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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!) 1. There is more than a language barrier to this case. This student could be going through a number of things in his personal life. If Jorge's parents are migrant workers, he has most likely move around a lot. It is possible that he feels like school work isn't important because he's just going to move after a short period of time. There seems to be more of a motivational issue than a language barrier. The language barrier is there, obviously, but I think Jorge needs to be motivated to perform well in school just like he is motivated to draw cars. 2. Mr. Henderson should try to incorporate Jorge's interest in cars and art into his curriculum. There are so many ways to incorporate the arts into lessons. The topic of cars is more difficult to incorporate but it is possible. For example, if the class is talking about rocks (3rd grade Earth Science GPS), Mr. Henderson could relate the rocks to what is used to pave different types of roads. He could discuss what types of soil would be the most difficult to drive a car on and why. Mr. Henderson could also have Jorge research how cars contribute to weathering and erosion. 3. Jorge likes to draw. He expresses himself through his artwork. Jorge is most likely a visual learner. According to Gardner's Theory of Multiple Intelligences, visual learners enjoy drawing and usually think in pictures. Mr. Henderson could have Jorge do more visual activities to stimulate his thinking. If Jorge was free to draw a picture to express his knowledge of content, he may be more motivated to put one hundred percent of his efforts into the content. He could for example, draw a timeline of Eleanor Roosevelt's life (3rd grade Social Studies GPS). He could then write what is happening under each picture. This would improve his writing fluency by having him write what the pictures are supposed to convey. This would also teach the standard, and incorporate art into the activity. Basically, he could weave writing, social studies, and art all into one topic. |
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