Running head: ASSIGNMENT 3

Charlene Covarrubias
EDU 2050
Assignment 3
November 26, 2014

ASSIGNMENT 3

2
Charlene Covarrubias
EDU 2050
Assignment 3

At-risk students are those who require either temporary or consistent assistance in
order to succeed academically. Students who require this assistance typically have issues
both transitioning into adulthood and becoming self-sufficient.
Those who are at-risk tend to show a lack of interest in school and in their
academics. One way that I can support students who are caught up in at-risk behaviors is
to modify the curriculum to spark an interest, as well as creating an engaging setting for
these students, whether its in the classroom, school, or community. How you present
yourself to your students, and how you present the subject you are teaching, plays a role
in how engaged your students would be.
At-risk students also show signs of having emotional and behavioral problems. As
an educator you need to diminish any barriers between you and your students. Creating a
student-teacher relationship may help reduce emotional and behavioral issues within the
classroom. Students need to feel safe in their environment and they need to know that
they can trust you. By having this relationship you can get to the core of where these
behavioral and emotional problems begin and address them. Once you are able to build
that caring relationship with your student then it enables your students to come to you
when they need to talk.
Since at-risk students are more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems
in school it is harder for them to connect with their peers and their teachers. At-risk

ASSIGNMENT 3

students show signs of being disconnected from their school environment. It is ideal to
create stronger teacher-student and student-student relationships so these at-risk students
feel as though they are important. You can create these relationships with get-to-knowyou games, grouping, introductions, about-mes, and through classroom management.
Lastly students who fall under the at-risk category are more likely to have a
lower-academic standing. As a teacher you can sit and talk with your students and create
goals. Creating goals are a perfect way to challenge your student to do and be better,
whether its a behavioral goal that can help them focus more on the curriculum or an
academic goal that they are trying to achieve. This will allow your student to feel a sense
of self-accomplishment and help them increase their esteem.
Aside from following the curriculum, I would instruct the substitute teacher to
follow the classroom rules and guidelines and make sure they are enforced in the
classroom. When classroom management is not enforced, whether it is a substitute
teacher or permanent teacher, then the class become chaotic and students become
disruptive. I would instruct the substitute to teach with enthusiasm and try to involve and
engage the students the substitute teacher would be provided with a list of student pairing
if students are to be grouped that day. I would also have the substitute teacher create a
caring relationship with the students and if any problem were to arise then I would
instruct her to write it down and I would address this issue with the student so that the
problems dont arise with future substitute teachers.

ASSIGNMENT 3

It is essential for not only the students, but also the community to build
relationships with one another. As a future educator I can work for social change in my
classroom by implementing the curriculum that enables my students to learn about each
others cultural backgrounds and how to recognize similarities between their culture and
others. This is to insure that stereotypes are reduced and students will begin to understand
each other. This is the same with the community; I would ensure that people become
educated about cultural differences and that they are interacting with one another so they
can build these relationships. I do think that it is a duty, as a teacher, to work for social
change. People tend to fear what they dont know and to allow them the opportunity to
engage and interact with someone they know little about can rid social barriers.
Teachers can address societal factors by being more attentive, involved, caring,
and understanding of the student/family. They are also able to address societal factors
between student-students by creating lesson plans with interactive activities that will help
bring students together and make them feel more connected.

Me as a Culturally Competent Teacher

The classroom is constantly changing and because of this I will constantly need to
improve myself. In order to perfect my skills as a culturally responsive teacher I would
need to educate myself about my students. Talking with other teachers I will be able to
gain insight on ways that I can better myself as a teacher, as well as gain insight about my
current students, if needed. I plan to connect with the multicultural community as a whole
by becoming involved with the different communities, families, and students. Being more

ASSIGNMENT 3

aware of the cultures that are in my classroom will enable me to get a better
understanding of my students. To me, teaching in a multicultural classroom is to be
accepting of others and to help others become accepting. Something that I have grown up
with is peace through understanding and I want to be able to apply this in my
classroom and have my students walk out of the classroom feeling safe and accepted.
Teaching in a multicultural classroom means to welcome all cultures and all students
with or without exceptionalities, it means to work together as a class and community and
to take that and apply it in the real world.