Mod 3 Discussion: Moving Students Into a New Culture

I began my teaching career working at an independent school located in an affluent suburban community in NJ  I taught at that school for 7 years. The parents were very involved in their children's education.  Some even feeling entitled to certain things due to the amount of money they were paying for their child to attend the school.  Throughout the year, the different classes put on various classroom and schoolwide performances.

6 years ago, I moved to FL and accepted a teaching position at a Title 1 public school in a diverse, rural community.  Many of the parents are unable to be involved in their students education.  With some, it was due to working numerous jobs to make ends meet; others, had little education and felt as though they were incapable of helping their child. 

At first, it was a tough transition.  Even though I was an experienced teacher, my first year working at the pubic school in the rural community, felt like my first year ever teaching.  I enlisted support from my coworkers to assist me in figuring out how I could help make the year successful for every student when I could not even get in contact with some parents.  I had not encountered a lot of behavior issues at the independent school in NJ, but at the public school it seemed I had a handful of students who I could not control.  Trying different strategies and not giving up, led to progress with some of those students who struggled with regulating their behavior.  I have learned, over the past 6 years, that I need to build a strong relationship built on respect and trust with my students and their families.  Understanding the struggles they may be going through at home will help me to better understand my students' behaviors.  Are they zoned out because they don't want to pay attention or because they only got a few hours of sleep because their mom had to work at night and they needed to take care of younger siblings?  Are they not participating because it is considered disrespectful or because they do not understand what I am asking because English is not their first language? Being more mindful and aware of what my students may be going through will make it easier for me to reach all my students.