DMontgomery Reflections on Mini Conference

Description of the Culture

            The mini-conference unlocked my perspective on different cultures. The speakers during the panel discussion made spectacular points. Vesna Vujinovic told that Bosnia and Herzegovena was founded more than 1000 years ago, where Jewish people took asylum. The root of the Bosnian language was Slavic. Often people from Bosnia entered the United States without knowing any English. Many families who entered the country, were still relating everyday actions to war. Students may have problems with bells ringing or fire alarms due to this experience. Some of the families were gypsies, so they often moved to different areas of the world. Bosnian parents expect schools to call them to talk about good behavior and grades.  They are not used to volunteering at schools.  Teachers need to have discussions with parents about helping in the classroom. One custom in Bosnia is to remove shoes when entering a home. Politics and religion are not discussed in conversations. If you do not maintain eye contact, they feel you are not telling them everything.  They also need daily hugs to feel supported (Brasel, 2012).

            Beatriz Uribe talked about the difference of being Hispanic and Latino.  She explained that if someone spoke Spanish they were Hispanic. If someone was from Latin America, they are Latino. She asked teachers to call her office or email her if a student reported someone was cursing. Some words are curse words in one language and not in another. In Mexico, “s, z, c” were all pronounced “s”. However, in Spain, “s” is sometimes pronounced “th”.   Teachers need to be aware of the educational background of each student’s family. If you knew the level of education they had, you would know if they could help their child with homework or not. All teachers need to make sure the student could do homework alone. The parent might not have the educational background to help. Deportation was a big problem for many families. Hispanics had the most problems with technology.  This makes eClass and the parent portal a problem. Most immigrants have jobs they cannot leave for an hour or two for a conference. If they were to take any time off, they must miss the entire day. Phone conferences could be utilized instead of a face-to-face conference. Beatriz warned teachers not to accept a head nod or yes/no answers. Sometimes people would just nod their head as a form of respect (Brasel, 2012).

            Eun Sook Lee was the Korean translator.  Korea's history dates back to more than 5000 years ago. She asked current teachers not to make the mistake of coding children from South Korean as North Korean.  Almost 100 percent of Koreans were from South Korea.  Immigrant families really don’t understand events such as after school activities. They do not fathom pajama days, Relay for Life, and other fundraisers. Teachers need to talk to parents about these events directly. The Korean culture allowed discipline to be withheld longer than most cultures. Korean's do not have a middle name.  Women keep their name when they get married.  Make sure you do not drop one of the syllables of the name.  This changes the meaning of the name. Never write names in red ink because that means blood or death. All notes should be written in print because they cannot read cursive. It is acceptable to bow or shake hands with Korean parents.  However, hugging of the same gender is not allowed. They do not make eye contact.   Children of the same gender, however, are allowed to hold hands. Koreans do not have any concept of personal space since they lived in such a microscopic area. Parents expect teacher to contact them in order to brag on their children. Therefore, teachers need to communicate before there is a problem (Brasel, 2012).

            Yisu Brasel was the Chinese representative on the panel. She stated that the Chinese language did not have word endings or tenses of verbs. For example, "I yesterday go to the movie." "He, she, and it" all had the same pronunciation. There was no such thing as articles in the language. Children must be told the rules in English. The Mandarin and Cantonese languages were very different. If a person spoke Mandarin, they would not be able to communicate with someone who spoke Cantonese (Brasel, 2012).

            Lan Schlecht was the Vietnamese translator. She came to the United States in 2003. That was the first time she knew Americans referred to Japanese, Korean, and Chinese as Asian. The traditional costume her Mom wore was beautiful.  The costume could be worn anywhere. For instance, weddings, funerals, school, church, etc. Everyone was expected to show the best of themselves when wearing the costume. The capital of Vietnam was Hanoi. It became their capital in the year 1010. Vietnam set up trade villages to make traditional souvenirs. Lan suggested having parent engagement activities at different workshops. Some of the topics could be technology, explaining the American education system, etc. (Brasel, 2012).

            My first breakout session was called Immigration in Picture Books. Dr. Mani Burgess and Laurie Rohm presented a website. I enjoyed using the website to explore. They also had us read a picture book and reflect about our thoughts on a BLOG. My comfort level would have been raised if we would have had more time to ponder our thoughts (Burgess, 2012).

            I attended ELPP Help! for my second session. We saw different parts of the ELPP, and were told how to fill out most of the form (Gillentine, 2012). I felt overwhelmed in this session. If my background knowledge had been better, I would have been better prepared. There was so much information that I am now confused. My desire is that every teacher have more training for the ELPP

Reflections on Culture

            This conference was very informative. I know information was our main interest, but food was on my mind the whole time. Cuisine has always helped me understand more about a culture. When I was in college in Tennessee, we had a Greek festival.  A big part of the festival was different foods prepared for our enjoyment. Maybe that is why I expected food.

            After this experience, I know I will be more prepared to deal with students from many different areas of the world. For example, if I ever do home visits, I will not wear my shoes into anyone's house who is Bosnian, Korean, Chinese, or Japanese. Children will not be expected to look me in the eyes across the board. It used to be an expectation for a child to look at my eyes. However, now it is apparent that this is disrespectful for some cultures. Interpreters are definitely more important than I imagined. My conferences will include an interpreter from this point forward.

 Affects on Teaching

            After the mini-conference, I feel my understanding of different cultures has increased. It will take much practice to remember things about each culture. However, I also feel since the children are in American schools, they need to learn how to adapt, to a certain degree, to the American culture.  For instance, I have had a hard time teaching children to walk on the right side of the hall. If I would have thought about it, the question I would have asked the panel: "Which side of the hallway do you walk on in your country?"

            Many cultural backgrounds could be discussed in my class. In fact, multicultural days would be good for most classrooms. If each class took a different culture represented in their room, much could be learned about each society. The topics would be: language, clothing, education, and FOOD! Each child would be asked to bring in an item or example of each topic.

            As stereotyping or prejudices occur, they will be discussed. For instance, if children say something about someone else's culture, I will ask, "What is a better way to know about his/her background?" Stressing positives in everyone, is a way to teach tolerance. Another way is to make a Venn-diagram and talk about ways different groups compare and contrast.

                                     References

Brasel, V., Lee, E., Schlecht, L., Vujinovic, V. Uribe, B. (2012). Proceedings form ESOL                 Endorsement Mini Conference. Gwinnett County Public Schools.

Burgess, M. . (PhD), & Rohm, L. (2012). Immigration in Picture Books. Proceedings from             ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference. Gwinnett County Public Schools.

Gillentine, M. (2012). ELPP Help! Proceedings from ESOL Endorsement Mini Conference.             Gwinnett County Public Schools.

The Purdue OWL. Purdue U Writing Lab, 2010. Web. 30 August 2012. How to cite sources             in APA style.