid occurs or an individual is detained. Furthermore, I have used the approach of asking a bilingual person at my school who can serve as the immigration resource advocate to our classroom and perhaps even the entire school.  Finally, teachers can work with our school board and leadership to build core values and a mission statement that supports a resolution affirming schools as welcoming places of learning for all students.

What are your students’ greatest needs for support in understanding and coping with the contentious debates and actions on immigration?

My students’ greatest needs are having background knowledge on the topic, understanding of other cultures, and strong classroom rules or routines on participating during classroom conversations.  I have found that having student conversations on contentious debate topics can be a rewarding experience but it is important to have a strong classroom procedure so all students feel that their voices are being heard and respected by their peers.  Students getting into shouting matches do not benefit anyone.

How can you help students to consider widely differing viewpoints? What can you do to help students comfortably discuss ideas they don’t like?

To help students consider widely differing viewpoints I like to show comparing primary sources on a topic.  This can be students analyzing and discussing two different viewpoints quotes on a topic.  Through the practice of analyzing the sources I find students begin to consider differing viewpoints and are more open to discussing their own viewpoints.  Through class activities that discuss “hot topics” I find that students have responded best when the conversations and activities seem natural to them or part of the class.  Having a standalone activity that discusses a topic without it being built into the curriculum can contribute to students not willing to share their viewpoint or to consider another viewpoint.

What approaches, tools, or resources have you found most useful to support diverse learners in your classroom and school?

To support diverse learners in my classroom I find having “buddy students” can help because it can allow students to check-in with one another on class topics and diverse learners to ask a peer about the class, if they do not feel comfortable asking me.  Working in a language immersion school allows me to have a school and classroom community that is welcoming of all learners and cultures.  This built in mindset allows for a proactive approach to teaching and helping the families of diverse learners.

WEEK 6 Reflection by Julioa Fehmel

• What are your students’ greatest needs for support in understanding and coping with the contentious debates and actions on immigration?

I think the fact that immigration is heavily reported in the media today making students more aware of the issues. As a result, students today are able to see that immigration to the United States continues well beyond the promise of the Statue of Liberty! That said, I think that students sometimes have this idea that immigration and the path to citizenship is an easy one. In terms of the”DREAMERS” I think students have a hard time with the concept that this group of people have and continue to live here even though they are not considered citizens but are subject to both the same rights and privileges of being here but, they can also be deported and sent back to a country they really do not belong to anymore. The idea that  people living here in the USA can be arrested like criminals for actions they had no control over truly confuses my students...The problem is that aside from being brought here illegally as children, most DREAMERS are law abiding people. My students seem to support deporting people who commit crimes but, can’t seem to accept that people who are NOT breaking the law still can be arrested and deported no matter how long they have been here, I think that my students have this idea that the United States and the Trump administration are attacking the core of what American stands for and the fact that immigration and the search for freedoms is the foundation of how this country was formed.

• How can you help students to consider widely differing viewpoints? What can you do to help students comfortably discuss ideas they don’t like?

I always try to supply my students with multiple sources of information from newspaper and online articles to pamphlets on both sides of an issue, However, my be strategy is to assign students to state their opinion on an issue and the assign them to create a case for the opposite of their beliefs. My theory is that you can only understand what you believe if you can understand what the other side thinks and stands for. It is interesting to see how sometimes this strategy changes some students opinions in the process of researching. Also when it comes to immigration, I have brought in speakers who have earned their citizenship in several ways. By exposing the students to people who have immigrated here and have legally become citizens students get to experience how hard or easy the immigration to citizenship can be.

• What approaches, tools, or resources have you found most useful to support diverse learners in your classroom and school?

I have always been a fan of Howard Gardner and his theory of multiple Intelligences.As a result, I try and offer many projects and assessments that will accomodate my visual, verbal and artistic learners, I offer art reviews, creating comics, protest posters and even had a student create a piece of music based on  Jazz since we were studying the 1920s. I am a visual learner myself so I am always incorporating maps, charts, webs and abbreviations when possible. I find that many of my students benefit from “special education” techniques and learning aides.

WEEK 6 

BJ Hill

A. What are your students’ greatest needs for support in understanding and coping with the contentious debates and actions on immigration?

I would say there are eight points that are important for my fifth and sixth-grade students to understand in regards to immigration. They are:

1. Immigration is an issue that affects almost every one of us in our large urban school district. Some of our students are immigrants; many of our students are first and second generation immigrants; and many of our teachers are second, third or fourth generation of immigrants.
2. 100% free and open borders are not feasible, and neither is 100% sealing off borders.  There is no binary, right-or-wrong solution to immigration. This is an issue where there are many viewpoints, many considerations, and potentially many solutions.  
3. Like global warming (which many of students are familiar with), immigration is one of the most important issues that their generation will face as they grow older.
4. Unlike global warming, immigration has been an issue for many, many years, since even before the Revolutionary War. Over the centuries, the government sometimes makes laws to help immigrants because it needs extra people and workers, and sometimes it makes laws to try to stop immigrants.   
5. People migrate for many different reasons.
6. Most people migrate to the United States legally, but some migrate illegally.
7. It’s not easy to migrate to the United States, either legally or illegally.
8. All people, no matter where they are from, deserve respect and dignity.

B. How can you help students to consider widely differing viewpoints? What can you do to help students comfortably discuss ideas they don’t like?

One idea that might help students discuss immigration is to show short videos in which people give their varying viewpoints of immigration. Another idea is to hang posters around the room which address one component of immigration, have students study each poster, collect data, discuss with a classmate, and aggregate the information on the form of a thematic essay. A final thought would be to assign students an interview with a family member regarding their views on immigration. Some of these family members might be immigrants, themselves.

1. What approaches, tools, or resources have you found most useful to support diverse learners in your classroom and school?

Some of my favorite approaches, tools, and resources are ELA News, YouTube (with videos), Google image search, and the Slides feature of Google Classroom.

Renee Robichaud

• What are your students’ greatest needs for support in understanding and coping with the contentious debates and actions on immigration?

My students need to first be educated on these topics. Many of them only know what they hear at home, from family, friends, viral posts or other forms of opinionated hearsay. They often don't fully understand issues and are ignorant to what is going on through no fault of their own. We cannot blame people for what they do not know, but it is our job to educate our students so that they are not ignorant. I need to make sure that in class, and independently, they are spending time working to understand both sides of these debates and what is going on in our world today. I hope to help develop informed and engaged citizens who understand these issues and are empowered to share ideas, join conversations, inform others, take part in movements, and vote that help facilitate meaningful change in our society and politics. I can use powerful poetry, news articles, and clips to teach them about and show them firsthand how immigration has been, is, and will be an impactful part of US culture and society. We need to give our students the tools and skills they need to be lifelong learners and engaged citizens and make sure that they know how to continue to get vital information about these various political topics themselves, on their own so that they stay informed. 

• How can you help students to consider widely differing viewpoints? What can you do to help students comfortably discuss ideas they don’t like?

• What approaches, tools, or resources have you found most useful to support diverse learners in your classroom and school?

a. What are your students’ greatest needs for support in understanding and coping with the contentious debates and actions on immigration?

All of my students are immigrants. They are also very young which limits the sources of information they are confronted with. For my students routines and procedures are very important to feel safe and supported in classroom discussions. They need to be educated on all topics connected to education and they need to be provided with the opportunity to view those through many different lenses. I believe it is extremely important for my students to learn to be proud of their heritage and to respect and value other cultures, individuals, and opinions. They have to learn to be active, educated, responsible citizens, who view the world around them thoughtful yet critical.  To ensure that my students become lifelong learners it is important that they are provided with meaningful materials and understand why the content and skills we learn are important to them as individuals.

b. How can you help students to consider widely differing viewpoints? What can you do to help students comfortably discuss ideas they don’t like?

I think it is of great importance that my students are exposed to many different resources from around the world. We are exploring different cultures, traditions, languages and lives and approach those from a variety of perspectives. We take specific aspects and compare them to our lives, think about similarities and why we might perceive something as different. For this setting we always review rules for those conversations and why it is important that we follow those.

c. What approaches, tools, or resources have you found most useful to support diverse learners in your classroom and school?

In my ESL classroom we work a lot with audio-visual support. When choosing my sources, I always try to find a variety that includes aspects from the different cultures my students are from. Sometimes we might show examples that are still inaccessible to our students because they have never encountered the idea or object in their home cultures. This would prevent them from learning which is why I find it important to research my students’ backgrounds. Mindful grouping and time for students to act out certain things and use movements to support their ways of understanding and expressing messages are also important aspects of our daily learning in my classroom. Often it also helps to be patient and allow more time than usual for students to express their thoughts and comprehend content.

Amy Evanowski

Week 6 post

1. What are your students’ greatest needs for support in understanding and coping with the contentious debates and actions on immigration?

Being a second-grade teacher, I can say that most of my students aren’t versed in contentious debates about immigration. However, they have seen and do understand the fact they and their families might, at some point, have to go back to their home land. I have a student, who at the end of the school year will be returning to Brazil. She is saddened to have to leave America and all of her new friends, she wants to go to American college. She is one of my brightest students and really has a chance to attend college someday. I offer her support and understanding through conversations about all that she has learned and how far she has coming in learning the English language and curriculum. I also tell her not to give up on her college dream, I explain it may or may not be in America that she goes to college but she should still continue do her best in school, no matter where she lives. The point is many of my students have no idea why their families left their homeland or why they might have to go back other than they are told to do so or why they are might have to leave America. These are very young children who have no choice about what happens to them. I try to support them by explaining that school and education are not only in America, it is everywhere and they need to continue to go to school and never give up on learning, just like they did here.

1. How can you help students to consider widely differing viewpoints? What can you do to help students comfortably discuss ideas they don’t like?

Again, the fact that my students are so young it is a little easier to understand others points of view. Daily, they talk with partners about how or what they think and why they think that way. Most of time they are excepting of other viewpoints and are not offended by differing opinions. Whenever there is a topic that comes up that students don’t like or don’t understand we have an open discussion and they are allowed to ask as many questions as they need to in order to feel comfortable about the subject. Sometimes relating the subject to something else that they understand better or are more comfortable with helps to make the topic more concrete and less scary.

1. What approaches, tools, or resources have you found most useful to support diverse learners in your classroom and school?

I find that videos, lots of them really help to support my diverse learners. As well as books, stories, games and articles on the same topic help to break down the different parts of a lesson or concept. I also do a lot of topics across the curriculum to help them understand it in various ways like in math or writing. Sometimes, there comes a point they need to have it explained in their own language and I will have them discuss things in their native language with another student and then we go over it in English. Lastly, I do a lot with objects, pantomiming and pictures.