Diversity
Working at an international boarding school has its challenges but it also has given me a rich experience of working with many students of different cultures and languages. After working with English Language Learners (ELL) students these past few years and studying about how to work with them, I became aware of how easy it can be to communicate with them but still felt that I did not have a good understanding of the importance of diversity in education.
The Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology at Kennesaw State helped me to become aware of the importance of understanding diversity and global studies in schools. Even though I work at a international boarding school, I also spend time working with teachers and students and their tools for the classroom and never thought about diversity. Kennesaw State helped me to see the importance and I began to research more and see that some teachers would rather struggle than ask for help, especially when it came to curriculum development for students with disabilities or English Language Learners. As I gained my awareness for the importance of diversity and global studies, I was on a mission to help Darlington School to become a more diverse school. Even though Darlington School was an international school, administrators knew that there must be more action taken to help it become more globally aware. I know now that schools must bridge the gap for students with diverse backgrounds by providing what ever is needed to help them with their education. I also know that that we as educators must provide a globally aware education for all students, not just those with special needs or English Language Learners.
Through my new awareness I was able to complete the following experiences:
The Master’s Degree in Instructional Technology at Kennesaw State helped me to become aware of the importance of understanding diversity and global studies in schools. Even though I work at a international boarding school, I also spend time working with teachers and students and their tools for the classroom and never thought about diversity. Kennesaw State helped me to see the importance and I began to research more and see that some teachers would rather struggle than ask for help, especially when it came to curriculum development for students with disabilities or English Language Learners. As I gained my awareness for the importance of diversity and global studies, I was on a mission to help Darlington School to become a more diverse school. Even though Darlington School was an international school, administrators knew that there must be more action taken to help it become more globally aware. I know now that schools must bridge the gap for students with diverse backgrounds by providing what ever is needed to help them with their education. I also know that that we as educators must provide a globally aware education for all students, not just those with special needs or English Language Learners.
Through my new awareness I was able to complete the following experiences:
- Researched with other teachers the importance of diversity and global studies in schools.
- Helped develop a new “Global Studies” program at my school that will include technology integration. http://www.darlingtonschool.org/daily/newsView.aspx?newsID=3165888
- Worked with the (ESOL) English is a Second Language department at my school to help integrate technology into their curriculum.
- Provided professional development to all teachers on Apple’s Universal Access to provide help for any English Language Learners or students with disabilities
- Worked with all department chairs to help modify projects and curriculums to include different types of processes and products. Allowing for more audio projects for visually impaired and visuals for students with speech or English deficiencies.
- Researched schools data on SAT scores and used the information to encouraged administrators to hire a part-time SAT coach with skills in helping students with disabilities, ELL and SAT prep.
- Attended the “Learning and the Brain” conference http://www.learningandthebrain.com/. “These conferences and summer institutes bring cutting-edge neuroscience and educational research directly from the researchers themselves to educators, clinicians, counselors, speech-language and special education professionals to improve their practice.”