Student Diversity at Prairie Creek

[Trina Eichel]

Most students at prairie creek are white and all of the teachers and staff are white as well. No issues of diversity have really come up in class or in any other observations I have made of the student body as a whole. Most of the students can see the white teachers and staff as role models for them because most of the student population is white. I have not been present in class for any discussions about diversity in the world and so do not have a great understanding of where my students lie on these issues and how their non-diverse classroom may impact their views of diversity. I have noticed that Molly has pictures depicting people of many different races and geographical regions around the room and a lot of the books she reads have non-white main characters. This is a way that Molly integrates diversity into her non-diverse classroom.

Although there is not a lot of racial or ethnic diversity at Prairie Creek, there is a diversity of learning abilities and interests that I have noticed in our classroom and in the school as a whole. Molly does an incredible job of recognizing all of her students intellectual abilities and tailoring curriculum so that each child is set up for success. In one of my first days at Prairie Creek, I was observing the students during their quiet reading time. I noticed that there was a wide range in ability levels among the students. Some of Molly’s students were reading Harry Potter, some were reading picture books, and others were not reading at all and instead doing activities intended to get them up to grade-level. Molly recognizes that some of her students are not ready to be doing silent reading and instead need to use that time to work on site word activities that will prepare them for reading books. Molly also recognizes that allowing her students to choose their own books allows them to follow their interests and challenge themselves to read chapter books.

Being aware of student diversity in intellectual ability is incredibly important to ensuring the success of all students in a classroom. One of the big issues with teaching a diverse classroom is that different cultures emphasize different learning styles. By making sure you know how to make all of your students succeed, you can celebrate cultural diversity while catering instruction to specific learning styles. Molly does a great job of addressing these issues and making sure that all of her students have an equal opportunity for success.

It would be interesting to talk to Molly about what she thinks of the diversity of Prairie Creek. I am curious if the lack of diversity is a result of Northfield’s population or more a result of Prairie Creek being a charter that was once private (now public). I look forward to discussing this issue with Molly and possibly some other Prairie Creek teachers.

At Prairie Creek on Wednesday, they had an assembly for the all-school gathering. The assembly was a show on how to become a “Planet Hero” which focused on sorting waste into the correct bins and included a very cheesy puppet show. The students really enjoyed the puppets and thought that it was hilarious. The show was very relevant to Molly’s class as they are currently doing a recycling unit where they are learning about sorting waste and reusing. Molly was telling us how impressed she was with the school after the assembly because for many of them they have not been to a presentation of that size in over two years, meaning many of them have never been to one. The students all sat silently and participated when they were asked. It was very impressive to see how well-behaved the students at Prairie Creek are especially in the context of an event that could have easily caused the students to get fairly riled up. 

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