Sunday, June 22, 2008
It's your blog
Friends. For Wednesday's class, finish Nieto and Bode's text and provide some of your thoughts on at least one take-away from the text--that is, what is something they have challenged you to try in the upcoming school year (could be curricular, could be methodological, could be philosophical, etc.) Give as much detail as possible, connecting the text to your plans.
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I plan to incorporate my students heritage into my lessons. I am going to try my hardest to see the other points of view and get my students to try to do the same thing. I have learned that part of teaching is show that there are other sides and not just textbook answers. I want my students to investigate and let the heritage be known and appreiated.
I also want to discuss with my students issues of cultural diversity and how it effects our clawssroom. That by understanding where all students are coming from and where they desire to go will help set an equal playing field for all my students.
It occurred to me that the majority of the things that teachers can do to help their students were things that I performed adamantaly my first year. Of coures, I had no life given that I was developing the curriculum at the same time, but I developed much deeper and more profound relationships with my kids. Skimming through this entire text and reflecting upon my own experience, I realize I need to go back to some of my own principles.
First, journaling. I read and responded to my kids journals. It gave them the freedom to express what they needed without their peers' immeidate response and I got to know them on a more personal level. Secondly, sharing major writing pieces. By doing so, we all come to realize the different facets of life from which we come as well as recognizing that some of our experiences are similar. It builds a foundation for friendship and tolerance when we understand the daily battles we each face. Third, parent communication. The good phone calls and letters. Inviting the parents to help their students and letting them know that things are working in the classroom as well. It begins to establish the relationship between school and home and confirm that the student need support from both.
As the text said, change is slow, but we can do a little bit every day. By learning more, confronting the difficult issues head on, and developing multiple perspectives, we can build a multicultural approach to education and ourselves.
i like the input so far. indeed, moving your students beyond the textbooks is key to developing critical thinkers. textbooks are not wrong, of course, but they should be understood as providing one possible perspective about something which could have several different points of view.
in the recent rethinking schools edition, the editors have a nice piece on silences found in history texts. they found that out of the top four US history texts used, none of them mention the word 'racism' and only two of the four mention 'discrimination'. what was that going on between 1898 and 1954 during Jim Crow? what is that going on now? what was that prior to the women's suffragist movement in the early 20th century? what was that against workers prior to may day in the late 19th century? etc.
and, jennifer, i like where you are in considering going back to reclaim some of what you already know and have done. i can identify with the kind of work that you are talking about there. perhaps, given a few years under your belt, the amount of work will be lessened a bit based on what you have been able to develop curricularly.
and, you're right, change happens over time, like water wearing away stone. we just have to keep directing the water at the stone.
My biggest idea from the text is that I must provide and promote more awareness and appreciation to diversity. I must understand and respect the heritages, cultural backgrounds, languages and differences in the students that I work with. I do not have a classroom of my own, but I can develop a multicultural curriculum for teachers that can be a resource for them to use. I can also model lessons in classrooms throughout the school that will expand both the students and teachers perspectives of diversity in the building.
This text brought many new ideas and new ways of thinking to me. I am guilty of thinking almost everyone’s background is similar to my own. The awareness that I need to learn more about being multicultural has been wonderful. Before, I did not try to seek out resources and learn more about different cultures and backgrounds. Now, I will make it a point to do this. I will not only learn for myself; but for my own children, the students that I work with, other educators and society in general.
One section of the text that stood out to me was the Curricular Adaptation 3: Expanding Definitions of a Family. Again, guilt set in. For the past 2 years I have modeled a reading comprehension lesson with all third, fourth and fifth graders at Taylorsville, Elem. It discusses family. I did the “typical family” lesson. We discussed who we lived with, important things that their mom and dad have taught them, where we lived, etc. Out of all of these children, I can bet several were not comfortable discussing this in front of the entire class! I was not thinking in the same way that I think now. Next year this lesson will be much different. We will discuss the fact that all families are different, how different cultures define family, how diversity among families is something to be proud of, etc. I will use several of the ideas found in the text throughout the next school year.
My biggest idea from the text is that I must provide and promote more awareness and appreciation to diversity. I must understand and respect the heritages, cultural backgrounds, languages and differences in the students that I work with. I do not have a classroom of my own, but I can develop a multicultural curriculum for teachers that can be a resource for them to use. I can also model lessons in classrooms throughout the school that will expand both the students and teachers perspectives of diversity in the building.
This text brought many new ideas and new ways of thinking to me. I am guilty of thinking almost everyone’s background is similar to my own. The awareness that I need to learn more about being multicultural has been wonderful. Before, I did not try to seek out resources and learn more about different cultures and backgrounds. Now, I will make it a point to do this. I will not only learn for myself; but for my own children, the students that I work with, other educators and society in general.
One section of the text that stood out to me was the Curricular Adaptation 3: Expanding Definitions of a Family. Again, guilt set in. For the past 2 years I have modeled a reading comprehension lesson with all third, fourth and fifth graders at Taylorsville, Elem. It discusses family. I did the “typical family” lesson. We discussed who we lived with, important things that their mom and dad have taught them, where we lived, etc. Out of all of these children, I can bet several were not comfortable discussing this in front of the entire class! I was not thinking in the same way that I think now. Next year this lesson will be much different. We will discuss the fact that all families are different, how different cultures define family, how diversity among families is something to be proud of, etc. I will use several of the ideas found in the text throughout the next school year.
Sorry that I did it twice :)
One thing that I am going to take away from the text is a feeling of hope. In reading about all of the things that are wrong with our education system, and society as a whole, it is easy to get discouraged and feel overwhelmed. It feels like the problems are insurmountable – like there is nothing one person could possibly do to fix them. When I feel like I can’t make a difference anyway, it is easy to do nothing.
I felt a sense of relief to read the Levels of Multicultural Education and Support section in chapter 11 – like a weight had been lifted. I kind of needed that reassurance that it is OK to take baby-steps. I am not a horrible teacher if starting day one of next school year I don’t throw out my entire curriculum from past years. The suggestion Nieto and Bode make to start by focusing on the cultures and communities within my classroom and build from there feels “do-able”.
Being an Arts & Humanities teacher, it will be easy to incorporate music, stories and art projects that reflect the cultural background of my students. I could also have parents and other family members come in and demonstrate any expertise they may have in the arts.
I also agree with the suggestion made to become a multicultural person. I will definitely do some research myself on the various cultures we will be studying in class. I want to be sure to not perpetuate stereotypes that already exist, and the best way to this is by educating myself.
While I don’t think that this is the ideal way to have a truly multicultural classroom – it is a start. This will be the first step.
One thing I will take away from this text is that we have to be aware of the cultures in our classroom. Sure we can be “colorblind,” but we can’t be blind to the fact that there are various cultures in our classrooms. We also must realize that each child brings with them a different culture.
Being a first grade teacher I forget that these kids do have a lot to share with me, even though sometimes I don’t think they understand what is going on. The group I work with tends to go with the flow and do what everyone else is doing. I, as their teacher, am going to have to help them realize that they do have a special culture and don’t always have to do what everyone else is doing.
When I first read this text I was a little disappointed by their view of the teacher and how they gave us little credit for what we do. Now, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. They let us know that maybe someday there will be a change and it starts in he four walls of our own classrooms.
I am inspired to learn about any student that enters my classroom especially if their culture is different from mine. Reading this book has opened my eyes to a lot of views, and if I am ignorant of a culture I will be sure increase my knowledge. I agree with Nieto when she asserts that there are no endless boundaries of knowledge on any given subject. As a teacher part of my duties are to make sure I am teaching to and for the whole class. I understand that students will come into my classroom with a different background, and if I am to teach that child, I need to learn about that child’s world. I will go through the extremes of doing researching online, reading literature, and inviting guests whether they are family members or not. Inviting guests that belong to a particular culture to my class would be intriguing for my students. They are kindergarten and 1st graders and I am sure they can ask a lot of questions. But to bring this together I will allow my students to reflect by having them make some type of connection or to express their feelings and views. Bringing a guest and having them to teach should captivate their minds as well. This all would take place most likely after I have introduced my students to the culture and they have had a chance to learn something about it.
From the book, I liked that the teachers, who were studying Cambodia, planned three different schedules to work in activities and events throughout the school year. I could do this with my class, but I don’t know if my colleagues at my school would want to get together and plan like they did. Nevertheless, it would not hurt to propose ideas to get them to do the same or similar approaches to help our students learn about other cultures. We do have team meetings and that would be something I could mention to them to help students voices get heard from all around.
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