Alex Scheer 1

Diversity In The Classroom

As a teacher, we need to recognize a few different things. Not all students are the same. Not all
students know the same material. Not all students learn at the same rate, and not all students are
interested in the same subject matters. If teachers recognize this, they have a good opportunity to reach
the students, and help all students succeed.
At Lima North Middle School in Lima Ohio, Mr. Trent Miller recognizes the obstacles, and daily
works to tackle and beat these challenges. Lima North is a low income, urban middle school (5-8) with
about 40% African American, 55% White, and 5% multicultural, (i.e. Hispanic, Asian, etc.). About 99% of
the student body speaks English as the main language while 1% speak some other language, usually
Spanish. About 25-30% of students within the building have a learning or developmental disability of
some kind, and a small percentage of students are listed as gifted (5-6%). The specific classroom I
observed was a performing arts classroom (band) and this class had these similar numbers.In dealing
with the students and how the teacher in charge dealt with issues that arose, such as racism, sexual
orientation, and developmental issues, I observed 2 things. The students would often find some reason
to make themselves superior to their peers, whether it be through playing exams, written test, or even
Im better than you because I got here first. The students often struggled with branching out and
being open to accepting each other, unless it was someone within their own little clan. The students
were often distracted with these things and about 50% of the time would not focus in class until the
teacher had to threaten some sort of capital punishment to the whole class (i.e. no reward day, or no
Rock Band after the concert). The students then recognized that in losing something they were going to
have to behave to regain thy reward, and so the name-calling and nit picking soon ended. It really
affected the way the classroom was run because students were distracted with each other, and the
director was not able to achieve maximum success with the rehearsal, therefore causing a different

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method on how to approach the student body, one that albeit effective, was not the gentle way the
director would have liked. Racism is a huge issue within the school as even at ages 11-14, the students
have gangs and know common gang and street slang terms, causing within class fights to breakout of
often more than two students. This disrupted rehearsal and often made rehearsal an empty time block
with the dealing of the incident, and having the principal come to regain order form the class. Dealing
with racism was a difficult task without it looking to other students that the teacher is or was showing
favoritism to one race over the other. The competition of race could often be silenced with the director
making it very clear that ANY student could beat the others if they practiced or showed up prepared to
perform and to work hard. He made it very evident that everyone can succeed in the ensemble.
Within the 7th grade band period I noticed on student in particular (whom I will refer to as
Mabel) who several times would not understand what was going on, or where she needed to be in the
music, or even not being in the right seat. Mabel was having difficulty being able to focus on one task,
and this caused her saxophone playing to leave her at last chair. Only when she had almost 100%
attention, did she succeed. This student has more than enough ability to succeed in band and in the
general classroom with some help and encouraging. She demonstrated this in band, when Mr. Miller
had me conduct the group and he sat next to Mabel and played saxophone with her. This student needs
85-100% teacher attention to achieve success and cannot consistently get it in a setting such as a band,
or even a general education classroom. Some students often picked on her, and while she doesnt have
a mental disability, her hyper activeness made it seem as if she did. As a teacher, the special education
department would be a good fit for her, or put her in a classroom with a two-teacher set, so that one
teacher can help Mabel and students like Mabel to do well in the general content areas. Every child can
learn its just to what measure is a teacher willing to help them learn? In this particular case, it is a
relatively easy solution, and the student can still become successful.Every teacher in the building
recognized communication was key to the success of the student body. The students arent lured by

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things of the past, but instead want to learn about modern things to do with music. They want to learn
about 2Pac, Eminem, and 50Cent. The teacher recognizes that to get these students to learn about the
old school musicians,(i.e. Beethoven, Brahms, Bach Vivaldi, etc.) he would have to show them these
works in modern pop culture and show them that ALL music is connected. If the teacher finds a way to
interact with a student on the students level, they will accomplish more in what they want to teach,
than if they teach the same way they did in 1985. Students in the general music classes were studying
the effects of classical music on pop culture by listening to clean rap, and rock and noticing the orchestra
in the back-round or hearing the trumpet solo in Pump it by the Black Eyed Peas. If a teacher isnt
willing to adjust to the modern student, the student will get little to no information and will sometimes
develop a sense of dislike toward the teacher because they dont wanna learn about stupid John Philip
Sousa.
The way the situation is approached is extremely important because the teacher needs to
effectively and professionally communicate the material, yet make it intriguing for the students. The
teacher cannot show any favoritism, or bias, and must be willing to accept all learners. That will
effectively turn a student off to a teacher if they think that they are constantly being treated unfairly.
The students were extremely receptive to participation. The Orchestra and Band directors combined a
general music class and dual taught, and they decided to do a project where the students taught, and it
was a big success because the class was all involved with active participation. Every student in turn
learned the material to be the best. The drive to be do something were they taught the teachers is what
helped them to succeed. As a student, being positively singled out is good but if the teacher has a
favorite that they single out, then it hurts the other students esteem, and motivation, causing them to
think well Im not as good as them, so I dont need to try. That is negative reinforcement. Teachers
should strive to make all students feel equal, unique and special. Individualized attention is sometimes
good, but favoritism is strongly discouraged. Letting the students all be recognized is more effective

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and seemingly more fun for the students and all the students will learn from each other, and help each
other learn.
Overall, the students at Lima North Middle School have several opportunities to learn and to
grow its all just how the teachers perform in teaching and how receptive the students are.
Organization, preparation and willingness to adjust are all important to the success of each student.
Teachers can effectively communicate, and can make it easy to help each student, learn and grow, to
move on and progress in education, and advancing to the next level. Its the teachers job, and it is vital
to help each student, for the teacher to be effective.