The greatest dilemma facing my classroom right now is how to bring equity to my students. My classroom should provide students with equity of opportunity, equity of resources, and equity of experiences. Teaching in a high poverty school, however, this is not the case. Many of my students have little or no exposure to the world in which they live. They are just a short drive away from large cities and amazing opportunities and experiences, but few of them are even aware of what is beyond their small neighborhood.
How can I help them gain a new perspective on the world around them? How can I help them be proficient in all the skills they need if they lack supplies or access to technology? I want to formulate my driving question around this idea of equality and how it relates to not only technology, but also to world exposure and experiences. Students living in poverty enter the classroom at a profound deficit of understanding of the world around them, simply because they haven't seen it or heard about it. Technology is one obvious way to bridge this gap -- bringing in experiences, connecting them to people and organizations without having to physically travel there. I will need to understand not only the effects of poverty on students but also how technology can bridge that gap. I will need to understand the impact of a "digital" experience on students. Does it has the same effect as an actual experience? Does it benefit students in a tangible, measurable way? How can we bridge this opportunity/experiential gap for students? What are some real ways that this can be achieved? I have already seen how exposure can impact and change students view points. I have already been working at exposing students to various careers, work place environments, and global locations in my computers classroom. This exposure has lead to students gaining a new understanding of the choices that are in front of them.
2 Comments
2/2/2017 06:51:01 pm
I've been wondering if my question is too large for this type of study. I was glad to read that you have been struggling with this important part of the study ahead.
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Nancy J
2/9/2017 05:18:27 pm
Hi Jen,
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AuthorJen has been teaching school for awhile now. She's learned some stuff, but she's got tons more to learn. Archives
October 2017
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