a) I think that teachers may tend to overlook this sort of distance between different students. A student who doesn't speak English as well as the others may, in some cases, be spoken to less often. In the classrooms I have seen this year, spanish speaking students tend to sit and work together, helping each other and therefore getting less help from the teacher. Also, I think that students are stereotyped by the class they are in. A student in a Pre-AP class would never be expected to have family/home issues they may be distracting them from their studies, so when a pre-ap student doesn't turn in thier homework, the consequences are less flexible than had he or she been in a regular class.These are minor examples, and luckily the teachers I have worked with have shown me that it is possible to treat the students as equally as possible. In the classes I work in, each student is presented with the same high expectations and is given the same amount of help.
B) Well first off, we can ask them their names and give them the chance to show us who they are. We can attempt to learn about each individual student and let them identify themselves to us. I have done this this semester by meeting one on one with my seniors and discussing their plans after high school. I had some more ambitious answers than others from students I wouldn't have guessed had I not given them the chance to answer the questions for themselves.
Jessica I really enjoyed your post. I agree that it is important to treat students as equally as possible, and be able to allow them to express themselves to you before jumping to assumptions about them. I think it is awesome that you have involved yourself in discussing the seniors future plans with them and seeing what their ambitions are!
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