Kula Kaiapuni O Ānuenue Reflection Questions
What did you notice that was unique or surprising about this school?
There were quite a number of the things that I thought were unique and surprising about the Ānuenue. For starters, when I arrived, I was surprised to see how small the school was, considering it was K-12. Upon speaking with the vice-principal, I found out this was because of the low number of students. However, I also do not think the small number of students is a negative thing. Everyone is like family and so few fights break out compared to many other public schools as a result of that. Another uniqueness about the school population is that students come from all over the island, so there is not a lack of diversity.
Additionally, …show more content…
This is because of the possibility of false positives. Students at Ānuenue do not start English until fifth grade. Therefore, the students might not understand the questions and/or incorrectly write the answers, despite knowing the content. This would lead to students incorrectly being identified as having a disability. If I was to take the test in Hawaiian, I would do terribly because I am not fluent in the language. The same holds true for many students at Ānuenue. Moreover, the school cannot translate the test because doing so could threaten the validity of the test.
What is your biggest take away from the experience at Ānuenue?
My biggest take away was my understanding of how hard it is being a student at a school in which I am unfamiliar with the language being used. There is confusion, isolation, and a general feeling of unease.Visiting this school reinforced the importance of using strategies to help these students.
I have had prior experience with this feeling. In a previous Japanese class, I interacted with students visiting from Japan. The teachers instructed both groups to talk to one another using the language being learned. So, while our class used Japanese, they used English. Unfortunately, this resulted in mostly awkward silence. Everyone was afraid they would mess up or say something wrong, so everyone was hesitant to do anything. I
What did you notice that was unique or surprising about this school?
There were quite a number of the things that I thought were unique and surprising about the Ānuenue. For starters, when I arrived, I was surprised to see how small the school was, considering it was K-12. Upon speaking with the vice-principal, I found out this was because of the low number of students. However, I also do not think the small number of students is a negative thing. Everyone is like family and so few fights break out compared to many other public schools as a result of that. Another uniqueness about the school population is that students come from all over the island, so there is not a lack of diversity.
Additionally, …show more content…
This is because of the possibility of false positives. Students at Ānuenue do not start English until fifth grade. Therefore, the students might not understand the questions and/or incorrectly write the answers, despite knowing the content. This would lead to students incorrectly being identified as having a disability. If I was to take the test in Hawaiian, I would do terribly because I am not fluent in the language. The same holds true for many students at Ānuenue. Moreover, the school cannot translate the test because doing so could threaten the validity of the test.
What is your biggest take away from the experience at Ānuenue?
My biggest take away was my understanding of how hard it is being a student at a school in which I am unfamiliar with the language being used. There is confusion, isolation, and a general feeling of unease.Visiting this school reinforced the importance of using strategies to help these students.
I have had prior experience with this feeling. In a previous Japanese class, I interacted with students visiting from Japan. The teachers instructed both groups to talk to one another using the language being learned. So, while our class used Japanese, they used English. Unfortunately, this resulted in mostly awkward silence. Everyone was afraid they would mess up or say something wrong, so everyone was hesitant to do anything. I