I had to read an article for one of my other classes and I was really disturbed when it actually hit home. In the article, which I can't find at the moment (sorry), it talked about a group of preservice teachers who where generally middle class Americans. This article was writen by a professor at Geogia Southern University, and it discussed that the preservice teachers there went out to do their field studies and encountered students who lived in poverty. The students came back and told their professor about this other "culture" of students and how they, as up and coming teachers, had never seen such poverty and didn't know how to handle it. They had children who had not eaten, children with no running water, or children who had been abused. My question is do you feel like you are prepared to take on whatever comes your way as and up and coming teacher? I know that Appalachian has done a great job with teaching us about diversity, but is hearing it enough?

I believe that for me it would shock me and make me feel very inadequate, but hopefully by the time I leave ASU I will have more experience with the teaching field. Although, as an up coming teacher I believe that their will always be new experiences that we may not know how to handle, but we must understand that we can go to those in our schools for guidance in any situation. I believe that the poverty situation would be very upsetting, but also something that isn't entirely new to me, maybe in those extremes more so than normal though. In order to be a great teacher you need to be prepared to handle anything and have the compassion and understanding to give your students the best education possible.

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Britini Leigh Murray

I don't think we will ever be completely prepared for the issues that we are going to face. So it is important to expect the unexpected and be aware that the unexpected WILL happen. That way nothing will surprise you.

I don't think I am prepared to handle students in a severe poverty stricken area. However, I think to really learn how to handle situations like that you need to experience those situations first hand. I don't think just talking about diversity in our classes is enough. It does give insight into the situations but all situations are different and like Hannah said, expect the unexpected. I don't think there is any real way to prepare pre-service teachers for these kind of situations.

The school I am at now for Block 1 is very diverse and serves the housing projects right across the street from it. We were told that some of the children we have in our classrooms probably didn't have dinner the night before or anything to really eat that day. Ninety something percent of the students are on free or reduced lunch. About half of the student population is Hispanic, a lot of them being ELL students (not ESL, because with many of them English isn't their second language, but their third or so). I'm so glad I'm able to be in a school to experience this diversity first hand and work with the students who don't come from your 'typical' middle class American household.

I don't know that I necessarily feel prepared for any situation I may be faced with, but I welcome the challenge and know I'll be able to get through it. I know it won't always be delightful or easy, but thats not why I signed up for this profession. I'm doing it so I can make a difference in children's lives, and I'll do whatever I can to help my students and work with them through situations they may be facing.

I do feel adequately prepared to deal with many challenges that I will face in a classroom of diverse students. I am fortunate enough that I have had life experiences either personally or working with students who have had a variety of challenges that many of us take for granted. It is through these hands on experiences that I will at least know where to begin with situations that are unexpected in the classroom. Unfortunately theres no real way to teach this in a classroom, its all about getting out in the schools and talking with students and teachers. The more people's stories you learn, the more aware you become of the world around you. I try to take every opportunity to ask questions of practicing teachers about situations that they face daily in diverse classrooms. I hope that I can continue to have these experiences so that I can stay prepared for my future in the classroom.

I don't think that hearing it is ever enough. I believe that to completely understand it you have to see it and work with these kids. Through my tutoring experiences at various schools and through going to inner city schools in Washington, DC, I believe that I have a compassion and understanding of what some of these kids go through on a daily basis. I say what "some of these kids" are going through, because no two situations are ever going to be the same and as a teacher you have to be completely prepared to be thrown into new situations.