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"Ordering at a Restaurant" PPT

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"What is your favorite food?" PPT

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What makes education "Multicultural?" Assignment

Aditi Jain

393739: Cultural Perspectives and Teaching Methods in TESOL EDUC X 425.02

Assignment 1 (1 page or less): 

Based on Lecture 1, (1) write your own personal definition of what Cultural Diversity means to you. Consider terms like Enculturation, Socialization, Ethnocentrism, Acculturation, and Assimilation in your response, (2) discuss how you define what makes education "Multicultural"

I believe that cultural diversity is the ability to cultivate an environment where people are able to learn about other cultures while being able to embrace their own. Ideally, people subscribed to minority groups should be able to engage in their own social roles and values without judgment or oppression from the dominant culture. There shouldn’t be pressure on minorities to assimilate to the dominant social group, but they should be allowed to socialize and enculturate to the dominant group if they so choose. Furthermore, the dominant culture should make room in their social groups for minorities. This may be achieved through an open dialogue about different cultures and behaviors to curb misunderstandings, with a focus on ridding all cultures (including the minority groups) of ethnocentrism. In today’s society, cultural diversity is often chalked up to numbers of certain groups accepted into an organization, with an emphasis on “tolerance” of other cultures. In my experience, tolerance has a somewhat negative connotation. It correlates to the act of begrudgingly accepting circumstances that you would rather not have to deal with. However, cultural diversity should emphasize understanding over tolerance. This is especially important in education. Education should be able to make room to accommodate for the fact that due to existing systemic deficiencies, not all people are treated the same outside of the classroom. The job of an educator is to be conscious of that fact and cater to people who subscribe to minority groups in a way that elevates them to the same level as those from the dominant group. Furthermore, education should not focus on acculturation to the dominant culture (resulting in the disappearance of the unique, cultural features of different social groups) rather, it should focus on all students learning from each other about their respective cultures. 

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Translation Paragraph

Aditi Jain

UCLA Extension: 393741: Instructional Technologies for TESOL Classrooms EDUC X 425.04

October 15th, 2023

For this class, I hope to learn how to use technology that I have never seen before in the classroom. Since students have become more and more technologically advanced, it makes sense to incorporate technology in the lesson plan to keep students engaged. Furthermore, I hope that these technologies will make my work as a teacher easier. 

Hindi Translation: इस कक्षा के लिए, मुझे यह सीखने की उम्मीद है कि उस तकनीक का उपयोग कैसे किया जाए जो मैंने कक्षा में पहले कभी नहीं देखी है। चूंकि छात्र अधिक से अधिक तकनीकी रूप से उन्नत हो गए हैं, इसलिए छात्रों को व्यस्त रखने के लिए पाठ योजना में प्रौद्योगिकी को शामिल करना समझ में आता है। इसके अलावा, मुझे उम्मीद है कि ये प्रौद्योगिकियाँ एक शिक्षक के रूप में मेरे काम को आसान बना देंगी।

For this assignment I chose to use Google translate to translate my paragraph into Hindi, and then I asked my sister in law to read over it as she is a native Hindi speaker. She told me that as she read it, the grammar and sentence structure were perfect, and were word-for-word what I had typed into the Google translate box; however, the wording choice seemed quite awkward in comparison to the vocabulary a native Hindi speaker would use to relay that same information. For example, the word for ‘technology’ that is used in Google translate is not what would be used colloquially by Hindi native speakers. This kind of vocabulary is what is referred to as ‘Shudh Hindi,’ which can be likened to academic, high level Hindi language. In fact, most people in India would not be able to understand these words, let alone use them in day-to-day speech. As such, it paints a very unrealistic picture of what the Hindi language really is. I would imagine that if someone who was learning Hindi were to memorize these phrases to use in real life, they would not be well received by Hindi natives. This goes to show that not only is learning vocabulary and grammar important when learning a new language, but so is the cultural context around the language. Another example I could think of is when I read Google translations of Korean novels. Sometimes characters will say something that would be directly translated to “Yes?” in English. However, in the context of the conversation, it would actually be more accurately translated to something like “Pardon?” to make it less ambiguous in English. In this example, to translate between the languages you would need a basic understanding of Korean culture and implicit meaning, as well as an understanding of how native English speakers socialize with each other. I do not think online translators are something that are actively reliable when learning the colloquial speech of a language. However, it could be very useful when teaching children academic language, such as when writing essays or giving presentations. I also believe that when using Google translate in the classroom, it is important to look over the translations to make sure that the students are understanding the cultural context around the words being used alongside the literal translation. Furthermore, online translators could be useful in situations where the teacher cannot accurately explain the meaning of a vocabulary word to a student. Google translate could potentially be used to plug in English words and translate them into the students’ native language, so they are able to see a 1:1 match of that word in their own language. That way they can more easily understand difficult English vocabulary.

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TED Talk Analysis

Aditi Jain

393739: Cultural Perspectives and Teaching Methods in TESOL EDUC X 425.02

Watch all five of these video clips, all stemming from the TED Talk: The Education Revolution. Then, please choose one speaker and respond to these three prompts: (1) What was something you learned or became and 'Ah-Ha' moment, (2) what was something that left an impact on you, (3) what was something you’d like to focus on in your own practice based on what you learned from this speaker?

The speaker I chose is Sal Khan. I think the mastery model that he spoke about is really interesting. Especially the example he gave of comparing our current education system to housebuilding. It is physically impossible to continue building a house if each stage of the house has not been completed yet. For example, you cannot build the second story of a house if the first story has not been 100% completed. Similarly, it does not make logical sense for teachers to move on to a higher level concept in school if the students were only able to master 75%-85% of the content. 

I can only look back at my own experience in high school when analyzing this matter. I always felt that I was ‘stupid’ since I was always getting C’s and D’s in my high school math classes. Due to this constant pattern, I always assumed that I was not good at math and my lack of confidence in myself led me to hate math. Later in community college, I decided to take an introductory math class that allowed me to brush up on the concepts that I had not fully mastered in high school, and not only did I ace that class- I ended up excelling in all my math classes throughout university, even when I transferred to UCLA. From then on, math became a lot less scary and burdensome. This was my ah-ha Moment while watching Sal Khan’s explanation. So much of my hatred in math was simply because the pacing at school was not right for me. Once I went back and was able to master the basics of math that had eluded me when I was younger, all of the higher levels came so much more easily to me. 

In my own practice, I would like to learn how to use technology to my advantage in such a way that I am able to cater to my students’ individual paces. As Sal Khan mentioned, having to cater to each student’s pace seems like a daunting task since there are so many details that need to be kept track of by one teacher. However, with the use of technology, there are so many tools that can be used to distribute more tailored lessons to individual students. This brings me back to my definition of cultural diversity. We’ve established that it is important for educators to elevate students who face systemic disadvantages to the level of students who have the privilege of being a part of the majority culture. As such, being able to use technology to cater to the pace of each unique student allows us to give them the time and space they need to learn everything they need to succeed, rather than leaving them with 60%-70% mastery of important subjects just so other students can move on. 

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Culturally Responsive Pedagogy

Aditi Jain

The way I understood Jeffrey Dessources’ “everyone is an educator” is that because of everyone’s unique experiences, there is something to learn from every person you meet. There are no two people who have experienced the same things in the same way. Thus all people have been taught different life lessons that have led them to be successful or not so successful. Speaking to different people, whether you find them to have more or less experience than you, or even if you feel that they are “less successful” than you, can give you perspectives on issues that you would maybe never have considered. This applies inversely as well. Everyone can be considered a student because there is something to learn from everyone around you. Even students/children. The students we teach will have experiences that differ from our own, so they will have their own stories to tell. Furthermore, as mentioned in the video, technology and popular culture is always changing, and it’s not always easy to follow along. The newer generations will always be the first to be introduced to new trends, and so it’s important for educators to approach each day with the mind of a student so that we are able to adapt to and understand those new technologies so that we can connect with our pupils; and often on the way, use that technology to make our own lives easier. 

Culturally responsive teaching means realizing that you will always be learning from your students. Students need different things based on their life experiences and there is no formula that can be applied to all of them. Thus, it’s important to view all aspects of culture when teaching: whether it be race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, popular culture, exclusive tribes, religion, technology, etc. Furthermore, these schemas are always changing, so mindsets that may have applied 5 years ago or even just a year ago may have changed. Culturally responsive teaching means being receptive to those changes. Most importantly, however, culturally responsive teaching means being a nice teacher. I’ve always had bad experiences with teachers and that really affected the way I perceived my entire life– whether it was my abilities, my likes and dislikes, and even my goals. Being positive and a kind person to your students regardless of the irritants that they may pose can change your childrens’ lives. Obviously, there is no way to be the perfect teacher. All people carry with them prejudices that will take time to untangle and learn about. However, being kind to your students despite those ingrained prejudices, and being open to learn about the multifaceted lives of these students makes an educator culturally responsive.  Regarding the competency continuum, I think I probably sit somewhere in between pre-competence and blindness? I think that I am perhaps slightly more knowledgeable about humanitarian issues than some of my peers. I often find myself reading the news and getting educated on social justice matters more often than the people around me, because I grew up around a family that was always conscious of political issues. However, my advocacy only goes that far. Keeping myself educated and on top of these issues is important to me, but I hardly go out of my way to advocate actively for causes. I.e, I wouldn’t find myself at a protest, or raising money for a cause. I donate to causes that are important to me, i.e national center for missing children, or during the black lives matter protests within the last few years, and I make sure to vote in local, state, and national elections, but since I’ve become an adult I haven’t done much else. My friends and I also don’t actively engage in conversations about these subjects. Although occasionally I am inclined to talk about these issues, oftentimes my friends don’t have any information on these issues and/or serious conversations aren’t in our communication style. As such, it’s hard to say that I’m anything more than pre-competent or even blind to these issues. Since I am very privileged there are only a handful of issues that affect me, and so I don’t do as much as I should in regards to using my privilege to help others. In order to redeem this, I think it’s important for me to bring up these serious topics in my daily conversations with my friends. Breaking those superficial communication barriers to spread awareness about causes that are important to me as well as being able to understand my peers’ viewpoints is essential for me to learn more about the humanitarian crises that people suffer through in my community.

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Responding to Cultural and Demographic Inequalities

Aditi Jain

10/29/23

The last few years have indeed been hard on everyone, but more so on people who did not have access to the resources to protect themselves during the pandemic. With public institutes such as the library closed, I can’t even imagine how unhoused children were able to access education outside of school. However, as things have improved in the last year and libraries are once again open, I think they are an incredibly vital resource for children and a good way to bridge the digital divide. Libraries can provide materials like free technology, resource books, quiet study rooms, etc. I know that many students do not know the full utility of the library. Currently I’m just a student, but in the future when I teach, I think it could be helpful to host office hours at the library to advocate for students who don’t have access to certain resources. 

Starting the semester by guiding students through the resources provided by the library, and then having a space where children can work on their homework/assignments on public computers (if needed), or to study with a teacher present could be helpful for students who have chaotic home lives. I think it’s very important to give students a safe environment to study because sometimes it’s impossible for them to study at home. Furthermore, if attending these sessions could be counted towards their grades, it could be a good way to encourage students to attend. I’m not 100% sure if this is viable, and if not, an alternative solution could be to host class 1-2 times a week at the library, rather than in the classroom. Giving students the time to learn about the resources that the library has would be the primary goal, and getting them to practice using those resources would be the secondary goal. Furthermore, a focus on assigning assignments/projects that can be easily completed during school time/office hours would be ideal. It’s just not viable to expect children to be able to complete piles of assignments at home. Once they have a good grip on how to use these resources, they could continue to use them in other classes as well as in their professional lives. 

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"Pictures for High School ESL Learners Discussion"

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"I Found a Frog" Blooms' 6 Questions Assignment

Six Blooms’ Questions: I Found a Frog

Aditi Jain

UCLA: 393737: TESOL Methods for Children 5-12 Years: Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking EDUC X 425.01 (Fall 2023)

November 4th, 2023

Remember Q: What did the mom talk to the little boy about before she let him keep the fish as a pet?

A: She talked to him about catching the fish and the responsibility of having a pet. 

Understand Q: Why do you think the little boy’s mom said that he was ‘in for a surprise,’ when she saw the fish he brought inside the house? 

A: (short paragraph) The mom knew that the fish were actually tadpoles which don’t stay as fish, they grow into frogs. 

Apply Q: Why do you think the little boy’s mom talked to him about the responsibilities of having a pet?

A: (short paragraph) Having a pet is a lot of work because you need to feed, clean up after them, and take care of them. It’s important to know that before you get a pet so you know whether you’re up for the job.

Analyze Q: What do you think the mom’s motive was to not tell the boy that the tadpoles would turn into frogs? Why did she let the little boy find out on his own?

A: (short paragraph) The mom wanted him to experience the surprise and wonder when the tadpoles turned into frogs himself, so it would be more exciting. That way, he would remember it until he was very old. 

Evaluate Q: Think of a time that you went on a field trip. How much do you remember from that trip? Do you think you learnt more on the trip than you would have if you just read about the trip in a book? 

A: (short paragraph) I remember going to the Mission at San Luis Obispo. I don’t remember a lot about the other missions, but I remember a lot about that mission because we went there and got to see everything in person. We also got to experience the building and area around it. 

Create Q: Do some research online about ‘the wonders of the natural world.’ What is one place you would like to go to? What is there to see there? Come up with a small plan of what you would do there. 

A: (short paragraph) I want to go see the grand canyon. I would like to camp there overnight so I could see the sun set on the canyon and then observe the stars. Later, I would like to take a tour with a ranger, and also learn about the Native American tribes that have connections to the canyon.

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Discrimination Against LGBTQ Teachers in the USA Assignment

Aditi Jain

Discrimination towards LGBTQ Teachers in the United States

11/12/23

While significant strides have been made in recent years to protect the LGBTQ community, discrimination and bias continue to shape the experiences of many LGBTQ teachers. The legal landscape has evolved considerably in favor of LGBTQ rights in the United States in recent years; however, legal protections for LGBTQ teachers vary across states, and disparities still exist. Federal protections remain limited, leaving many educators vulnerable to discrimination based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. This year alone, 417 anti-LGBTQ bills have been proposed (Choi). Due to this, there has been a rise in an environment of “audacity” and “lack of respect” towards LGBTQ teachers, according to a public school teacher named Dafne Cruz (Andrew). Many LGBTQ teachers such as Cruz grapple with subtle forms of discrimination, such as microaggressions and implicit bias. These can manifest in comments, attitudes, or behaviors that, while seemingly harmless, create an unwelcome and hostile environment. Cruz shared their experience in which the student’s parents had explicitly stated that they didn’t want to speak to “the gay one,” (Andrew) [one] referring to Cruz.

Discrimination has also taken more violent forms such as death threats. One teacher received such threats after being given a mug that said “ask me my pronouns” (Andrew). The picture of this mug spread through social media and goaded conservative groups to target the teacher. With the rise of social media, LGBTQ teachers’ privacy has been more at risk than ever. As such, it’s understandable why teachers refuse to come out to their students for fear of unintended consequences. 

In conclusion, LGBTQ teachers in the USA navigate a complex landscape where legal progress coexists with continuous social aggression. As educators continue to push for inclusivity and recognition, acknowledging and addressing discrimination is crucial for fostering an environment where all teachers can thrive. By understanding the unique experiences of LGBTQ educators, the educational system can work towards dismantling discriminatory practices and building a more equitable and supportive future for all.

Works Cited

Andrew, S. (2023, June 12). “I don’t want to talk to the gay one”: LGBTQ teachers say they are fighting erasure in their own classrooms. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/12/us/lgbtq-teachers-intolerance-classrooms-cec/index.html

Choi, A. (2023, April 6). Record number of anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced this year | CNN politics. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/06/politics/anti-lgbtq-plus-state-bill-rights-dg/index.html 

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Religious Interview Assignment

Aditi Jain

Religious Interview

11/18/23

What is your religion?

Methodist Christianity. Christianity is mainly split into two branches- Protestantism and Catholicism. These branches are further broken down into other beliefs such as Protestant Puritanism (i.e the white pilgrims that colonized America). Methodism is a branch of Protestantism as well. 

What is the central belief of your religion? 

The main idea of Methodism is that everything has a method. The main tenets of Methodism include tradition, scripture, reason, and experience. 

How do you interact with your religion? For a sense of community? Spiritually, to feel grounded?

She interacts with religion for a sense of community. She explained that it is easy to make connections on a personal level as well as a professional level at the church. She also explained that she likes the aspect of helping others that is important to her church. For example, she often volunteers on behalf of the church. The church has several community outreach programs that she also participates in. 

Do you feel that your religion is useful in your degree? 

Useful in her undergraduate degree. She majored in English, and christianity is very important to the history of the world, and having an understanding of the Bible helped her understand different texts in class. Many books have references or comparisons to the Bible so having that information made analyzing books on a deeper level easier for her. Her professor recommended reading a children’s Bible to students so that they could get a summary of the book because of how important it is. 

How often do you find your religion intersecting with your educational/life/career goals or identity?

Her religion has a lot to do with her identity since her father is a pastor. Her family is also heavily involved in the church. As for her life goals, she studies library science now and her goal is to open a Filipino library or museum through creating a community based archive– these archives usually start in a small closet and branch out. Churches are generally very helpful to community based archiving since many people of the same ethnicity can come together to build a book collection. She also said that she surprisingly met many people in the librarian field at her church, so she thinks there may be a correlation between interest in the librarian field and her religion. 

Have you ever felt discriminated against for your religion?

She said that she has not been too discriminated against for her religion, although sometimes people who have resentment towards the church can take that resentment out on her. She understands their frustration with the church, but she is not a representative of the church, so she doesn’t take it personally. 

For this assignment I interviewed my roommate, who we will refer to as J. J is a cis Filipina woman. She is 21 years old, and identifies with the Methodist religion. After the interview, she told me a bit about how Filipinos are very heavily invested in their religion, but most Filipinos are Catholic. The Filipinos were introduced to Christianity by the Spanish, who colonized the Philippines in the 1500’s. It’s interesting to me that despite being violently colonized, Filipinos still wholeheartedly adopted the Christian faith. 

I explained to her that my home country, India, was also colonized by the British in the 1800’s. Although Hindus did not adopt the Christian faith, the main beliefs of Christianity were adopted into my religion. For example, ‘Shame’ which was not a central belief of Hinduism before the British, has become a big part of Hindu religion. Before the British, there was widespread acceptance of LGBTQ themes in religion, and Hindu clothing was much more relaxed/less covered. Following British colonization, LGBTQ themes became a taboo, and items like “blouses” were introduced to “cover up” women. As a result of this, I became curious as to why these two countries reacted differently in response to colonization.

This assignment also made me understand how religion can paint the lens that students learn about the world from. J was able to view and understand her classes differently from others because of her religion. This assignment made me wonder how different religions can influence the way that students learn. This means that when I teach, religion may be something that I need to take into account– i.e when teaching in a country with a homogenous religion, or when discussing examples and current events that might not be widely accepted by all religions. 

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Photovoice Project (LINK) (LINK)

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My Teaching Pedagogy Assignment

As a teacher, if I could make my own teaching method, I would like to emphasize an anti-anxiety environment. In an English language classroom I can imagine that it can be rather high anxiety since there is a lot of public speaking involved, and making mistakes in another language can sometimes feel like the end of the world for students. As such, I would like to make the parts of the classroom that I can control as anxiety-reducing as possible. This would include using some of the Desuggestopedia pedagogy to reduce the stimulation of the environment, creating a routine, using informal assessments, and incorporating the students’ interests in class (Herrel & Jordan, 2020a). 

I would also like to emphasize teacher-student and student-student interaction. Throughout this certification I have learned that children learn differently based on their culture (which heavily affects their worldview). As such, I would like to get to know the students in any capacity that I can as to adjust my lesson plans in a way that would most benefit them and reduce their anxiety. 

Furthermore, I would want to maximize student-student interaction since I feel like the easiest way to make friends is through classes/school. Creating a support system in class is really important and I hope that students will be able to branch out and meet people that can become their lifelong companions. Although I do understand that students tend to create cliques, hence I believe it’s extraordinarily important to emphasize teacher made groups so that no one is left out. 

I would also like to incorporate leveled questions in my curriculum (Herrel & Jordan, 2020c). All students learn differently, and I think it’s so important to incorporate a multitude of different leveled questions and informal assessments/check-ins to assess the student’s levels before moving onto the next subject, or provide extra help for those who are behind.

I hope that through this teaching method I can create a class in which students are happy coming to class, feel comfortable being in class, and are therefore  able to unlock their full potential. 

Techniques Included in my Method:

Repetition and “Drilling” 

Assignments/”homework” that can be finished in class - eliminate the need to do work outside of class as much as possible.

Comfortable Environment (provide pillows, blankets, stuffed toys, ambient light) 

Colorful Posters that include the student’s interests (students can also donate posters/drawings/etc. that they’d like to put up).

Use of group roleplay (creating scripts together and acting out situations)

one on one meetings (during class for younger children, extra credit during lunch for older children) - learning about each student’s situation as an individual. In a bigger class or shorter length class, a story or short answer essay about their circumstances would suffice. 

Use of music for memorization 

Use of popular culture media (i.e “Bluey” for children)

Incorporating native languages by using translation apps for learning vocabulary 

Incorporating bilingualism (reading bilingual books, encouraging use of multiple languages, labeling classroom objects using different languages) (Herrel & Jordan, 2020d)

use of read aloud plus of transcripts before showing a video (priming the students with vocabulary they may not know before having them read aloud) (Herrel & Jordan, 2020b)

use of Bloom’s Taxonomy when interacting with media and readings to facilitate higher order thinking.

Use of communication games (i.e information sharing to create origami) to engage students (Herrel & Jordan, 2020e).

High amount of praise and encouragement 

Reinforcing that mistakes are good, encouraging mistakes

Creating a space for specific tasks, creating a routine

References

Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2020a). Chapter 1: Predictable Routines and Signals: Reducing Anxiety. In 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. essay, Pearson.

Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2020b). Chapter 9: Read-Aloud Plus: Using Strategies to Support Comprehension. In 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. essay, Pearson.

Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2020c). Chapter 15: Leveled Questions: Adjusting Questioning Strategies to the Language Levels of Students 106. In 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. essay, Pearson.

Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2020d). Chapter 16: Bilingual Books and Labels: Supporting Biliteracy Awareness 111. In 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. essay, Pearson.Herrell, A. L., & Jordan, M. (2020e). Chapter 23 Communication Games: Creating Opportunities for Verbal Interaction. In 50 strategies for teaching English language learners. essay, Pearson.

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"Counting 1-10"

LINK TO LESSON PLAN

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"Ordering at a Restaurant"

LINK TO LESSON PLAN

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"Introducing Yourself"

LINK TO LESSON PLAN

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"Favorite Food"

LINK TO LESSON PLAN