Introduction

Learning Objectives

  • Identify the many ways in which students differ.
  • Describe bilingual learning and how it affects a classroom.
  • After viewing a lesson in Spanish, describe the lived-experience of being a language learner in the context of learning academic content (if Spanish is not one of your languages).
  • Define and reflect on differences in learning and motivation.
  • Define childhood trauma and social emotional Learning.
  • Identify the effects of childhood trauma on student learning and behavior
  • Identify trauma informed practices and explain the value of using them in the classroom.
  • Identify teaching practices that encourage social emotional learning.
  • Reflect on the importance of building relationships with your students and their families.

     When you conceive of your future classroom, what does it look like?  In what ways will your students be alike?  In what ways will they be different?  The dimensions along which your future students will differ are numerous and vary widely.  There are many ethnic and cultural factors to consider, such as gender, religion, ethnicity and language.  What affect will this have on the learning environment and climate of your classroom?  Additionally, your students will have differences in styles of learning, degree of motivation, temperament, emotional well-being and social skills.  Students also vary in need, and can have cognitive and, or physical impairments.  Many of your students will embody several of these characteristics at the same time.  Some of these dimensions can be attributed to heredity.  Others are a result of where a student is from.  Others, still, are a result of the student’s home life and experiences.  Regardless of the origin or type of factors that work together to make each student unique, a well-prepared teacher needs to be knowledgeable of how student diversity affects their classroom and their teaching.  This chapter will review the array of student differences, with specific attention to the needs of English Language Learners, students with disabilities, and students living with trauma.