Reflection of myself as a reader

My earliest childhood reading memories began way before I could read. Every night before bed, brother and I would cuddle with my mom on the living room couch to hear a story from our children’s encyclopedia series. We looked forward to that time together and never missed a night. As I got older, I enjoyed reading mystery books like Goosebumps or girlie stories like The Babysitters club. I always had great fluency but I struggled with reading comprehension. As I would read, my mind would wander and I’d miss the concept or meaning of the page. This posed a real problem for me academically. I would sometimes read the same chapter from a textbook two or three times just to grasp some of what was going on. Over time, I learned that I had to read in a quiet place, away from any distractions. That meant going to the public library or the local park. When reading academic material I realized I needed to summarize and make outlines for myself in order to stay focused and retain the information better. I must say though, it was a long road before I found the right reading method best for me.

Creating Community in the Classroom

Creating Community in the Classroom

A classroom is like another family. When a group spends over six hours a day together five days a week, that group becomes a community of its own. There is a special bond between students, teachers, and classmates. However, it is the responsibility of the teacher to unite the group. He/she can achieve this as the teachers did in Walking Trees. When the children were given writing assignments, teachers gave their students the opportunity to write about anything they preferred. The children shared personal life experiences which brought the group even closer together. Although each child had their own individual story, their experiences, whether similar or not, united the class as a whole. It allowed for the children to express themselves freely and ask questions. In addition, this exercise can offer many opportunities to create an open dialogue in the classroom about diversity. Students may write about traditions that are particular to their culture and in sharing the differences creates acceptance and tolerance of children, or individuals in general, who are from a different ethnic background than their own.

Lessons Learned from Children

What lessons can we learn from children? Reflect on Walking Trees and other experiences with children.

Just because children are children does not mean their words are not weapons. As I read Walking Trees, Ralph Fletcher's memories of being bullied by his classmates evoked many emotions. I truly sympathized with Fletcher when his bullies picked on him and made bets at his expense. They were able to go on vacation with all of the money they had earned!
As a middle school student I remember the "class clown" thinking it was a funny joke to place thumb tacks on his classmate's chairs before they entered the class. Our teacher was young and wanted to be our "friend" instead of our teacher and let him play these jokes. Many students were hurt and offended and instead of the teacher taking control of the situation, she encouraged it. For this reason, teachers should be aware of which students play bully to others and take control of these kinds of situation, instead of allowing them to happen. It is important for children to feel safe and comfortable when at school. If teachers do not address these kinds of situations, a child's safety, self-esteem and learning is at risk.

Expand Your Knowledge

An easy and effective way of expanding your knowledge base about other racial/ethnic groups was brought up in class: use parents as a resource. You are always going to have children in your classroom from a different background than your own and it is important to acknowledge their culture and create a united classroom. The best way to gather information about a student's culture you are unfamiliar with is to ask the parents. Set up some time to meet with them and ask questions. Make them feel welcome and explain to them why it is so important for you to "pick their brain" about their culture. Let them tell you some of the most important details you should know and I'm sure they would be more than happy to fill you in. In fact, I'm sure you would gain the parents respect for your sensitivity to cultural differences and they would truly appreciate you going out of your way to be culturally aware.

Another course I am taking this semester is about diversity in the classroom. Our second class began with a group activity based upon our thoughts of different individuals. We were given examples like "22-year-old single mother" and were told to write down everything we could think of associated with this expression. The exercise was supposed to show how society places stereotypes on certain groups of individuals even though the stereotype may not apply to the entire group. The class exercise evoked a heated conversation and it seems as though the students felt apologetic and a bit awkward for saying certain stereotypes. However, by the end of the discussion the exercise served its purpose. It was a perfect segue into our discussion of prejudice, discrimination, race and racism at the individual, cultural and institutional level and it was clear how we judged many "books by their covers." I left that day feeling badly for placing judgments but grateful for the exercise because it made me more aware.