Book Club
The New Kids: Big Dreams and Brave Journeys at a High School for Immigrant Teens
By Brooke Hauser
The New Kids is a story that follows several immigrants that came to America in remarkable ways and the challenges that they are faced with to try and fit in. They all attended an immigration school with others who had come over to America so many of the classes focused on teaching the students English and social skills.A few of the characters is Jessica who was kicked out of her father's home after she arrived in China. Ngawang who actually spent twenty-four hours folded up in a small suitcase to get out of Tibet. Mohamed who was a diamond minors son from Sierra Leone and his arrival in America was a mystery, he never would say how he got here. Yasmeen who was an orphan from Yemeni and has severe pressure to get married so she could take care of her younger siblings but she also desired to go to college. Lastly was Chit Su who came from Burmese and had ended up spending the past few years living in a bamboo hut as a refugee in Thailand. She came to America as a seventeen year old freshman.
Refugee students leave their native countries for a variety of reasons such as war, ethnic or religious persecution, lack of access to education and socioeconomic circumstances. Communication is key with these students because each one has different needs.
Because all of their needs range so widely we cannot treat all of the students "equally". We cannot as teachers, group them into different races and assume they all need the same things. Each student has to be case by case.
Many of the students had huge academic challenges that came with it and they had to have teachers that were willing to work with them to learn whether they were even capable of reading, writing and math. They were all faced with the challenge of having to learn English. They attended a school with other immigrants but many were the only ones in the school who even spoke their home language. This caused many language barriers as they struggled to be able to communicate with everyone in America.
She emphasizes in the book that the most important thing the students needed was time. For those refugees that came here not knowing how to read or write in English often needed more than just four years of schooling. Having them stay an extra year or two helps them to make leaps and bounds in the curriculum and learning the social skills as well - this will give them greater overall success in America. Along with that she talks about how they will need extra emotional or cultural support.
These stories connected with our course readings because it covered many of the aspects that we had talked about in our class over the entire semester. It was all about these students having nothing and many coming with little to no education, facing poverty and still trying to fit in with their peers in America. Many of these students relied on their teachers and other academic helps to get by. This book also demonstrated some language of power because living in America you have to know English to get what you want and get by. One of the teachers in the book told students that she was willing to help them however she could but as long as they were in her classroom they were required to speak English. She wasn't trying to make it harder on them or tell them that their language or culture was not important but that they have to use English to get what they wanted. I thought this applied well to setting expectations for the students. We have to find a balance between babying the students and teaching them. We want to be for them as a teacher but we also need to help them learn the skills for themselves and it doesn't always come easily.
Refugee students leave their native countries for a variety of reasons such as war, ethnic or religious persecution, lack of access to education and socioeconomic circumstances. Communication is key with these students because each one has different needs.
Because all of their needs range so widely we cannot treat all of the students "equally". We cannot as teachers, group them into different races and assume they all need the same things. Each student has to be case by case.
Many of the students had huge academic challenges that came with it and they had to have teachers that were willing to work with them to learn whether they were even capable of reading, writing and math. They were all faced with the challenge of having to learn English. They attended a school with other immigrants but many were the only ones in the school who even spoke their home language. This caused many language barriers as they struggled to be able to communicate with everyone in America.
She emphasizes in the book that the most important thing the students needed was time. For those refugees that came here not knowing how to read or write in English often needed more than just four years of schooling. Having them stay an extra year or two helps them to make leaps and bounds in the curriculum and learning the social skills as well - this will give them greater overall success in America. Along with that she talks about how they will need extra emotional or cultural support.
These stories connected with our course readings because it covered many of the aspects that we had talked about in our class over the entire semester. It was all about these students having nothing and many coming with little to no education, facing poverty and still trying to fit in with their peers in America. Many of these students relied on their teachers and other academic helps to get by. This book also demonstrated some language of power because living in America you have to know English to get what you want and get by. One of the teachers in the book told students that she was willing to help them however she could but as long as they were in her classroom they were required to speak English. She wasn't trying to make it harder on them or tell them that their language or culture was not important but that they have to use English to get what they wanted. I thought this applied well to setting expectations for the students. We have to find a balance between babying the students and teaching them. We want to be for them as a teacher but we also need to help them learn the skills for themselves and it doesn't always come easily.
Even though we as teachers may not fully understand what they are going through or fully understand their language we can provide so much support for them just by showing that we are there for them and willing to help them learn and go through the struggles with them. We can help refer students to help like extra literacy support known as Students With Interrupted Formal Education or S.I.F.E. It can help students that have been faced with conflict and there are no terms for those students. There are also faculty members that can help students find jobs, homes and even little things like ice-skating and other social activities. There purpose is to help the students adapt to the new culture while trying to learn the language as well.
This influenced my work as a future teacher because I want to be the kind of teacher that helps students out and is open minded and caring for the students. I want them to be able to trust me and know that even though I don't understand everything I am willing to listen and work with them so they can get the best education possible. As teachers we also don't always know what sort of circumstances they are facing at home. This book has helped me to be more understand and to want to push my students to do their best but to also be considerate of the things they are going through. I want them to each feel acknowledged and know that I will expect them to become the best they can be.
This influenced my work as a future teacher because I want to be the kind of teacher that helps students out and is open minded and caring for the students. I want them to be able to trust me and know that even though I don't understand everything I am willing to listen and work with them so they can get the best education possible. As teachers we also don't always know what sort of circumstances they are facing at home. This book has helped me to be more understand and to want to push my students to do their best but to also be considerate of the things they are going through. I want them to each feel acknowledged and know that I will expect them to become the best they can be.
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