Blog Entry #2

I worked with one particular student several times because she struggled to keep up with the class. I don't think that it was hard for her to keep up because she didn't understand how to do her work, but because she was very easily distracted. Still, that's not really what I want to write about. The most interesting thing about this girl was that she was from a unique religion. I noticed that the other students didn't play with her very much and one girl even said to me during lunch, "She doesn't believe in Jesus." I tried to explain to the other kids that it's alright for us to believe different things and we need to treat everyone the same regardless of what they believe. I have heard a lot about being tolerant of diversity from many of my classes this semester. It is a subject which, until recently, I hadn't considered to be quite as large a problem as it realistically is. As teachers, we need to be aware of the many diversities in our classrooms and make appropriate accommodations. The teacher I did my fieldwork with made special assignments for her student from a different religious background because her religion does not celebrate Valentine's Day and many assignments for the week were related to Valentine's Day since the holiday is next week. I noticed she did not make a big deal of it or announce in front of the whole class that this student was different. The change in assignment happened during a private conversation between only the teacher and the student. Likewise, the student didn't draw attention to her different assignments. There is no need to overemphasize differences. Even though the student wasn't around, I wonder how she would have reacted when her classmates said that she doesn't believe in Jesus. Would she be offended, or would it make her feel like they think she's stupid, or maybe she wouldn't care? One of my professors suggested that, if this particular situation comes up in our classrooms, it may be a good idea to give the student an opportunity to explain what their religion is. Of course, this must be done with an educational attitude, not as an attempt to convert. Still, I feel like maybe the other students in the class would be more accepting of that student if they understood a bit more about her religious background.