Summertime

Has anyone else had this conversation?
Me: Is today Tuesday or Wednesday?
Hubby: It's Wednesday!

Haha - I've been enjoying my summer. Here's some of what I've been doing:

Enjoying College Girl

Watching this baby dove

Enjoying my flower garden

Really enjoying my flower garden!

And my Cultural Diversity class. Oh goodness. Does anybody else take online classes? Does it seem like they take more work than regular classes? I love the convenience and not having to "go" anywhere. But oh my!

Anyway, one thing that we've had to do that I enjoyed was watching three documentaries about diversity. I decided to focus on Latinos, since those students are usually at least 50% of my class. I watched a short video called "Immersion." This video was told from the point of view of a boy, probably 10 years old, who spoke mainly Spanish and he had to take a test. They didn't say what the test was for, but it was a math test. He knew how to do the math, but the word problems were confusing to him. When he asked for help, his teacher said she was sorry, she couldn't help him. {She did try to find a copy of the test in Spanish, but was unsuccessful.} It's been a while since I've had a student who really didn't speak English, although last year, I had a student who it almost seemed like he would translate my question into Spanish and then translate his answer back into English. 

Another video I watched was about 3 high school Latina girls. One was a dropout with a child who decided to go back to school. Another was a homeless girl who got into a college with the help of her adviser. The third was about a girl who joined an organization at school and through that was able to go to Africa for part of the summer.  This was certainly a feel good documentary - and I got a little teary eyed during the end. 

I enjoyed watching these videos - and I think it's given me a small glimpse into lives that might be similar to my students. And if nothing else, this class has gotten me thinking about how I can better reach my kids? How can I make a connection with them? How can I show them I care? {Cuz I really do.}