Journal Question #9

This entry answers #9 of the Reading Methods Journal Questions

Describe and respond to how the teacher addresses individual differences of her students.

Mrs. Overstreet is one of the most caring teachers that I have ever met. She loves, values, and respects each of her students incredibly and it is obvious in the way that she interacts with her children. I felt that rather than “addressing the individual differences of [her] students”, Mrs. Overstreet created an atmosphere in which respect was the most important quality. Mrs. Overstreet constantly reminded her students to be kind, accepting, and inform the teacher of any bullying behavior. Mrs. Overstreet constantly reminded her children to keep each other accountable for their behavior and be on “bully patrol” looking out for behaviors such as making other people feel bad, hurting others, or saying unkind words, etc. Out of all of the classes that I have observed, Mrs. Overstreet’s class was not only the most diverse as far as ethnicities go (Caucasian, Hispanic, African American, Pacific Islander, Asian) and ability levels (there were children with Aspergers syndrome, SLD, on-level students, and Gifted students), but also one of the most respectful. Addressing the differences of the group did not seem to be important for there were never any situations in which the kids disrespected each others’ differences.