Farmington New Mexico is a city consisting of numerous diversities among the ethnicity, language, and culture of its people. The city has been molded and shaped by the culture of the early Anasazi’s and Navajo people who were the original owners of the land. Though a lot of Farmington’s culture stems from early Native American’s, it is also a mixture of Anglo and Hispanic traditions, language, and ways of life. It is very rich in diversity and it is not uncommon to see people of the community embrace their differences. People of Farmington generally take a lot of pride in their unique heritages.

The community in which the majority of McKinley students live is a lively area filled with businesses, houses (both large and small), apartment complexes, trailer parks, public parks, swimming pools, and an always crowded skate park. The students of McKinley are very lucky in the fact that their community offers a variety of places to spend time with family and friends, grocery shop, exercise, take care of finances, and much more. The residential areas are middle to lower socioeconomic areas of Farmington and appear to be typically safe neighborhoods.

McKinley Elementary is one of the 12 schools that make up the Farmington School District. It is home to 560 students ranging from grades K-5. The moment that I walked into this school, I notice the calming colors of the freshly painted walls and the natural light that brightens the hallways and classrooms, but most importantly, I feel welcomed. When you walk down the halls it is very common to see parents or volunteers helping out or visiting their children. The parental involvement at this school is very high, which is a direct reflection of its students. The parent/teacher relationship seems to be successful, with a one-hundred percent turn-out in three of the five 5^th grade classes at the school. The principle and teachers collaborate with parents by offering many before and after functions which allow parents to be more involved in their child’s educational development.

Due to the recent recession and job loss, McKinley has experienced its highest rate of qualification for reduced and free lunches for students. Over half of the students at McKinley come from what is considered low on a socioeconomic scale. The majority of the students who attend the school are Anglo, followed by Hispanic, Native American, and African American. There is not a whole lot of diversity in culture, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status among the students or the teachers of the school.

Mrs. Nelson’s class is the home away from home to twenty-five 5^th grade students. Her class is unlike any that I have ever been in that all of her students possess this level of respect for one another which I didn’t even realize children were able to harness at the young age of 10 or 11. Her class is unique in that the students are diverse in culture and ethnicity. The class contains a dynamic mixture of unique students from middle class Anglo students, to Hispanic students who have just moved to the United States, to a child getting bounced around from foster parent to foster parent. Out of the twenty-five students, twelve students receive special services at some point throughout the day.

I was so thankful to have chosen the two focus students that I did. At first, I was a little unsure with who I wanted to choose due to the fact that I didn’t know any of the students very well at that time. When I was trying to choose my two focus students, I was trying to look for a student who possessed some need, strength, or difficulty which I felt that I knew little about. After much thought, I was finally able to choose Sue and Wendy as my focus students.

Wendy is an 11 year old girl with a heart bigger than most people I know! She moved to McKinley from a different school two years ago and seems to really enjoy her new school. I first wanted to learn more about her when I found out that she was a foster child. That factor alone set her away from the other students from class. I then found out that she was in the process of being tested for Special Education. She had gone through intervention and had been in the process for quite some time. I watched her go through pull-outs day after day to be tested until finally one day (after I had chosen her to be my focus student), she qualified for services. I found her situation at home and at school interesting, and I knew that I would learn a lot from her.

I arranged my home visit with Wendy during parent conferences. She is a foster child but is lucky in her situation in that she is still able to visit with her mother. Both her mother and her foster dad showed up to conferences. I had asked her mother about the home visit and she agreed but I never ended up being able to reach her and the letter never came back with dates or time for the visit. I didn’t let this issue steer me away, so I decided to chat with her about her life and how she feels about her needs, struggles, and strengths in the classroom.

Wendy told me a lot about her sister and her mom. I didn’t want to ask too many questions about her home life because I understand her situation and the last thing that I wanted to do was make her feel uncomfortable. She told me that she misses her mom and that she sometimes doesn’t like her new foster parent. I began asking her questions about school. She immediately told me about how much she likes reading. I was happy to hear this so asked her what her favorite book was, he favorite author, etc. She was really open to talking about reading. I then learned that she hates math! She feels that she never understands what is going on and, like many 5^th graders; she feels that math is really boring and hard. Her feelings towards Social Studies were not too far from those that she had about math. She explained that she feels bored when she has to read out of the textbook and answer questions. Science she explained to be more enjoyable because of all of the hands on experiments and activities. Throughout the conversation she talked a lot about how she loves to read for AR points and also on her free time, yet she would explain that the parts of Social Studies and Science that she didn’t like was the reading.

When planning my lessons I will not have her in the back of my mind. I will think of ways to differentiate for students like her who do not enjoy reading out of textbooks. It’s obvious that she likes to read but I think that textbooks are not really her point of interest. I think that it’s important to provide centers which provide her with hands on options. I can provide hands on centers and as well as alternative reading material in any subject. I think providing these in math, by using manipulatives would be a great way to keep her from getting bored and frustrated. I need to make sure to scaffold the mathematics material for her, to ensure that she understands the concept before moving on. I can differentiate the assignments that are expected to meet her needs. As far as reading goes, I think that the most important thing that I can do for her is to simply give her the opportunity to read. Providing her with a variety of text which suites her interests and reading level may be one of the best things that I can do for her.

My second choice for a focus student was harder to choose. I had a few students in mind that I noticed struggled or had special needs, but Sue seemed to be the best fit for my second focus student. Sue is your typical 5^th grade student. She always does her homework, she’s nice, and she has fun with her friends in class. A few things that I first observed set her off from the other students. First, she has a speech impediment which qualifies her for services. Second, though I would not have guessed this at the time, she is being tested for special education. I had just began teaching her math and I was really surprised when I learned that she was being tested because I could not figure out why at that time.

I met Sue’s mother Clara at the class Christmas party last semester. She was very nice and Mrs. Nelson explained that Clara is very involved in Sue’s education. I scheduled a home visit with her on a Friday evening. I was a little bit nervous for my first home visit, but my tension eased because I recognized that she was opening up to me and appreciated my effort to get to know her daughter. I learned that she had pulled Sue out of a school in Farmington which she felt treated her wrong when an incident had happened due to her speech impediment. She is very involved in Sue’s education and she gave me some advice about why it’s important to involve parents and to keep an open line of communication with them, especially when they show effort. She explained her feelings towards her daughter being pulled out of class on a daily basis to go to speech, and she also expressed her feelings about Sue being tested for special education.

I learned a lot about how sensitive she is about her speech impediment. I think that I

will avoid asking her to read or answer questions in front of the class unless she volunteers to do so. I will give her a lot of encouragement in every subject to help her build confidence in herself. I will also give her a lot of scaffolding when teaching, to ensure that she doesn’t fall behind. I think that it’s really important for me to make sure that I follow her IEP. It would also be extremely beneficial to me to keep this open line of conversation going with her mother because she will be able to give me insight on what’s working or what she needs further assistance with.

I feel that I learned so much from both of these focus students. It was interesting observing and getting to know them both. I recognized common characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses among both of them, yet they were so different at the same time. I now truly understand the effect that a home visit can have on the student/teacher relationship, as well as on the teacher/parent relationship. If you really want to try to meet the strengths and needs of students I think the first step is to pay attention to them. You have to ask them questions and actually make a conscious effort to observe them. I feel that even though I am not going to automatically distinguish everything that I want to know from these two students due to a single home visit or casual conversation, but I do have a great start at figuring out what I need to know to be successful in teaching them.