Students learn valuable lessons
By Denise Blum, assistant professor
Department of Curriculum and Instruction
“I definitely felt uncomfortable when I walked into room 130 at the Academy for New Americans . . . When I walked in they all turned around and starred at me with their big brown eyes. Some of them even whispered and giggled to each other.”
“I felt completely out of my comfort zone and it was, at first, very uncomfortable. I did not know what to do, I did not fit in, and I felt very unsure of myself. This was a valuable learning experience because it put me into a situation that created an appreciation (for) difficulties my English Learner (EL) students face when they walk into an English-only classroom.”
Prior to coming to The Academy for New Americans, students in the Multiple-Subject teacher credential Block A cohort seemed to drag their feet at the idea of taking what they termed “another cultural diversity course.” But their attitudes quickly changed when they met their new teacher(s): The Hmong and Mexican immigrant children at the Academy for new Americans in Southeast Fresno.
In this article, the students’ own words, collected from their own essays, will be used to document their experience in the winter intersession class held in January 2005.
The Academy for New Americans, a K-12 school for immigrant children that opened in August 2004 with 40 students, continues to grow and expand daily. Currently, there are well over 350 students at the school. One student documents the purposes and organization of the Academy this way:
“The Academy for New Americans is very helpful and supportive of new comers into America. The mission of the Academy is: ‘to ensure that immigrant and refugee students have complete access to educational excellence and make a successful transition to their new country.’ It is an optional two-year program which helps to ease the very difficult transition of moving to a place that is not the home they have known. The teaching staff is highly qualified and. There is also a bilingual and bicultural counseling staff at the Academy with are trained to work with the academic and social needs of the immigrants and refugee students.”
The Fresno State students in this course had already completed their initial student teaching with exposure to English Language Learners and had taken a course on English Language Learner strategies, but the students’ experience at the Academy would prove to be something quite unique.
“The (Academy) students had just finished recess and were walking in a straight line towards their classroom. We joined the children to walk with them the rest of the way. The children told the teacher in excited voices, ‘Look, the two Americans have come to teach us.’ I felt like I was no longer in America, but as if I had traveled to their country.”
The idea of having the Cultural Foundations (CI140) class at the Academy came to me after having been awakened myself by the histories of the Hmong that I never knew before I came to California in 2003. I came to know the Hmong in a more personal way through Fresno Unified resource specialist, Doua Vu, and a former student of mine, Brandon Wright. They, along with communications student Ger Lee, were involved with a mini-documentary series entitled, “ Hmong Voices,” which I now incorporate in my classes.
My motivation was not only heartfelt for the Hmong, but I desperately was seeking a way for my cultural foundations course to touch my students more deeply regarding the struggle of immigrant children in Valley classrooms. I saw cultural immersion as the best means to convey this understanding and compassion.
The cultural foundations course was taught at the Academy. During half of the class meetings the last hour was devoted to having students mentor and tutor Hmong or Spanish-speaking students in small groups.
“The students also seemed unsure of me at first, which was something I did not expect. One girl [second grade] sat on the furthest edge of her chair from me. It took her about five minutes to start to relax and slowly she sat more in her chair until finally she was sitting on the edge closest to me.”
“It became obvious that the ways in which I live, learn, teach and socialize are not so normal. Instead, they are rather strange and hard to understand to some. I learned that what is a simple gesture to me, can be an odd movement to another. Even though I have lived in California, the Central Valley, and Fresno for a longer period of time than the students I work with, I was the ‘minority’ in this environment.”
“I learned a lot about what students may or may not be going through when they are new to America. I learned that English is not the only struggle that new comers may have. They have to get use to this whole new culture and life that may be so foreign to them. I think this can be harsher then learning English…. Also, I learned what it means to teach all students. I think that when I really thought about teaching all students I only thought of English-speaking students, whether I realized it or not. I also realize how difficult teaching EL students will be, but it is so worth it.”
Students were asked to comment on any cultural norms that they noticed. They mentioned that the immigrant children were far more well-behaved and polite than what they had witnessed in previous student teaching. Eye contact was minimal and the students relied on each other to ensure understanding.
“I knew it was going to be challenging , but not this challenging. I also did not expect the children’s work ethic and motivation to be so high. I have been raised in a classroom where students take their education for granted, even myself!”
The overall reaction to the experience indicates that this class format resulted in the most powerful learning experience my students have ever had. Combining traditional course curriculum with a hands-on cultural emersion and service experience proved to be a transformative experience for the college students.
“My experience was by far better than I could have imagined. It coincided perfectly with the CI140 class. The experience for me was internally rewarding and valuable.”
“This experience: school, class, readings, movies, and school setting, have definitely impacted the way that I am going to teach in my future classroom. I feel, now more than ever, that culture is a subject that is worthwhile teaching.”
“I learned that even though we are different, I should not think that I am in some way superior in intelligence or communication, because I am not. I got to experience what it feels like to be the minority and the “outsider” in the class where I am different than everyone else around me…. It is a very interesting feeling because I have never felt that before. I found that I became much more quiet and intimidated. It gives me a better perspective of what a minority student might feel like coming into my classroom.”
“I think that it is a great learning experience for future teachers as well as for the students. It gives an experience that usually we can only talk about in class.”
“I feel that I truly lent a helping hand in their learning process and even more shocking was that I think they taught me more than I ever imagined.”
“. . .this experience would have been lost if the actual class (CI140) hadn’t been coinciding with the mentoring. The lessons I learned in CI140 only helped to further my understanding of what I was feeling and learning in the mentoring class.”
“I feel that mentoring/tutoring at the Academy for New Americans should be a requirement for all CSU students who intend on completing their Multiple-Subject credential. It is hard to explain, however the experience itself is simply priceless.”
“The mentoring experience itself was the most powerful experience of my student teaching experience thus far.”
On our last day at the Academy I said my “thank yous” and “goodbyes” to Doua and the other staff. “Did you accomplish what you wanted to, Denise?” Doua asked. I said , “Well, my students felt frustrated, spoke of the communication challenge and had no idea what the children were saying. To me that’s a good sign.”
After the last class, I was able to read the students’ final papers. I could not have hoped for more! To have students get to this level of depth about themselves and others makes me so proud of them and the children who taught them these simple and not-so-simple lessons in life.
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