For my portfolio part 5 I chose to attend a court session. It was a really uncomfortable setting for me and I felt very much out of my element. Because of this, it was very intimidating and I felt very shy and anxious as to what would happen next. It was also nothing like it is on the television shows. Everything that I thought I knew about being in a court room was completely opposite of how I felt once I really was in it. We wore business casual clothing and had to keep very quiet during the session. The environment felt very strict and I was nervous that I was going to do something wrong so I made sure I did not do anything until I saw someone else who was watching do it and knew that it would be acceptable. It was stressful to be there because I was so concerned about what was going on, what would happen next and if someone was going to get upset or how they would react to what the others were saying. It was teenagers that were on the line, fighting and accusing each other for all sorts of things. It made me feel sad for the adolescence because a misunderstanding had gone out of control and gotten out of hand. As the lawyers, judge and adolescents were talking I found myself very confused at times not knowing what all of the language and big words meant. At the end I had to clarify with my mom, who attended with me, what had just happened and what the consequences had ended up being.
As a teacher, I hope I do not have students that will have to go to court and be in a situation like that. However, I do think the other circumstances were very applicable to students, especially multicultural ones. The fact that I felt like I did not belong can apply to students on so many different levels. Whether it is because they are struggling with homosexuality, poverty, learning the language, fitting in or dealing with a disability. Everyone strives to feel like they belong. Thankfully I had my mom that was interesting in coming with me so she was able to help me understand more of what was going on and also inform me of the dress code. Many students do not have that luxury of a friend there to tell them what they should do or what they should be wearing so they will fit in. Students may watch videos about what jr high or high school will be like but it never portrays what it will really be like for you, especially if you are coming from another country. The students are probably also nervous about the classroom and what could happen to their social status if they do something wrong or out of the norm, maybe they won't fit in anymore. As far as the language goes, I know English but it was still hard to understand what was going on. ESL students would absolutely feel like this. They may know a lot of the language but when they get into our classrooms they might not have a perfect understanding of cooking or financial terms and feel even more lost than before. They may not even know the language very well period and as teachers we have to figure out how we can teach them English and the different types of words for our own content area.
Having this experience really made me think more about what it would be like to be a student from a different culture. I have always grown up being the majority and never the minority. I want my students to feel comfortable in my classroom and not have to stress about every little thing that will happen. I want them to feel like in my classroom they can be themselves and they don't have to worry about their social status or fitting in with their other peers after class. Being in such an uncomfortable environment would also make it harder to be able to focus on learning when you have so many other things to focus on like social status and the culture. My goal as a teacher is to make each student feel like their own culture has a place in my classroom and they are free to express themselves.
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