Rodriguez- AP

Connection: The "American Dream" is about being coming here to find comfort and safety, but what comes with the freedom are the stereotypes and forcing American culture onto other people. We claim to accept all those of different languages, race, size, but judge people based on their "non-americas" home life. Richard Rodriguez shares about how much you miss out on by not being primary English-speaker and the way educators perceive you based on these differences. This article made me think about the amount of students that struggled in my school because the educators frowned upon them. As stated in the text, all it takes is "buenos dias" to make a student feel included and safe within their own classroom. Feeling like the outcast among a crowd of cliques because the teacher comes to your house, questioning your parents and how they raise you at home should not be a common theme found in education now or 7 years ago. Woonsocket High School was so segregated that we had an assembly about how those of the hispanic population at my school are dragging down graduation rates; but it is not about how they are bringing down our graduation rates because they aren't capable, it is because they are not given the same opportunity to succeed in the same way primary English speakers. I spoke to a young lady in my A.L.L.I.E.D. class I will not name, and she expressed how difficult it was to be a non primary English speaker, not only in school but outside of school specifically. She was expected to learn random English words that her family could not even help her with because they aren't familiar with it, and are held to such high standards.  Teaching Non-Native English Speakers (like a pro):