Personal Narrative: Diversity In The Classroom

Howard, T.G. (2010). Why Race and Culture Matter in Schools: Closing the Achievement Gap in

She is the first in her family to go to college, she is challenge with adapting to the college culture, and she feels out of place most of the time. “Students of color lack mentors who can assist them in successfully navigating the learning environment.” (Ortiz & Jani,

I’ve always been really hard on myself when it comes to academics and it got to the point that I was stressed out everyday. I also decided to be more patient with the process. Mr. Frost and I kept practicing after school every Monday and Wednesday. Two weeks before test day, during one of our after school practices, Mr. Frost told me, “John, I think you are ready. No more meetings”, he said proudly. After that day, we stopped with the meetings after school. Now I was just waiting for test day patiently. The test was on March. I walked in to the testing room with “ How am I going to do?” and I walked away from the room saying to myself, “I did it”. Three weeks later, the results arrived. I was patiently waiting for Mr. Frost to hand me over the results. As soon as I saw the results, I screamed for joy. I, John Paul Adams, passed the English 2 STAAR test. I was the happiest student in that classroom that day. I went over to Mr. Frost and before I even said anything he said, “I already know that you came over here to tell me that you passed so might as well give me a hug right now kiddo”, he said while opening his arms so that I could give him a hug. I learned so much from this experience. It taught me just how hard work really pays off and if you put in the time and effort, with a positive mindset, you can accomplish anything that you want. After failing the test for the first time, I started

Despite having above-average grades, I lacked any of the pride and confidence other students carried. Despite having a group of trustworthy friends, the feelings of disappointment kept me feeling isolated and miserable. A teenager who deep inside, kept dreaming of myself with great academic potential while failing to prove anything to anyone. As the ten minute mark has passed in the AP testing room, I remember the sensation of deep frustration, a feeling of desperate anger to change something. At that brief moment I felt a successful score on the AP World History test would be my salvation, the ultimate test of resolve. Thus my mind started to naturally channel the frustration into deep concentration: my mind quickly adapted into competitive overdrive. For the first time in my academic experience, I found the will to break the influence of testing

America’s schools are challenged to meet the academic and interpersonal needs of all students regardless of culture, race, or ethnic background. Hawley and Nieto (2010) claim that race and ethnicity significantly impacts students’ learning in their article, “Another Inconvenient Truth: Race and Ethnicity” (p. 66). They contended that educators should be “race and ethnicity -responsive” to effectively understand the challenges students from diverse races and cultures face (Hawley & Nieto, 2010, p. 66). Moreover, the article noted that schools should have practices in place that promote an inclusive, supportive, and enriching learning environment for all students including students from different races and ethnicities.

My findings can be useful to implement new social policies to create a more diverse educational classroom setting. In the beginning of the year, school administration may not focus on the racial diversity in a classroom when choosing classes, but I believe this should also be another factor when dividing students, to create an equal diverse classroom. While creating diverse classrooms will aid in the ethnic knowledge of children, organizing school-wide ethnic cultural celebrations can also help expand and introduce different cultures and ethnicities to children who may not otherwise be introduced to a different ethnicity and race, other than the ones they are surrounded with. In relation to personal experience, I grew up in a social setting where my ethnicity was the majority, but when I started college at Dominican University, I was sectored as a minority since most students were white, but I was not affected by this cultural shock as I had a close connection to my ethnic roots and did not let the change of environment affect me. Growing up in an environment where you are the majority, but then radically being introduced to an environment where you become the minority can easily affect the cognitive state of a person, if that person was not well-prepared

At the beginning of my freshman year, I joined the future educators’ club. I wanted to be a teacher, and after hearing about a full-ride scholarship to St. Francis that was being offered to members, I signed up. Although I was the youngest person in the club, and there were only about five of us, I continued attending. A few meetings passed, and I asked about the opportunity. This moment exposed me to the other side of the racial spectrum. Unfortunately, I was told that I was ineligible for the scholarship because I was Caucasian. In order to qualify, I had to be a minority. I suddenly realized that although there is a vast amount of racial injustice, there are also opportunities for minorities that are not offered to whites. Even though I might earn the same grades as someone of a different ethnicity, I was not given the chance to participate. In my mind, that doesn’t

In school we look normal to all people like nothing was happening i was gland that my sister and I were in the same high school but different floors. My school was mixed, Hispanics from Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Ricans, but mostly Dominicans, African Americans, etc. My teachers were A few African Americans, one Spanish, and mostly White Caucasians. All my teachers were so lovely except for one, he was African American and he was a history teacher. It was my freshman year and I couldn’t express myself properly in English, he asks me to read a page of a book, and I didn’t have the abilities to pronounce properly most of the words. The teacher lost his patience and shouted me “what I was doing in a school where no one speak Spanish” I responded

17 years. I have been on this Earth for 17 years now. Looking back on the years I’ve already spent make me wonder, not who I’ve been nor who I am now, but who I will be. I choose to live in the now, for the later. I often think about what I may be or do later in life. But everything I do and every choice I make in the present is what will lead me to my future. Now, all I know is that to get somewhere you have to be someone. So who am I? And what makes me who I am today?

The United States of America is known for being a country filled with people of many different ethnic backgrounds. Likewise, the student population in schools is just as diverse as it continues to grow. Lynch (2015) notes that schools are expected to teach their students “how to synthesize cultural differences into their knowledge base” as this will help “facilitate students’ personal and professional success in a diverse world” (para. 8). Educators must be able to provide for the diverse needs of students and are expected to equip students with skills that can lead to healthy development as it can affect higher levels of student achievement and students have more opportunities of success in their future. Providing students with tools and skills requires an awareness and acceptance of their ethnic identity. Once students have developed self-acceptance about their ethnic identity, they can begin to feel empowered and motivated to do well. Through cultural empowerment, students of color can develop intrinsic motivation and achieve academic success.

My educational career started from an urban charter school that specifically targeted students of East African descent like me. Most of the students looked like me, talked like me, came from the same home background as me. And it’s where I met and made most of my lifelong friends. I don’t remember talking very much in school, in hindsight I guess that is why my participation grade was always so low. But I was a “good” student if good meant not getting into trouble, not talking when the teacher was talking, following directions without complaint. Then I was a good student. And because I always turned my homework on time and didn’t get into trouble that equated me to goody two shoes status and teachers pet with my peer.

I find myself reading this short paragraph over and over(above). My topic sentence makes me happy and proud. Going back to school was the best thing I have done. I chose to talk about going back to school to the “future employer” because it shows I am motivated as well as dedicated. This class has brought a lot to my attention. The mannerism that is expected in the “business world” is to speak and write well. It is extremely important to know how to write (type) a meaning full and proper paper whether it is for school or work. I have noticed a great impact in my vocabulary and writing skills. My boss told me on Monday he is impressed with the new docs I typed up for our new clients (with no help from him). I was not excited about this class

I was born and raised in the small but growing city of Perris, CA. This isn’t the best city out there but it tends to grow on you, and you begin to truly love it for what it is. The people, however, not so much. The community can vary from which part of the city you’re in. That’s because there’s diversity here in Perris. I’m a product of this diversity, being half Mexican and half African American. My parents fell in love after high school and later on began a family. I am the youngest of five. I have two older brothers, an older sister, and an older cousin who lives with us. The order is boy, girl, boy, boy, girl with my cousin being included in there too. We all live in the same house with my parents and are quite close with each other. They all seem to have raised me growing up due to the fact that my parents were busy trying to provide for us. This was a challenge by itself, resulting in lots of house moving and my father being unemployed for six years after losing his job. I never complained about moving because I knew that my parents were doing their absolute best and were working with all that they had and then some. This unquestionably made me adaptable to new environments and gave me a

When I passed my AP World History test. During my freshman year I was put into an AP class. I didn’t know what AP was, I didn’t know what to expect. I was able to handle my honors classes because it was material back in middle school. However, AP World History was strenuous and took major effort. There were multiple times where I had uncertainty of whether or not I was capable to keep going. I really felt out of place because it was a difficult class with essays, chapters to read and exams every week. Nonetheless, I never gave in, I convinced myself that the reason why my school put in roughly 90 kids, including myself, out of at least 1000, is because they saw potential in us and knew that we would be able to handle the stress of a college

During freshman year, I hope to step out of my comfort zone. I feel as if I have lived in a “Northeast Jackson bubble” for my entire life, and I am ready to experience life in a new and exciting place. I have gone to Jackson Academy for a majority of my life, and I would not trade the experiences I have had at JA for anything. The teachers and students here are incomparable and have taught me so much both academically and socially. One thing Jackson Academy lacks is a diverse student body. At least ninety-five percent of the students at JA are Caucasian and have very similar socioeconomic backgrounds in the Jackson metropolitan area. Transitioning from high school to college will be a challenge because I have gone to school with most of the