Journal Table #1
Column 1: Clinical Site and Analysis
I am placed at Rushford-Peterson Schools (it
is a Early Childhood-12, though I was placed
in the high school section. It is located in the
town of Rushford, MN. The commute takes
about 30 minutes to get there. It was my first
time in an actual K-12 building, though I have
heard of them and know of a few elsewhere.
All of the core classes are taught in the
appropriate High School and Middle School
wings with electives being on the other side
of the school, closer to the gym. The school is
not very big by any means, but it is able to fit
everyone and everything they need. As it is a
brand new school, it is very technologically
advanced. All their smartboards are brand
new. They are also a 1-1 technology school
district where every students gets a
Chromebook.
As of 2015, the median household income in
Rushford, MN is $40,568. This median
income is higher than the eligibility for both
free and reduced lunch. In Rushford-Peterson
Schools, the students receiving free and
reduced lunches are:
Eligible for Free Lunch: 13.9%
Eligible for Reduced Lunch: 15.2%
Ineligible for Free/Reduced Lunch: 70.9%
The demographics for Rushford-Peterson
Schools are as followed:
White: 95.5%
Hispanic: 1.3%
Asian: 0.9%
2 Races: 2.2%
Column 2: Content
I am required to first answer A or B, I am choosing A
based on my chosen respondent(s):
A) What kinds of Personal/Cultural Knowledge or
Popular Knowledge influence your thinking about
the ethnically and racially diverse student(s) you will
be working with in your clinical setting?
I have never had any real experience with native
Mexicans so all I had to go on before my field
experience started was that I got from the media.
However, I am also a Spanish Education student and
plan to teach Spanish in the future, so I am really not
that ignorant. The majority of my students are white
but during my studies and observations, I will be
focusing on my Hispanic students. I know that coming
into this and some of the first few things that I have
learned from my coorperating teacher is that the
education system is not the same in Mexico as it is in
the US. I know that their stations in the household
are different than that of the United States, or so say
my previous knowledge and the media, but I am not
sure as to how that affects them as students.
As a different race, our personal and cultural views
are very different, the respect towards elders, though
both of our races are indeed respectful, they do seem
to hold different levels. When it comes to popular
media, both seems to have a lot but they emphasize
different aspects of life and different things that the
races hold important. Academic is the very important
part from what I have been gathering. School is not
mandatory in Mexico. They dont need to go to
school as per the government. It has been brought to
my attention that the father of the girls did not
believe in education and too them out of school quite
frequently in order to have them work and help
support the family. This is why the two of them know
no English and have very low reading and writing
The races that I have not stated, such as: levels when compared to peers of the same age. I
Black, American Indian, and Pacific Islander, feel as though we are in a too early stage to
are not in the school at all. determine their transformations, however, given the
There are 20 students in my Spanish 2 class, education that they will be getting, I sincerely hope
there demographics are: that that will be a big change for them in the coming
years.
White: 16 (80%)
Hispanic: 2 (10%) C) How can the racialization of the student(s) you
Asian: 1 (5%) will be working with be reinforced or challenged by
2 Races: 1 (5%) races being black and white any of his/her/their other demographic
characteristics?
I am a little confused because the
demographics I found stated that there were There is racialization by not only teachers and other
no black students at all in the school. I am staff at the school but also by other students. Maria is
curious as to whether there is a percentage Mexican and she does have Mexican characteristics,
of African American blood that one needs to but I do not believe that that is the only thing that
have to be declared Black rather than 2 sets her apart from her peers. She doesnt have the
races? I could not find the answer to this visual racialization that many get because there is
question as of yet. another Hispanic boy, well call him Eddy, who is
native to Minnesota and whose parent is Mexican but
I have been placed in a Spanish classroom for some reason he was not raised speaking Spanish
and am there for 2 Exploratory classes (6th in the home.
and 8th grade) as well as Spanish 2 (10th-12th
grade). My cooperating teacher is a white However, Maria does not speak English. That fact
female who is in her late 30s or early 40s. immediately turns people away from wanting to pair
Shes been teaching at Rushford-Peterson with her, even in Spanish class. This fact reinforces
Schools since the early 2000s. She is the only their pre-racialization of her and her sister. So not
Spanish teacher at the school so she teaches only by looks are they of a different Ethnicity and
anyone who enrolls in a Spanish course. Race but they are fluent in a different language and
so communicating is very difficult. Their
For my digital ethnography project I will be socioeconomic status is also reinforced by their
focusing on a specific student, her name will perceived racialization. I am not saying that they are
be Maria, I will also be talking about her older poor; I dont quite know that much about her yet.
sister, Ana, as well. I have both of these girls But, I have heard from my cooperating teacher that
in 2 of my classes, so I feel I will get to know they do not have WiFi in their home, which is hard
them both pretty well. Maria is Mexican and since they are a 1-1 technology school and it is
actually just moved to Rushford from Mexico assumed that everyone has WiFi in their home.
recently. She speaks little to no English and
when it comes to Spanish reading and D) How can the Funds of Knowledge approach help
writing, she is at a 2nd grade level. Based on you see a students cultural background as an asset
the Intersectionality Graphic and what I know to his or her learning?
so far about Maria: we have different
ethnicities, races, socioeconomics statuses, Having a native Spanish speaker in a Spanish
exceptionality as well as language learning. classroom can actually be a great asset when used
That is five out of seven from the graphic. properly. She can provide words that the teacher or I
do not know to the class. When she speaks, she also
th
Maria is in 7 grade and is taking an has a native accent, which is great for the other
exploratory Spanish class with her 8th grade students to hear because we would rather them be
peers. She does not know any English and
barely knows how to write in Spanish, she
knows how to copy words and sounds things
out, but that is the gist of where she is in the
class. Spanish in this class is taught with the
premise that they know English. So it is
usually the Spanish word for this is that, that
does not help a student who does not know
English but only Spanish, it is much harder to
work backwards in such a scenario. To make
matters worse, her other teaching arent
taking the time to cater to her needs at all
and somehow expects her to catch up on her
own, which is why she is failing a number of
her classes.
As a 1-1 technology school, it is a basic
assumption that everyone has Wifi at home.
That is not the case in their family. Therefore,
the assignments that are usually due Sunday
at midnight cant be done by them on time
and they dont usually have enough time to
do so.
I am taking this class for my Methods class as
well as 441 and 421 so unfortunately, there is
no observing for me. I went straight into
helping out the teacher and even teaching
lessons within a month of me being there. So
I went straight into helping Maria with class,
though I am not with her often I found out,
only 2 days every other week since they only
have Spanish class every other day.
From what I know about her so far, she is not
doing too well is class (test usually has
directions in English and asks for the Spanish
translations of English words. I can tell so far,
that she will be needing help in this class.
able to speak with a Hispanic accent rather than in a
typical American accent that students usually
possess. She also has intimate knowledge of the
culture that can be used during class. Like from the
Activities to Investigate Funds of Knowledge, she has
a lot of social networks that many of us dont have
and a lot of it is relevant in a Spanish classroom, not
always to the language itself but also to their culture
and how it is and how it may differ from our own.
Another activity could be talking to her about her
cultural traditions, practices and celebrations, things
that provide them with their sense of cultural
identity. I feel that would be fascinating to talk to her
about and also the other students could learn a lot
from this as well, and it would show then that there is
so much more than their small town, there is so
much more as to what is traditionally learned in the
classroom. She can really be a huge asset in the
classroom and I hope she will be included and feel
included even though she cant actually speak in
English.
E) Discuss the possible Activities to Investigate
Funds of Knowledge that you will possibly use to
identify the Funds of Knowledge (assets, strengths,
resources) possessed by your student(s) you choose
to study
This one goes a lot off of the question before. I
believe that she will have a lot of strengths when it
comes to Spanish class. Knowing about where she
grew up and the cultural practices around there
would prove to not only know more about her as a
student and person, but it will also allow the other
students in the class to learn more about the culture
than I would have been able to teach them. Learning
from someone who has personal knowledge allows
for more engagement in the other students as they
know that it is real, and that it was the life of
someone that they actually know. Her strength would
be in the class more than any other class, plus she
could prove to be both an excellent asset and
resource to them as well.
F) DISCUSS the EDFD 400/401 Developmental
and/or Learning theorists who you can use to give a
rationale for your choice of said activities.
Sigmund Freud is a developmental theorist who talk a
lot about self and a persons ego. He explored
identity and its three aspects. One of those aspects is
a persons social and cultural identity. The cultural
identity is probably something that Maria can really
hold onto since she doesnt have much after moving
all the way to Minnesota except her identity. So
talking about her culture will help her be able to keep
her identity while the schools try to conform her into
a typical US student, one who speaks English and
stays within the norm of the student body.