How would you address a situation and what would you teach if .

Diversity/Culturally Competent Teaching Scenario

1. Describe the scenario or situation.

Scenario #7: A student with a hearing impairment has been in your class for two weeks now and you are including her during instruction as much as possible but youve noticed her sitting alone at lunch and during breaks.

2. What are potential issues that could arise from the scenario?
a. Student feels left out and shows signs of depression. b. Student excludes herself during instruction and stops participating. c. Student does not like school and is absent many days. d. ther students think she does not want to be a part of the classroom community and are confused.

3. What will you do to be proactive regarding the situation?

a. !f possible" ! will rethink the seating arrangements during lunch and snack by having one day of the week assigned seating #variable each week$ during these times. ! will ask students to talk to the students they are sitting with and learn something new about them. ! will give prompt %uestions if students are struggling with conversations. b. ! will initiate more class teambuilding activities to help them gain a better sense of what it is to be a good citi&en and have a strong classroom community. 'hese activities will provide challenges for the group but will be mindful for the student with a hearing impairment so that they are not more difficult for that student than the others. (pon completion" the group will feel a sense of pride and also go through a debrief session to allow students to talk about what happened.

c. ! will organi&e some )getting to know you* activities for the class so that students will find similarities and interests that they may not have known previously. +opefully through these activities" the student with the hearing impairment will find other students that struggle with something and find connections. d. ! will be more mindful with instruction materials and lesson design. ! will use more visuals" write out assignments,%uestions on the board" repeat what other students contribute" use hand signals to denote transitions" etc.

4. Describe the actions or conversations you initiated to address the situation, !D describe what"how you will teach students in relation to the situation.
a. ! would ask the student why she is sitting alone and initiate a conversation of concern with her. b. ! would ask the student if she wants her situation explained to the class and to answer %uestions that they may have regarding her hearing impairment. c. ! would use literature to address the situation so that the issue is seen in a book character and not directly in the student. 'his may provide a softer tone to a class conversation on issues such as this and allow more students to speak up. d. ! would implement some lessons on our senses to help students understand what it would be like to have a hearing impairment. e. ! would teach the students some sign language and make it a part of the everyday routine in hopes to bring understanding and fun around the inability to hear well. f. ! would hold discussions with the class on character traits" specifically to be caring and to be a good citi&en.

#. Why did you address the situation in the manner that you did and what resources or research supported your actions and conversations?
! addressed the situation in this way because ! think it is important to allow the student to be heard in a safe environment and understand first what she needs. ! believe many of these activities are important for any year and mix of students. 'hey will help to see how important inclusiveness is within a classroom and the need to help someone through a challenging day. 'hey will show students how to approach another student that they are not as familiar.

! used the ideas from the Accept Differences paper and also the topia.net resource within this task. -oth of these resources remind us to examine the world from a different point of view. )!f young people arent prepared to deal with people who are different from them" it will limit their ability to be fully functional in an increasingly diverse world.* #topia.net$ 'his scenario allows us as teachers to discuss the importance of having an open mind and teach ethical values. ! also did some research online for working with students with a hearing impairment. ! found an excerpt from the book The Inclusive Classroom: Strategies for Effective Instruction by ..A. .astropieri/ and '.0. Scruggs #1227" p. 73/77$ to be especially motivating in its instructional approaches. 'his excerpt was found through the website address: www.education.com,reference,article,hearing/impairments,.