Postman Reflection
The idea I agree with most in Postman is the “Law of Diversity”. I agree with his idea that diversity leads to growth through the creation of high standards set by individuals from all parts of the world and different ways of life. The idea of what is “good” is not diminished by diversity but leads to an expanded idea of what is “good”. Solving diversity issues as they relate to language has become a problem as a growing number of ESL students emerge in our schools. The common solution to helping these students succeed in my school has been to give these students one period of English language study with a bilingual teacher while they spend the rest of the day integrated into other core classes with their English speaking peers. The results have not been promising for these students as frustration can set in if the speed of class is overwhelming. One alternative to this method would be to have a teacher’s aide in the classroom with these students in order to assist in differentiating and comprehension of classroom materials. (1A) The advantage of this method would be extra support in the classroom for both teacher and student. It is very tough for teachers to give the necessary attention to ESL students during class and an extra teacher would be extremely helpful. (1D) Unfortunately, many districts don’t have the budget to hire the necessary amount of teachers to accommodate these needs. It would be extremely costly to hire the number of teachers that would be needed in every school in the district. A second alternative would be to compile a schedule for ESL students with a period at the end of the day with a bilingual teacher to provide assistance with the students work from all of their core classes. (1A) This method would allow those students the opportunity to revisit each subject matter in a smaller group setting where there needs could be better met. They would be introduced to the material in class and any further misunderstanding could then be approached in a smaller group setting to increase the student’s comprehension of the material with assistance. (1D) The disadvantage of this method would be assuring the proper instruction would be given to each student. It would also not be a simple task for bilingual teachers to take on several students with different course materials. More teachers would again need to be hired and core teachers would