Blog 9: Accommodating Diversity

Nicholas Matuszewski

Blog 9

Educ. 361

10/17/2011

Blog 9: Accommodating Diversity

            I feel that teachers are at a disadvantage when it comes to accommodating diversity in their classrooms. Cooperative learning is a great tool for a teacher to use when accommodating diversity. By incorporating cooperative learning into the classroom learning environment the teacher will be able to address the many different needs the students possess and allowing the students to teach each other.

            One way to begin accommodating diversity would be by beginning a new school year trying to create good classroom management. This may sound like something that every teacher tries to do anyways but I only say it to show how important it is when dealing with diversity. A classroom environment created into a class of well-behaved students can help reduce negative diversity that more than likely will show up through not-so-well behaved students. When students learn together on what is expected in the classroom and how it’s going to work accommodating diversity is being applied during this process.

            Another example of accommodating diversity is gathering students together at a reserved spot in the classroom (an example would be a giant rug the students and teacher can all sit around) can be a great place to introduce students to the many types of diversity and how (if possible) it should be handled. Some of the diversity students possess is very sensitive and tricky to deal with. Sharing stories and creating oral mini-lessons in diversity if students bring it up is a good way to teach students about it. This may sound like a simple and maybe ridiculous idea but I have seen it firsthand on how effective something so simple like this example can be.

            The many differences between each student can cause friction between them. This friction can be used to get students to use their differences as a tool to work together towards a common goal. Putting diverse students together who are at the same learning level can help further their learning quickly and effectively. At first it may be difficult figuring out what group to put each student into. But this should become clearer after testing their reading levels. Applying cooperative learning into reading will help the students become independent learners which will trickle down into the other school subjects being taught. Students in same leveled (or close) learning groups will learn at the same pace as their same leveled group members. If some students show major improvement in their learning then they can be moved up into a higher leveled group.  

            There is no perfect way for teachers to handle all the diversity they have to deal with. There are lots of examples and ways to deal with diversity but it is up to the teachers to decide which way(s) are best to use with their current students. How will I try and accommodate diversity in my future classroom? I won’t know until I get there but at least I will have a lot of ideas on how to do so.