At the beginning of this semester, I was so discouraged about my ability to teach an ELL student or any student who is culturally and linguistically diverse. English is my L1, my primary language and besides counting down from 10 and a few nouns and verbs, I know zero Spanish and other languages. Knowing another language wasn't something directly stated in any of the reading, nor did my professor once tell us "hey to teach these students you have to know two languages," but as the year goes on I don't see why you wouldn't know at least two different languages in this field of education. Thinking back to the lesson called "Shock in Show #1" my professor grouped us accordingly: fluent Spanish speakers, minor Spanish speakers, and only English speaker. She then proceeded to teach the class in Spanish, leaving those who didn't know what she was saying, to put their trust in the fluent Spanish speakers to help them through out the class. Although I was one of the students who didn't understand a thing she was saying, I had the help of my classmates in my group who understood her perfectly and we completed the assignment via their understanding. I love this idea of doing a class session in the students primary language, I know that not all CLD students won't speak Spanish, but it was a neat incorporation of the Spanish speaking culture that engaged everyone in the class, and even taught us non-Spanish speakers, something new. But, she had to know Spanish herself in order to incorporate it in her own classroom. "Cultural competence is the ability to successfully communicate and empathize with people from diverse cultures and incomes, skills needed to close the achievement gap, according to the National Education Association. Teachers, in particular, need to engage in on-going examinations of their attitudes about identity and cultures and strive to minimize racial disparities" (reading 1.2 culture). In order to successfully communicate and empathize with my students who have different cultural nuances, etc., I have found that having background knowledge in different cultures and knowing a different language will only make teaching CLD students better for both the teacher and the students. This leads me to my next point, about how I also learned the importance of creating a safe learning environment in your classrooms. Using ice breakers is a great and fun strategy I have learned this semester to do so. Ice breakers make students have to speak, helping with their communication skills. They also are informative since you can learn about students and they can connect to one another, and the break down those invisible walls that students first bring into the classroom along with their initial judgments. Not only that, but you (as the teacher) can shift ice breakers into content knowledge simulators. That was something I picked up from my professor as she explained that ice breakers can seem very elementary, but you can really do so much with them. Something I already knew that we went over in this course was how the second you walk into the classroom, the teacher sums you up and you sum them and the rest of the class up as well - judgments take over. Jo Guzmas' wise concepts about how it takes only 30 seconds until students begin to sum you up, and vice versa. The "apples" lesson was another strategy that could be used if the class doesn't get a long per say, and was another amazing lesson about how before you get to know someone, you don't see all of their unique attributes - just like in a classroom. 
My last point brings me directly to my first experience in my field experience with my in-service teacher and her class. First thing that happened when I walked through the door was everyone stared me down. According to one of the students, they were "trying to figure me out, see if I was cool or not." The teacher then proceeded to directly ask me if I was black or not. I the answered yes and she shook her head like "oh I was right." It's crazy how quick we all jumped on who and what we all thought we were like. Then, the students and I did a little ice breaker where some of them introduced themselves and then they asked me questions about myself. If we wouldn't have done this, I don't think the students and I would have the relationship now that we do. They ask me for help when something is not working or when they are frustrated with a problem and the teacher is occupied at the moment. If we didn't build that sort of decorum and inside knowledge about one another, then it would've been awkward from there on out. 
Honestly, I didn't really know teaching CLD's was such a massive topic and field in education. Speaking only English my whole life I was always in the mainstreamed classes, and only ever heard other students speak Spanish or other languages to one another during lunch or recess. So thinking about my perspective on teaching CLD's then to now, along with me service learning in a classroom with CLD's, I have grown so much and my perspective has changed immensely. However, I have to say that even when I take the one other course in order to considered ready to teach in an SEI classroom, I know I am in know way certified or knowledgeable enough for that. That is part of how my perspective grew... I have gained so much respect for every teacher who successfully teaches CLD students because it is, in my opinion, harder than teaching any mainstreamed class. I realized how easy it is for CLD students to fall between the cracks and get left behind and how hard (Arizona in particular) some areas have made it to teach while having the students in their core classes as well. At this part of my experience, I'd say that it has opened the door for me to teach CLD's, I've gotten my toe wet but I'm not ready to jump in. I think I would fail any CLD student who tried to have me teach them right now, because 1) I lack experience and 2) I lack the knowledge. However, I feel like I have learned more in this class in half of this semester, and have gained more strategies and ideas that I can take away and use in the future, than in course I have ever taken. The most surprising key takeaway from this unit was how Arizona still continues to fail these students every day. All of these court cases dating back to 1923 and still the system is failing and the gap is still widening. It bothers me beyond belief because these students are capable, and they are smart, and they are our future. When I am officially certified to teach, I'm going to use more strategies from this class than any other because not only have I learned how to teach in multiple different ways, but to also create a safe environment and include other cultures within my class and lessons.
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