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Case: Was there more than a language barrier? Mr. Henderson is a third grade teacher in an elementary school located in a rural area near a large city in Texas. He has been teaching third grade in this small school setting for six years. His classroom is usually comprised of local students who live in the nearby farming community. Occasionally the established ranchers there hire migrant workers who move into the area for seasonal employment. It is common for these laborers to bring their families with them and enroll their children in school. Mr. Henderson has always met the challenges he faces when these students come into his classroom to join the other third graders. Often, these migrant workers and their families move into this friendly rural community with little or no knowledge of the English language. If the laborers are coming from nearby Mexico, Spanish is usually the only language they have been exposed to. After a few years of studying the Spanish language and culture, Mr. Henderson feel prepared and confident when communicating with the migrant students and their parents. Mr. Henderson feels proud of his accomplishments when he recalls his past few years of academically reaching ESL (English as a Second Language) students. He only regrets one experience he encountered involving an ESL student, Jorge. This young man moved into the community with his parents and siblings for a two year period. Jorge seemed to enjoy his new environment in Mr. Henderson's classroom. However, Jorge was not at all interested in school work or learning the English language. He constantly drew beautiful pictures of fancy cars. He loved classic automobiles as well as all kinds of race cars. Mr. Henderson felt like he could not compete for Jorge's undivided attention when it came to cars. Mr. Henderson was very impressed with Jorge's drawings but was frustrated when Jorge put one hundred percent of his efforts into his car art work. Mr. Henderson worked all school year to teach the curriculum to all of his students, including the ESL students. Jorge seemed to be an exception to the rule when it came to Mr. Henderson's teaching experiences. Jorge was the only student who Mr. Henderson felt had slipped through the cracks of third grade. Questions: 1. Was there more than a language barrier between Mr. Henderson and Jorge? 2. How could Mr. Henderson direct Jorge's attention toward the third grade curriculum? 3. How could Howard Gardner's Theory about Multiple Intelligences assist Mr. Henderson? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) I believe there was a barrier between Mr. Henderson and Jorge in addition to the language barrier, and that is what they thought was important. Mr. Henderson felt that the school work was important and Jorge's car drawings, while impressive, should not be focused on during the school day. Jorge, however, obviously felt like his car drawings were important since he put 100% of his effort into them. He clearly thought the schoolwork was not as important. Mr. Henderson could have used Jorge's facination with cars to get him to pay attention to the curriculum. Mr. Henderson could have given Jorge books on cars to read , for starters, to get him interested in Language Arts. Howard Gardner's Theory about Multiple Intelligences suggests that children have different ways of thinking and different ways of learning can benefit them. Mr. Henderson could have used this way of thinking with Jorge and possibly given him more artistic activities since he seems to be good at, and enjoy, drawing. |
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