Language Minority

I have always wanted to learn another language. I have taken multiple classes and even have Rosetta Stone. However I can still only say a few basic things. When I think about my struggles to learn a new language, I can only image what it must be like for someone trying to learn English, especially a child. Imagine your a young student, in a new place, with a new language, and a new curriculum. Not only are you trying to keep up with what your suppose to be learning but you have a language barrier. The only thing that I can think would make this easier is a two-way language immersion. This allows English speaking students and Spanish speaking students to learn both languages. Both students get to work together to learn the others language. This takes away the idea of language minority and puts both students at equal learning levels. When I studied abroad in Spain, I made a friend who was trying to learn English. Knowing that he was trying to learn English, while I was trying to learn Spanish made learning less stressful and scary. We both understood the challenges of learning a new language and helped each other grow. I think that two-way language immersion should be implemented in every school. 

 

Who benefits from UDL?

UDL is a term I have recently just learned about and stands for Universal Design for Learning. When I first started learning about UDL I first thought it's main focus was special education. However I soon realized the importance of UDL for ALL students. For centuries we have followed a very strict curriculum. We have always followed the same path on how to teach our students. We have learned that each student is different, every single one is an individual. The problem is that the curriculum we have always followed does not adapt to each student. Its not a mystery to figure out that the curriculum we follow has flaws, while we watch students being taught the same things as their peers fall behind. What is creating these students to fall behind, even though they have the same exact resources as others? Each student is different! UDL allows us to adapt to these differences so every student can learn. People may view UDL as an adapting for students with disabilities. But they are far from the only ones that will benefit. In a recent article that I read it used a great example of how many more people benefit from the original audience. The article says how the cut in a curb was originally intended to benefit people in wheelchairs. Of course it does benefit them, but it also benefits people with canes, skateboarders, and people we carriages. All though it was not intended to benefit these people it does and only creates a positive improvement for everyone. UDL will not only help students with disabilities but it will also help every student. Teachers will also benefit from UDL because the flexibility they need in a classroom will already be there. Instead of trying to figure out how to help each student in the middle of the year, teachers will start the year off with flexibility for each student. Overall UDL will be beneficially to everyone involved.

What do you really know about Christopher Columbus?

When I think about Christopher Columbus, I think of two things, he sailed the ocean blue in 1492 and that we get a day off from work. I never really stopped to question this, because growing up, he was taught to be a hero. I mean after all we have a holiday for him, so he must be pretty great, right?

However the sad truth about it is that there is a whole other side of the story that is never told. It only takes minutes of research to find out the truth about Christopher Columbus and who actually is. Christopher Columbus did awful things but whats worse is that we are still glorifying him. For many Americans Columbus day is a nice day off from work, but for Native Americans they are reminded of the awful things their ancestors had to go through. One article I read quoted Christopher Columbus journal saying "I could conquer the whole of them with fifty men and govern them as I please." This quote really stood out to me because we are suppose to be teaching students about equality and treating every one the same. Yet here we are teaching them about Christopher Columbus, who is saying that he is so much better then these people, that he can just take them over and do whatever he wants with them. Is this really the type of message we want to be teaching our kids? Another quote that stood out to me in on of the articles was "why do some books not tell the truth." I understand we have to wait to a certain age before telling students the truth about Christopher Columbus, but maybe instead of telling them half the story, we should wait to tell them the whole story. Instead of glorifying Christopher Columbus at a young age, we should be telling our students the WHOLE story when they are old enough to handle it. I think that we should be using Christopher Columbus to teach our students how important it is to treat everyone as equals. Use this history to show them what he did was wrong, and make them question how they would feel if that happened to them today. I still think that we should be teaching our students about Christopher Columbus but the image of him really needs to change. I found this website that I thought would be helpful in teaching students the truth about Christopher Columbus.  

Truth About Christopher Columbus