Blog Entry #5

Laws Affecting My Service Learning Classroom:

One thing that is a very common things to see in our school is English learners.  We have many different children from many different backgrounds whose parents don't speak English at home.  We provide special programs like National Geographic and ELL programs from our instructional assistants to students who are still picking it up.  They start getting pulled as early as preschool.  I know this not only because of observing in Mrs. Wilcox's classroom but also because I work there and help to provide some of the intervention programs.  This help that we provide is made mandatory by the civil rights act of 1964.  We cannot discriminate against, and let these children fall behind because they are from a different place or were raised in a different environment and/or culture.  Lau vs. Nichols also helped to affirm that students needed to be assisted so that they could participate meaningfully in school programs. 

I am seeing children of different race all in the same classroom because of Brown vs. Board.  For instance one of the children I work with, Jamarri is black and I never would have gotten the chance to help him with his reading and math if he wasn't able to attend the same school as the other children in our school.  Sputnick has influenced even Mrs. Wilcox's kindergarteners in the way that they have even started learning very basic levels of science to start building their interest in it now.  For example: they have learned about the sunflower and how it grows, they have learned about nutrition and what is good and bad for their tummies and bodies, and they have learned about different places and their climates and ecosystems.  Because we don't want to fall behind as a result of  the launching of Sputnick in 1957, beginners to education are learning the ropes of science to give them a head start.  Maybe one of these kids will be the future of our space programs because we are getting them excited about these concepts now.