Thursday, February 13, 2014
Dr. Ries and blog for Chapter 3
Diversity exists both within and outside of the classroom. Why, as citizens of the United States of America and, equally as important, citizens of the state of New Jersey do you believe it is important for educators to address the idea of diversity among people? As you are involved in your classroom and school visitations have you observed specific instances where you see either formal or informal attention paid to the issue of diversity? Share one or two of those diversity-specific experiences, essons or activities.
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Diversity is something that I experience in the classroom I am observing in. Since my district has a wide diversity of students it is important that this topic is addressed. The classroom I am in is an inclusion kindergarten class with a range of disabilities. Since they are all still young, they are very accepting of each others differences. This is widely because of the teacher. The teacher even explains before I do my lessons that I am a teacher but I may teach differently than her and that is okay. The fact that she embraces differences helps the children to understand that being different makes us who we are. She does this often by having discussions as these issues in the classroom come up.
ReplyDeleteAnother way of getting students to understand diversity is to get books on diversity. There are many books out there on this topic. I have a few books myself on autism and other disabilities. These are children's books written in a way that they can understand with beautiful illustrations. Students can learn a lot from these books and it can help them to embrace and accept differences.
I think it’s important to address the idea of diversity because teachers should want to provide their students with an environment that they feel safe in. An environment that is conducive to each students need. Teaching diversity or addressing it will allow teachers to teach respect. This will help students respect that people are different and each is unique in their own way. It is our job, as teachers to get to know the families of our students. We should find out about their culture, what they do on holidays or the foods they eat and bring that into our classroom. This is important because we need students to acknowledge that there are other ways to do things and people may live differently then the way they do. I think once diversity is address the classroom becomes a safer, more comfortable place to learn.
ReplyDeleteThe class that I am currently observing in is very diverse and for the area it was a bit surprising. This year especially was a year where diversity needed to be addressed. The teacher in my classroom had each student do a report on themselves. They needed to include their nationality, favorite food, favorite game, and so forth. The last step of the project required students to explain how they celebrate their favorite holiday and to bring one of their favorite holiday meals in. This was an amazing experience to observe, because the students had no idea that people did things differently from what they do. When the Chinese student explained her New Year the children were amazing. When each child went up to speak I saw the look on the other children’s faces, almost as if they were in awe. It was almost like they made the connection, that what isn’t important to them is important to someone else. I thought this was great and the students took so much away from this. They learned not only to value their traditions, but to accept the traditions of their classmates.
Diversity should be embraced in the classroom. Teacher should not shy away from this topic, because it could be looked at as a great teaching opportunity. Diversity no longer refers to just race. Diversity now could mean being raised by a single parent, or if parents are divorced, or if parents are of the same sex. Diversity could be viewed as a range of disabilities as well as economic status. If students were able to talk about their life experiences in the classroom to their peers, they may teach the lesson of not being quick to judge those outside of the classroom. Students can learn from each other and form their own opinions, not just take on the opinions of their parents.
ReplyDeleteAn experience I have had in my own life (since I have not been in my classroom yet) will be one I will never forget. In fourth grade my best friend at the time was a different race and from a different economic status from me and most of the other students. She did not always have her work completed or know the answers to questions asked in class. Instead of my teacher working with her after school or getting an older student to help her with her work, she would yell at her. My teacher would say things like, "Why do you even come to school?" or call her an "airhead". I couldn't believe this was actually being said by an adult to a fourth grader. If the teacher does not practice diversity, then how will the students be able to.
I married into a totally different culture, and it has opened my eyes greatly to the world around me. I was very naive and closed minded before I met Fredy who was born in Colombia. He calls me out on my ignorances, but I don't know any better. I have learned that I need to be more informed about the world around me and really think before I talk.
I believe that it is very important for teachers to address the topic of diversity inside the classroom. We live in a country made up of people with all different back grounds and come from many different cultures. By addressing diversity inside the classroom, students can learn about their classmates and build a happier learning environment. By creating a classroom/learning environment that is diverse, the teacher is preparing his or her students for a diverse world. Additionally, teachers can learn more about their students’ individual backgrounds. In doing so, the teacher can create lessons that would include the students’ interests, as well as, integrate their culture.
ReplyDeleteIn one of the schools I’ve observed in, the entire seventh grade took part in a Cultural Diversity week. During the week, the Social Studies teacher worked with the other seventh grade teachers to address diversity within the school community. The students read about different cultures and had guest speakers come in to talk about their own backgrounds. Additionally, dance companies were invited to perform different dances from a specific culture. At the end of the week, students were encouraged to bake food from their own individual cultures to share with their classmates.
The classroom I am in this semester is very diverse. So, as a way to learn about each student’s background, the teacher picks a Student of the Week. The Student of the Week’s parents are invited to come into the classroom and are asked to present information about their child. The parents share information about the child’s cultural background, favorite foods, favorite holidays and the places in which the child has traveled. While presenting, the students are encouraged to ask the parents questions and become interested to learn more about their classmate’s life. By sharing this information, the class learns more about the Student of the Weeks culture, as well as possibly learning about a new food, holiday, or city in the world.
I do believe that diversity should be addressed by all educators. Even in our history Americans considered a melting pot of various cultures, races, and peoples. This is my first school visitation observation that I have seen a wide variety in the diversity of the students. This is something that is very different for me, because I came from the school where almost all the students were white middle-class. Coming to college myself was a major culture shock of seeing so many diverse people. I think that if my my elementary school, middle school, and high school had more of a variety of students, then I wouldn't of had such a big issue and adjusting when I came college. So that is why I believe the diversity should be incorporated in the classroom and stressed that differences should be welcomed.
ReplyDeletewith it being so early in the semester I wish I had more examples of diversity specific experiences or activities unfortunately I do not have any. However I just wanted to add one thought that I came across for this prompt. If diversity is stressed more, teaching students that everyone is different and unique, do you think that bullying would go down
Diversity is something that I have experienced in my family. My Aunt married someone who is Greek, which to his family was a major culture shock. My older cousins are getting married and are making my Irish family a diverse one. I have three cousin-in-laws that are of Hispanic dissent; they are from Chili, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. So when it came time for their weddings there was a lot of Spanish music and traditional dances. I also have a cousin who is dating someone from South Carolina near the Georgia border. Although he is from America he brings different foods and traditions to my family.
ReplyDeleteIn a classroom setting diversity should be something that a teacher talks about. Diversity is not just different races but it includes different abilities and skills, such as being athletic, playing an instrument, being able to draw, but also being the new kid. Being the new kid is not something may teachers would see as diversity. Many times the student does not come from another county but just from another town. The idea of the new atmosphere, no friends, and in some cases not speaking English can be a scary thing. As a teacher you should try to give a new student a buddy so they would have someone to talk to and to help him or her make new friends.
The Today show spoke about a recent Cheerios commercial causing controversy. The commercial includes a white mom, biracial child, and an African American dad, according to the show, many people were offended by this. Cheerios had to disable comments on YouTube because of all the negative comments. Cheerios added that they were trying to portray the American family because there are many multicultural families in America today. It is sad that we are in 2014 with a biracial president and we are still having this issue today.
ReplyDeleteI believe teaching diversity is important because most families are diverse. By teaching diversity the teacher creates a place where the students feel cared for, accepted, and learn to appreciate differences. An activity I recently saw about diversity involved two different colored eggs, the teacher demonstrated that when she cracked the two eggs they both had the same thing in the inside. I also saw the following poem on Pinterest, saying that we are all different but that we are all important. “The Crayon Box That Talked - Wouldn't it be terrible? Wouldn't it be sad? If just one single color was the color we had? If everything was purple? Or red? Or blue? Or green? If yellow, pink or orange was all that could be seen? Can you just imagine how dull the world would be if just one single color was all we got to see?”
I believe it is very important for educators to address diversity because diversity is so popular among America and New Jersey. It is good for students to learn about this early on because they will see a lot of things in life that are unlike their own and it will raise questions. It will be good for students to get information on a hopefully unbiased level from their teacher rather than whatever they hear at home or on the television.
ReplyDeleteI have not observed many diverse classrooms up until this semester. What I have observed were the changes in how Merry Christmas is now Happy Holidays. I have noticed how you do not have to say the Pledge of Allegiance or stand for the flag salute if you do not want to. Granted this is more religious diversity than race diversity but it is good for students to know that their are different types.
I believe that it is good for students to understand diversity because it can be the gateway to so many opportunities in learning. As a social studies major, it can lead to many discussions and can get the students involved. Diversity is a big part of our world and I think that the students need to understand it not just on the social studies level but on a life level as well.
*** sorry if this is posted twice and it is different than the last one. Something went wrong with the first one and I am not sure if it posted and unfortunately I did not copy it!***