Overview: What do schools and classrooms look like today? Who are our students and how do we best teach them?

So now that we have some answers to questions about what is good teaching, what does it look like... etc... now we need to consider the students. Who are kids in today's classrooms? How is the face of the American student changing? What are the implications of these changes for us as teachers? Read and explore each of the resources below... using your most critical skills of analysis. What do these stories, statistics, and concepts have to tell us about what teachers need to be doing and how schools need to be operating?

Work through each of these resources and keep the discussion questions in mind. When you are ready, post your thoughts in the appropriate Moodle forum.

Readings:

• Latinos' School Success: A Work in Progress
• Raising Latino Achievement Seen as "Demographic Imperative" - be sure to explore the graduation rates data... very interesting stuff
• 1-10 schools are dropout factories - from USA Today News
• Dropout factories
• Incorporating Cultural Diversity in the Classroom
• Funds of knowledge - viewing difference as a good thing rather than as a liability to be overcome

Discussions questions - each also appear in the corresponding Moodle forum:

1. Who are our students? What do you think about this statement: the increasing student diversity in 21st century schools represents the most significant challenge for teachers yet. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? In what ways is this a challenge? In what ways might diversity be viewed as a positive or as an asset? Diversity comes in all kinds of forms... language, ethnicity, SES, life experience, difference in ability... how will you work to create a climate for learning with all this diversity in your classroom? Thoughts on this? How can you adopt a "funds of knowledge" approach?
2. What are some of the consequences of these schools that qualify as dropout factories? What impact does this have on a local economy? Sense of identity? Long-term health? What else did you notice about the statistics, charts, and graphs related to graduation rates? What challenges does this present for us as educators? What can we do to assure graduation success for a greater population of our school children? It is shocking that only 7 of 10 of students graduate from high school in this country... what should we be doing about this? Think from your perspective as a teacher... but also as a policy maker. What can we do?

Supplementary materials:

Here are some other fabulous resources... check these out too! Alright, the last two are just for fun!

• The Myth of the Culture of Poverty
• Donna Beagle talks about working with kids living in poverty - this is very powerful! Think about these ideas!
• Knock knock - here's a great slam poet on growing up in a tough situation... consider this as you work with kids different from you - I love this
• Anybody seen the flying squirrel? - this doesn't have anything to do with anything...
• How about Kid 'n Play? - and neither does this