Prompt 4-Connection To Allan Johnson

        Everyone in life has their own personal history. Not everyone can relate to a person’s social and cultural matters because not everyone is the same and has the same culture. When I first entered Brown Long Elementary school I could tell right away that I most likely was going to have a completely different personal history and culture then the students I would be working with. After working with my students my initial thoughts were true. The majority of students in Mrs. Hope’s class were either Spanish or African American. Growing up In Glocester Rhode Island I was never expose to Spanish or African American children, this could pose a few problems for me if I was the teacher of this class.
        The first problem would be communication. Never being exposed to Spanish culture could pose problems with communicate between not only myself and my students, but with my students parents as well. When I was growing up I had all the tools needed to succeed in elementary, middle, and high school. This is not the case for schools where the children are mostly Hispanic or African American. Most schools that are not predominantly white don’t receive enough funding to give their students some of the tools they need to help them succeed. It would take some time to get use to as a teacher not having some tools that could help your student succeed like new books and computers. I might also face challenges when relating to students and life outside of school. I cannot just assume that every student has computers, their own room, a good environment to do homework, and supportive parents to help them with their schoolwork. For example today I was working with Mark a first grade Spanish boy when out of nowhere he looked at me and said “my mom left me yesterday.” I asked him to repeat himself because I didn’t know if I was hearing him correctly. He then said “My mom left me yesterday because she doesn’t have a job and I live with my grandparents now.” My heart broke when I heard tell me his story with this sad look on his face. I didn’t know what to say to him because I have never been in that situation before.
        The advantage of teaching this class would be the knowledge I would gain from being around other cultures I have never been exposed to and know nothing about. I would finally be able to learn about other cultures and lifestyles. This would help me as a teacher inside and outside the classroom. Although I do not know much about other cultures the one advantage the students gain with me as their teacher is a hardworking dedicated teacher who cares about all her students and would learn about their cultures so I would be giving them the best chance to succeed.
        I related this to Our House is on Fire by Allen Johnson. Johnson talks about “white Privilege” and how it occurs in schools. I completely agree with this because after tutoring at Brown Long Elementary I compared Brown Long Elementary to my elementary school and I can recall having more computers, better books, better desk, and much more artwork throughout the hallways. I also remember just having an overall better building. It is time for a change. If we give all students the same test and expect them all to perform well we need to as teachers be given the proper tools to be able to give our students what they need to become the best student they can be. We also need to don’t treat students the same because as I stated before not everyone is the same and not everyone comes from the same culture.