Prompt #2 Johnson

For prompt # 2, we are asked to describe the linguistic, ethnic and sociocultural characteristics of the students in the classroom in which we are tutoring. The classroom that I volunteer in has a total of 24 students in it. Only three of the students are Caucasian while the remaining 21 students are either Hispanic or African American. When I am in the classroom, English is the only language I hear. I asked the teacher if there were any bilingual students in her classroom and she said that there might be five. She wasn’t completely sure, but she also said that when she passes out handouts to go home to parents, only 5 of her students raise their hands to receive the handout in Spanish. I was originally shocked that the number was so low because after reading other FNED blogs about how truly diverse their classrooms are, I figured that this classroom would be, too. But, after looking at the Infoworks cite and finding the <<Students Receiving ESL/Bilingual Educational Services>> pie chart completely filled in with the same color symbolizing 100% nonrecipients (with 0% for both ELLs and bilingual students), it all made a little more sense.

Inofworks also shed some light on how the students are doing academically. In the 2008-09 school year, the third grade students scores dropped from the scores from the previous year in both math and reading. The drop in scores could be from a wide variety of reasons, like lack of resources, big class sizes, different students with different educational backgrounds, but a major factor, I think, is the lack of support the teachers receive from their students’ parents and guardians. I had also asked the teacher about how many parents are actively involved in their children’s education and she replied saying there were about 5 parents who truly care, meaning that there are 19 other parents don’t. Maybe they have good reasons, like work, and as much as I want to pass judgment on them, I can’t. I don’t know their situations or where they are coming from, but I will assume that their situation is different from mine and my family’s, so I can only hope that they are making the best out of it.

When thinking back to my time in third grade and all of the differences between my experiences and these 24 students’ experiences, it automatically becomes a comparison of the “Haves” (me) and the “Have-Nots” (them). I grew up in a small, mostly white, suburban town in central Connecticut. I was one of 21 students, and every one of them was white and only about 1 or 2 students qualified to receive subsidized lunch. Each one of us was able to get new binders and folders at the beginning of the year and could choose any one we wanted off of a shelf at Staples. We all knew what the latest fads were and were “privileged” enough to go along with them, be it Razor scooters or the newest Harry Potter accessory.

In this classroom, the students’ lives are a tad different. They can’t have their parents run off to the mall to buy them a new pair of cleats for the next soccer season. Their teacher passes out new pencils at the beginning of every month for the students whose parents can’t afford to go buy the most basic of school supplies. I am not in the classroom when the students get ready for lunch, but with 68% of the student body eligible for subsidized lunch programs, according to Infoworks, then I can only imagine that at least half of them receive it.

In Johnson’s article, “Our House is On Fire,” he talks about privilege and who has it and who doesn’t and why. Johnson describes privilege as “a social advantage that is both unearned and comes to people simply because they happen to belong to a particular social category.” I fall into the category of a white, upper/middle-middle class female while the two students I personally work with are both Hispanic and are more than likely of a lower-middle/working class family. I’ve grown up with certain privileges that these students won’t. These students face challenges that I didn’t know even existed at their age, but they see them every day. And this isn’t just an isolated problem, one only occurring in this school. It’s happening all across the United States. We can go no longer as a nation pretending that we are not in trouble.

As Johnson said, “Our House Is On Fire,” and it’s high time we did something about it. But, in order for us to make this change, we need to change the way we live our lives. We can no longer take the easiest path, but the one that everyone before us has decided to avoid. To brighten the future of the students we tutor and the millions just like them, we need to take a stand and find ways that break apart this system of privilege, whether it be talking about it, realizing our role in it and working and acting for change.