Portfolio Summary - Multicultural Education

Imagined Classroom
This was such a great assignment to start with because it was a documentation of where we started. This was all my ideas and dreams stuck together in what I imagine my future classroom. During this assignment I learned who I am as a teacher and what is really important to me. I loved that we were able to describe our classroom with images because I think that pushed me to be more creative and to really think what it will look like and not to simply write the typical characteristics of any normal classroom.

Cultural Snapshot
I loved this assignment. I wanted to do my assignment on the russian culture because my best friend is from russia and she has told me and I have seen many of the struggles and problems that she has because of the prejudices people hold here against russians. This assignment was interesting because I learned the harm that "joking" can do. To us, because we don't have certain experiences we don't even think of the effect our words can have on others. A big part of my research for this assignment was talking with my best friend about her feelings and experiences and often times it was when people were joking about russian stereotypes that really hurt her. Also I learn how much the media is affecting our perspectives about different cultures. Many of my examples were from movies and tv shows and I was amazed at how subtle the messages they send are and how they aren't even a big part but we are still receiving those messages. I think this is even more dangerous because the ideas about cultures which may be false are becoming a part of us whether we realize it or not. This was the scary part for me, realizing how much was there when I was looking for it and how I didn't notice it before.

Being the "Other"
This assignment was interesting and I loved that it require for us to go out there and do something and not only work on our computers. During this experience I learned how different everyone is. I really learned how a situation where I am completely comfortable would be a nightmare to others and the same thing the other way around. This was so interesting to me because I was able to think of that in relation to my future students and be sure to include a large variety of projects and not only to showcase my interests (in the photos or videos or design work that I will be showing in my classes).

Personal Cultural Artifacts
This assignment was a great sequel to the cultural snapshot. For my assignment I took it another step and after finding a cultural artifact that represents who I am I tried to find a second image that countered that image, or an image that could show my culture the way the world may see it. This was so helpful because I was able to again put myself in the shoes of "the other" looking at my own culture through other peoples eyes helped me to see how much that could hurt me and how much I can be hurting others when I make assumptions about them and their culture.

Community Experience
This portfolio was one of the most moving and eye opening for me. Talking to someone that worked in a mental hospital opened me to some many lives that I hadn't been exposed to. The person I talked to was filled with love for the people there and I could feel that so strongly. Hearing the stories I literally had tears to my eyes. This was amazing for me to hear and to gain a wider perspective on some of the challenges that my students may be going through instead of limited to the challenges that I have experienced or those close to me.

Re-Imagined Classroom
When I first heard about this assignment I wasn't sure what I was going to change. I thought this was going to be hard to find things wrong with my classroom, because I actually thought that I did a pretty good job of creating a free and inclusive environment. This is really funny to me know because after talking in class and after I did the assignment I found out how many things were missing and probably that still are missing that would never cross my mind.

Book Club
For the book club assignment I read oddly normal. This was my first choice because I felt that it was the topic I was the most unfamiliar and uncomfortable with and I really wanted to have more understanding and love for people going through similar things that happen in this story. I was grateful for the perspectives that I gained and even the emotional connection that I was able to make to the book because of the way it is written and how personal it was with the characters, both joe and his parents. After reading the story I feel strongly and I will stand up for what is right. I will protect the rights of all the students in my classroom and I will put an end to any unfair treatment, bullying, or harrassment.

I loved watching the videos for each lesson. It is so great to see the faces of the people struggling and hearing their voices telling their experiences. For me that made it so much more personal and real rather than only reading a article telling how big of a problem something is. Hearing personal stories effects me a lot more than statistics so I was grateful for the good mix of media we had to learn from.

The class discussions were so valuable to me. I am a person who is easily distracted and also who is mostly always multitasking but during the discussions I was engaged the entire time. I think Dr. Draper does an excellent job of giving freedom to the students to explore their own beliefs but also guiding the discussion to go in the direction that she wants and that will be helpful to us as future teachers without anyone really noticing that she is doing that.

The changes that I have made in my worldview is the most valuable thing to me that I am taking away from this class. I am so grateful for the new perspectives I have gained because this is something so hard to acquire. I think it is something that takes desire to learn and change as well as a lot of meditation and action. In this class we had the opportunity for all of these things which is what I think has truly helped me to change my thoughts about people who are different from me. I feel that I was able to change because I wanted to and not because I was forced to. I loved the set up of most of our assignments because the freedom we were given. I appreciated being able to chose where I would go to be the other and choosing which book I would read. This freedom made me feel that this was an adventure that I was controlling and that they were things I really wanted to experience and learn in order to change.

These changes include that I will not make assumptions about people. I will stand up for the rights of everyone. I will put an end to bullying in my classroom. I will call people out when I can see bias or prejudice in our daily conversations. I will question others and myself.

How will I apply them to students and family:
I will make sure my students understand what is right and that bullying is not acceptable in my classroom. I will put an end to any unfair treatment that I see whether it is in my classroom, in the cafeteria, in the halls, or anywhere throughout the school. I will talk to my children and family openly about multicultural topics and I will set up play dates with kids who are different from them so that they will be able to gain perspectives from all different people. I will create an environment in my home and in my classroom of openness. I will create by being open myself and then inviting others to do the same.

Book Club - ODDLY NORMAL

ODDLY NORMAL
One Family's Struggle to Help Their Teenage Son Come to Terms with His Sexuality 

disruptions-

In almost every grade doctors tried to diagnose him with a different disability. His parents had thought for a while that he was gay but the schools and the psychologists kept testing him and saying different things. They had an IEP meeting in the book and he was finally given an IEP. Some said that he has ASD and some ADHD and some aspergers and later on GT/LD. His IEP included “consistent and predictable” teaching methods and classroom environment with “no yelling”, constructive criticism, not negative comments and if the behavior isn’t disruptive please try to ignore it. This book was so interesting because it really showed the errors that can be made in diagnosis and the stress and heartache that that causes the kid and the parents. This was a disruption to me because I can see myself in the place of these teachers and doctors. I am taking the students with disabilities class right now and a lot of the behaviors line up with typical descriptions of many learning disabilities. This was disrupting because I feel like I am likely to make this same mistake and I also saw how damaging and terrible it was for both the child, joe, and his parents.
I was so sad in the very beginning of the book when joe was sad because all of his favorite toys were gone. His parents had taken them away because they were dolls and they didn't want him to be bullied once he got to school. This part caused me to stop and think and to put myself in the shoes of the parents. What would I have done in that situation? Is it wrong to take away the dolls or were they really helping him because he would have been bullied for that? It was a little disrupting to me to have to really put myself in these shoes because I don't know what the right answer is and that scares me because I don't want to make a mistake with my own children. 
Also throughout the book, both the teachers and the administration made it out that the parents weren’t doing a good job with their kid and that it was somehow his fault that he was misbehaving in  school. Which after reading their story so personally I could see so clearly how outrageous that is, and  now I want to make sure that I never make the mistaking of believing that.

Many of the school faculty and counselors said that they didn't think that Joseph was gay but that his behaviors were manifesting something else. In this case they were assuming that he was straight until it was proven that he was gay and even when the parents said they thought he was and there were many clues. This was disrupting because I could realize how heteronormativity is something that I can completely prone to. I would never even think any other way, and I could see how huge of a problem that is, and how wrong it is. 

Another disruption for me was the suicidal attempt and especially when he got to the doctors and they told them that he may have only been trying to seek attention. I understand that can be the case sometimes I think that was a little early to talk about that while the parents are still in shock and just want to make sure their child is okay. I felt that they were taking it a lot lighter than they should have and that was extremely frustrating and disrupting to me.

The entire novel related to class and many topics that we have been discussing. Some of the terms from class that I especially noticed coming out in the book were gender- nonconforming, gender roles and expectations, gender norms, gender expansive, heteronormativity. Gender norms and gender non conforming were a big part in the beginning of the book when Joseph was playing with dolls wanted pink light up shoes, to dress "girly". Heteronormativity played a part when many of the school faculty and counselors said that they didn't think that Joseph was gay but that his behaviors were manifesting something else. In this case they were assuming that he was straight until it was proven that he was gay and even when the parents said they thought he was and there were many clues. This made me realize how much our culture does revolve around heteronormativity.

I was so grateful for the new perspectives I was able to see during reading this book. There was so many things that I was unfamiliar with, and these ideas and experiences that I was exposed to will definitely help me to become a better teacher in my future. I plan to put a stop to any bullying or harrassing that happens in my classroom. I will stand up for the different kids and make sure the students understand that that is wrong and that it is unacceptable in my classroom.

Re-Imagined Classroom

Each one of my students is different. Some are confident and some are insecure. Some come from a strong family who loves and supports them and some are lock and key kids who are on their own. Some know they are smart and some have always thought they were stupid. Some like sports, some music, and some video games. Some of my students are loud and rambunctious. Some are quiet and lonely. Some are eager to participate; some are distracted by the worries or excitements of life. I will make sure that my door is open and that the students know that I will build an environment of trust where the students feel that they can come in and talk to me about problems they are experiencing in my classroom. 

I will try my best to prevent behavioral issues by providing extra supervision during high risk periods, letting children know they can reach out for help, providing choices whenever possible and ensuring that the tasks are manageable. I will praise positive behavior more often than scolding negative behavior. Often times when a student misbehaves he or she is seeking attention and this way the student will learn that to receive attention they must act positively. However when behavioral issues arise I will handle each situation according to its circumstances. I will ignore it in some cases, promote apologies and teach good morals, or restrict privileges. I will involve the students in creating the rules and expectations so that they feel accountable. I will always accept late work with a percent deduction because the most important thing to me is that my students are learning, and to me better that they learn late than never learn that part of the material. I will assign a lot of projects that are open ended and creative, which you never really finish. This way the students can put as much time as they want into their projects but they will be personal and they will want to do it, rather than doing the worksheet until all the answers are filled in.

I am teaching the technical usage of a DSLR camera. This will be one of the first things I will teach my students in a photo class, because I want them to be able to get out there and start shooting from the beginning, to get as much hands on experience as they can. I will teach it by starting with a little history as an anticipatory set where we are inside a pinhole camera. I will cover the windows with black and only leave a small hole for the light to come in where we will see the image of outside projected on the wall. We will then briefly discuss the history of photography and then I will teach the technical and manual settings to the camera as a hands-on learning experience. The students will be taking pictures as they are learning how to manipulate the photo they want. I will adapt the lesson to available supplies. The main thing for my students to learn is how they can manipulate an image based on changing the light sensitivity, depth of field, and shutter speed. During my lessons I will show photos and video not only from my own background but the most famous work from many cultures. 

            During the lesson I am carefully reading my students. Paying attention to their cues of when they are getting distracted, bored, discouraged or engaged. Ready to throw in an anticipatory set, or activity. I am using proximity to keep my students on task. I am giving positive and constructive feedback.

Some of my students are working hard on their worksheet. Some students are confused and discouraged. Some students are talking to their friends. Some are working on other things not from my class. I am aware of them all, and I am adapting my teaching to engage my students and to help them understand the content.

I will develop my own feedback forms and value the information from the students. I will adapt and change each year to improve and meet the student’s needs. Students will learn what we test for, if we test for facts they will learn facts, if we test for problem solving they will become problem solvers. My long-term goal is to learn more about and then to implement improved mechanisms for assessment of students maybe ability based or performance based. After Information is presented I will provide opportunities to for my students to apply it and then a way both the student and myself can evaluate their progress. One way I can know if my students have learned is if my tests are open ended where the students can tell all they know about the topic. This creates greater motivation to learn everything you can and not just “the answer”. I will provide a variety of assessment tools such as tests, projects, and reflections to accommodate to different needs. I will use written reflections, quizzes and tests, projects, and portfolios in order to evaluate and assess my students. Quizzes and tests will allow me to compare between students and understand the different ability levels. While reflections will help the students to be in charge of their own learning and inspire them. Project will allow for freedom, creativity and give them the opportunity to go above and beyond. Portfolios at the end of the year will help me to see the progress of each student and give them a grade that is fair based on their unique skill levels. I will use the national and state standards to base my curriculum while tailoring it to the interests of each unique group of students. 

Single Tree
I chose the single tree because this represent the goal to also stand up for what is right even if it may be awkward or against the wave of what everyone is doing. This tree means that I will put a stop to bullying and that I wont stand by and let things happen but I will actively protect the rights of all my students in the classroom. 

Open Door

I kept this open door because I will always keep an open door policy that my students can come to me for help anytime. I think this is so important for students of all different cultures and backgrounds to feel that they are able to talk to me about any struggles in their education or problem they are having in class. 

Chameleon

I also chose to keep the chameleon because it represents change. I will change as I improve as a teacher and continue to learn more about my field. I will change with each new class because I believe each class and student is unique with different needs and styles of learning. I don’t want to ever do something the same way.

Many Cultures
The photo of many cultures together means that I will be actively anti-segregation not only in my classroom but also in my school. I will make sure that I put students in groups and make sure that they will work with everyone. 

Cade's Arcade 

photo credit: 
tree: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/ICS_Quebec.svg/2000px-ICS_Quebec.svg.png door: http://www.fggam.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/open-door.jpg chameleon: http://www.lizardtypes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/chameleon-picture4.jpg many cultures: http://homesdesign2016.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/american-high-school-classroom-1.jpg cadesarcade: http://homepages.se.edu/act/files/2014/08/VA-iMac-Lab-Fronts.jpg

Things that I changed:

Instead of taking things out or changing things I mostly added to my original. (sorry that is why this post is so long) I had started this assignment earlier and I was struggling to find what I needed to change. It wasn't because I thought I didn't need to change I was just unsure of what it was. Then in class when Dr. Draper said maybe the question you need to ask is what isn't in your classroom that should be? and that question is what really got me thinking of the new ideas. Also the activity we did in class with a partner was helpful and that inspired a lot of these ideas.

Under the description for the picture of the chameleon I wrote "each student is unique." I acknowledge that everyone is different but i do not talk about what i am going to do about that.

I talk about group collaborative projects but I don't talk about if I will group the students and how to prevent segregation.

I will show photography and video examples and inspiration from many cultures not just from my own background.

How do I define beauty? How can I teach photoshop and beauty retouching and also teach good morals and true beauty?

material costs of my imagined classroom:

These aren't necessarily materials needed to be successful in my classroom, but there are many materials and resources that if some students have they will appear successful and students without those resources don't even stand a chance at comparing to better technology.

We will have a mac lab in class but many students will have macs at home with the adobe cloud on it and they will be able to get more practice and work on their assignments when other students are only allotted class time to work on their projects.

I want to give students opportunities to learn and experience but many students will never be able to go on certain trips.

I can stay after class do my preparing and do my grading in the classroom so that students can wait after school there and use our equipment.

We can take a day where we go to the library whether the school library or a community library and we can learn how to use it so that the students will have that as a option.

Ways that we can address poverty or make money and materials less of an object.
We can show examples of great work that required no resources. For example, showing examples of low budget music videos, or showing cases where people have been successful when they had little or nothing. For example there is a video of a boy who made a cardboard arcade and got famous a lot of people would go and spend money and support him and he was inspiring kids all over the world to make their own toys out of cardboard.

Community Experience

For my community experience I interviewed someone that works at the mental hospital. They said that it was an amazing experience working there and that they have seen many miracles as well as many tragedies. She told me many stories. One of them that really stuck out to me was the story of a 12 year old boy who was a light to the other people there. She said it was amazing his positivity and how he reached out to everyone there. She said they have a meeting where everyone was able to get up and tell a little bit of their story. After each person was done talking to young boy would raise his hand and tell them that they were amazing tell them not to give up hope or tell them that he thinks they are strong. 

She told another story about a girl there who was struggling with drug addictions. She told that she had lost all of her friends because they thought that she was going to steal money from them and that they didn't trust them anymore. She said she loves her friends and that she would never steal from them and that she has never stole from anyone except her mom. She said that her friends mean so much to her and she would never do anything to hurt them. She said she feels so lonely with no friends and that she wants to kill herself. This was disrupting because I know it is easy for me to lose trust in people and I realize know how much that can hurt someone. It was also disrupting to me to think of how this girl is being deprived of her basic human needs, She needs friends and love like all of us and in a time when she is struggling with a drug addition is the time she needs it most and this is the same time where she loses it. It made me think of all the girls in my high school who when they got pregnant they lost all their friends, or the girl who was popular before she pulled her hair out and had to wear wigs. I thought of all the people I knew and how when a tragedy happened to them everyone around them abandoned them, and I was a part of that abandonment. 

Another story she told was a girl who was struggling with severe eating disorders. She told how she would lie all day long and what she would do to fake and stage meals. She said that she wants to cut her fat off her body and that she has suicidal thoughts all the time and that they never stop. When the school called her parents to tell them that she wanted to kill herself and that it was very severe, her parents said, "oh no, she's doing it again?" This broke my heart. I feel like one of the only things anyone could do to help her right now is love her, and she isn't getting any love from her parents, where she needs it most. 

I think what was the biggest disruption for me through all of this was the common link of these people feeling loneliness, abandonment, and helplessness. They didn't feel love from anyone, and almost every time they had lost their friends. The risk in considering this for me was challenging my faith. As an LDS youth I was always counseled to choose my friends wisely. I was told to choose friends that had the same values as me and to stay away from those who were making bad decisions. This is a big disruption for me because I can see truth in how friends will affect our decisions but at the same time after hearing these stories I feel so conflicted as to what to teach my children. I know that we can have such a great influence on our friends and that our friends that are making bad decisions are the ones that need us the most in those moments. It is risky to consider this conflicting view from my religious upbringing but I think it is worth considering and really pondering. 

In my classroom I know that I will have students who will struggle with all of these tragedies and even a lot more, I know that a lot of times I will be unaware and I want to always give love to my students, as much as I can. I want them to at least feel love in the classroom if not anywhere else. 

Personal Cultural Artifacts

The temple is a symbol of the mormon culture and it reveals many things about our culture. To LDS people it reveal that we are centered on family and that holy sacred places are something that we value. To people not a part of this culture it may reveal that we have a lot of money, that we spend it lavishly on expensive buildings instead of giving to the poor or that we are very exclusive and we don't let every one into our buildings.

Missionaries are another symbol of the mormon culture. To LDS people it reveals that we are a hard working people that sacrifice time from our lives to serve God. Also that we care about all of our brothers and sisters and we will sacrifice in order to give others the blessings that we know of. To people not a part of this culture it may mean to them that we are a pushy people that we want everyone to join us because we think that we are the best and that we are right.

To people part of a "techy" culture we think that we are advanced and progressive using the latest technology and always being up to date.

To people not a part of this "tech-age" they may think that we are not experiencing life to the fullest or that we are being rude while on our phones.

To americans, we perceive our culture as strong and free.

Other cultures may perceive the american culture in a generalized way assuming everyone here is overweight and eats unhealthy fast food.
Link to Article: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/americans-are-obsessed-with-fast-food-the-dark-side-of-the-all-american-meal/

As a runner, we run because of how it makes us feel, and for adventure and to explore.

To people who are not part of the runner culture may perceive it as people who are doing it only to lose weight or because they were not good at any other sports.

As a girl we see ourselves as soft and smart and able to contribute to the world in unique ways.

Many people perceive girls as incompetent or stupid and too obsessed with how they look.

BYU is the no. 1 Stone Cold sober school for the 16th year in a row. 

Link to article:

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=35787424&nid=272

Many members of this culture are proud of this and to us it reveals that our culture is strong in keeping our standards and living what we believe. To people not a part of this culture it may reveal that we are so strict and all we care about is keeping the rules. That we don't live life and that we don't have fun.

As and LDS women this photo reveals that our culture is to dress modestly. We think that we are looking clean cut and presentable.

However to people not a part of this culture they may see it as out of style, old fashioned. or over conservative.

Tevas are a symbol of a carefree and free spirit culture. I have noticed when I wear mine that people who are also laid back and adventurous find me and comment on them and it seems to be a clear symbol of that culture. However some people view it as lazy or sloppy when I wear tevas and casual clothes to class. 

I served my mission spanish speaking and now I consider that a huge part of myself but often times when I try to speak spanish with hispanics they dismiss me or don't pay attention or respect to me because they don't think that I actually speak it or when I listen to spanish music people ask why I am listening to it and they don't think that I speak spanish just because I am white. 

 My dad served his mission in norway so my family has a lot of norwegian traditions. Often times people ask why we have creepy trolls in our house (as bookends and decorations) and they don't think that it doesn't have to be creepy just because it isn't part of their culture.

I am a photographer and I rarely go somewhere without my camera. It is a huge part of my personal culture and I do feel I am a part of the culture of photographers.

Many people don't respect photographers and they often tell me that all you need to do is click a button. This picture represents often times the worlds view of photographers that it is easy and anyone can do it, just as everyone has an iphone and they think they can take just as good pictures using their smart phones.

Instagram is a huge part of the culture of my generation and especially me because I use it o get clients for work. It is actually really important that I use it very frequently because it gets me more clients but I often times get made fun of or looked down on because of how often I use it. 

I am a PE teacher and this is a big part of my culture. I am very active and I love sports but because I am in physical education people expect me to be the best at every single sport and when I am not I get made fun of or it is awkward. 

My own culture will greatly impact my classroom and my teaching styles and the more I am aware of that, the better. Reviewing my artifacts I can see that many of them have to do with technology which makes sense because I study technology Engineering Education and I will be teaching technology classes but this is really important for me to realize that not only is technology important to me but I have a big history with it and I am very comfortable with it as it is a big part of my culture. This could be a hinderance because I may have students who didn't grow up with their own technology and they may be behind the rest of the class I shouldn't make this assumption just because that is my own background but I should be aware of that and make sure all the students are keeping up on the programs and if they aren't then I will provide extra help. 

Another pattern I see is my religion. That is also a very big part of my life and this can be a help in my teaching because my faith has taught me good morals that I can pass on to my students but it could also be a hinderance because I may have biases or prejudices against things that are morally wrong according to my religion but not to the world and I should not judge any student or have any assumption about someone just because they have different religious views than me or possibly none at all. 

I can also see a trend of being chastised for "pretending" to be a different culture than I am. The same type of things happen with spanish music and norwegian traditions in my family. People don't think that I should participate in those cultures because I am white but those are a big part of my past and my memories. These experiences will help me to remember not to make that assumption or judgement about any of my students based on the way the look. I cannot know everything about someone just by looking at them and their culture may be completely different from what I would assume. 

Being "The Other"

Today I tried something new. I went to the Abracadabra Club at the BYU Clubs night. I had never been there before or even done any kind of magic before. I have barely even been exposed to it or been around people who do that kind of stuff.  I definitely experienced to some extent feeling like "the other" or different from all the other people there. I was the only person there who was not experienced in magic, most people that I talked to had been doing it for 10 or more years.

The environment was a small group of people (5-10). They all seemed like they knew each other very well and that it is the same group of people there each week, and I was the new one. By the end I found out they even have "no magic nights" where everyone in the club will go hang out and do something fun but no one is allowed to bring magic so that way they can bond and have a break from it where they can really get to know each other. I thought that was an interesting idea. It was so foreign to me that they would even have to make that rule that it is not allowed, which means it was that much of a problem.

When I got there they were all talking about tricks and then one person who was "featured" that week, taught us all how to do a coin trick. The others already knew the basic ways to handle the coins so I felt behind and embarrassed that I couldn't keep up.

Observation

When I walked into the room, the people all kinda stopped and looked at me and hesitated before they said hi. It was maybe only a few seconds but when you are standing there and everyone is looking you up and down then it seems a lot longer and you are wanting it so bad to be over. I also noticed some lingo that they were speaking that I had no idea what it meant. I also noticed a kind of culture that seemed a little proud and secretive. This may be a mis-judgement but this is my observation. 

Interpretation

They were wondering who I was, why I was there, and if I was like them. They were probably wondering if I had experience with magic or if I was good. They were probably surprised to see a new person because I got the vibe that it was the same group of people there each week. Many of the people there would not answer my questions on how to do the tricks because they didn't want others to know the secrets to their tricks. They also didn't like it when I asked to many questions. I think the reason they didn't want me asking was because that is part of the culture and not telling the secrets.

Feelings 

I felt a little uncomfortable and I was wondering if I was going to like it there and how the people were going to treat me.
I felt that I needed to defend myself. I would keep talking a lot explaining how it is my first time doing magic and that is why I am not good and I am not following along with the instructions. The culture of not asking questions made me feel really bad, because I didn't know what else to do. If I feel uncomfortable and wasn't sure what to do I naturally wanted to ask lots of questions but sometimes they were frowned upon or dismissed. 

How did you feel about being the other?

I felt a little behind and a little embarrassed but I didn't feel too bad. However, I am generally comfortable and confident in social settings. I did feel that I didn't belong, and even though I wasn't miserable I wasn't really enjoying the time and I was wondering when it was going to be over. I felt a mix of feelings. I did feel welcome because the people were being nice to me and saying that I was welcome there but I also noticed vibes and signals that I was not on the mark and doing things that are not on with the culture. 

How did you cope with your otherness?

I coped by laughing and joking. I felt like I was so bad compared to everyone else and I couldn't hide the coins as well as the rest so I wasn't able to do the tricks. I would just talk about how bad I was and laugh at myself to try to hide my feelings of inadequacy. This is a typical way for me to cope and I didn't realize this until after this experience and then I was able to apply it to other aspects of my life which was very discovering. 

What are implications for students in your class who are experiencing school as a foreign place?

Students who feel behind in class may laugh or joke about their inadequacy, but I can reassure them that they can do it, and make sure that they know it is normal if they have no prior knowledge about a new topic and encourage them. They may be extra sensitive to things that we would never imagine could be hurtful. I have noticed that when you are already feeling bad and out of place little things can hurt you that normally wouldn't because it all builds up and seems like a lot bigger deal when you are already sensitive. 

Cultural Artifacts:

here is a picture of one of the members teaching me how to do a card trick, along with a video of one of the guys explaining a trick.

Cultural Snap Shot: Russian Stereotypes in America

1. Photograph portraying cold and mean Russians
http://www.56thparallel.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Russian-Stereotypes-d.jpg

Belief that russians are cold and angry people. Russia has some of the lowest temperatures in several northern cities around the world, and this leads to the correlation of cold weather with cold people.
I have a roommate who is russian and this is a stereotype that comes up almost daily to her as we meet new people. 

















2. Russian Spy in Avengers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dB4__mvTyL0
This scene in this movie supports the belief that Russians in America are spies. 
This is also a stereotype that I have seen in real life through my roommate who is russian. As we meet new people there are constant jokes made about her being a spy. And it may sound funny, but after you hear it every day, for your whole life, its not.

3. Post Cold War Movies with Russian Antagonists
Sex and the City, 2 Broke Girls, the Big Bang Theory, and the Americans
Sex and the City 
"While Carrie Bradshaw wasn't perfect (hello, affair with your married ex-boyfriend), she certainly didn't deserve to date one of the worst characters of all time; Aleksandr Petrovsky. "The Russian” was played by Mikhail Baryshnikov who was apparently a sex symbol back in the day."

2 Broke Girls
About two girls working at a restaurant with an overly flirtatious russian cook. There are many parts throughout with crude jokes and subliminal messages about russians. 
Video Clip of the perception of russians in this show through the russian waitress. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTJ0l6aZbCo

The Big Bang Theory
Link to The Russian Rocket Reaction Episode.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plCcmK1vjkc
The Russian cosmonaut lurks around every bend on the space station. Still referring to Howard as "Froot Loops," Dimitri pokes his head in to further take Howard aback while Wolowitz fears both rebelling against his domineering mother and displeasing his new wife with their living arrangements. He bluntly refers to Mrs. Wolowitz as a woman who says she’s Howard's mother but sounds like his father, as well as mutters to himself that Howard is just putting himself in a bind and that it is unbelievable Americans won the Cold War. 

The Americans
The Americans, is about the first hand account of KGB officers, following a KGB couple living undercover in Washington. Being in the perspective of Russian KGB associates is what makes these shows alike. However, even while the plot is about Russians themselves, they are still portrayed as enemies to the West, and gives the viewers of the shows a chance to be uncomfortable whenever rooting for the Russian characters. 

These are all examples of shows that were filmed post Cold War, but hold the Cold War enemy close to their script.

4. Anti-Communism Poster
http://the-artifice.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Cold-War-Ads-How-Communism-Works-300x450.jpg













Along with its political agenda, American culture turned to its entertainment industry to further carry out the country’s ideals. Russia, the largest country in the world, had also become the greatest threat to the new American Dream idealistic society. The land and its people were marked as communist enemies of the west, and so naturally, this became depicted through American culture and media.

5. Alcoholism: The Pessimistic Drunk
The Big Bang Theory- The main Russian astronaut with him, named Dmitri, is pictured with a low husky voice with a thick accent, constantly commenting on his own superiority and ability to withhold a lot of alcohol and extreme colds.

6. The KGB
Belief that most russian men are affiliated with the russian mafia or the KGB.
Allegiance  
The show Allegiance follows a detective who is specializing in Russian affairs and has direct family ties to the KGB. The show follows the main character and his ex-KGB parents, and essentially covering up a plot to destroy America.
The Americans
The Americans, is about the first hand account of KGB officers, following a KGB couple living undercover in Washington. Being in the perspective of Russian KGB associates is what makes these shows alike. However, even while the plot is about Russians themselves, they are still portrayed as enemies to the West, and gives the viewers of the shows a chance to be uncomfortable whenever rooting for the Russian characters. 

7. The Prostitute
belief that a beautiful tall, blonde hair, blue eyed beauty is either caught up in the world of adultery or choose it for herself. (common russian genetic trait) this belief was also born from the high rates of prostitution and human trafficking in eastern europe and slavic countries

One example is a crude joke made in the show 2 Broke Girls,
"Putin it out!" uses a pun of using the name of the controversial Russian president synonymously with “putting it out” a slang term in modern culture which refers to a woman giving up her sexuality to a man.
Pilot Episode of CBS 2 Broke Girls

What message(s) (consistent or conflicting) are being sent about this cultural group through these artifacts? 
Consistent messages are being sent that Russians are:
-cold and angry
-slutty and/or prostitutes 
-sneaky and can't be trusted (and possibly are spies)
-most russian men are involved in the mafia or KGB
-persimistic and drunk


How might this message(s) impact how a child from this cultural group is viewed and treated in the classroom? 
How will Russian Children be treated and portrayed in the classroom?
Russian Children could be treated or portrayed following any of these stereotypes. Either for the child themselves or towards their parents or family. This is bad because when we are treated or expected to be a certain way often times we believe it and do become that way. This can have a very negative impact on the development of the children when they are assumptions made about them.


Why is it important for teachers to examine how cultural groups are represented in the media, curriculum, and policy? Why is it important for teachers to examine how cultural groups are represented in the media, curriculum and policy?

It is important for teachers to examine how cultural groups are represented in media in order to understand the bias that may already be in us so that we can be aware of them and set them aside. We need to get to know our student as who they and and what are their true needs and not what we think their needs and struggles are based on how their cultural group is portrayed in the media. It is also important to be aware of the perspectives we have on different cultures whether we have students of that culture or not because as teachers we should not give biases or support these stereotypes in our classroom.

Imagined Classroom

Each one of my students is different. Some are confident and some are insecure. Some come from a strong family who loves and supports them and some are lock and key kids who are on their own. Some know they are smart and some have always thought they were stupid. Some like sports, some music, and some video games. Some of my students are loud and rambunctious. Some are quiet and lonely. Some are eager to participate; some are distracted by the worries or excitements of life.

I will try my best to prevent behavioral issues by providing extra supervision during high risk periods, letting children know they can reach out for help, providing choices whenever possible and ensuring that the tasks are manageable. I will praise positive behavior more often than scolding negative behavior. Often times when a student misbehaves he or she is seeking attention and this way the student will learn that to receive attention they must act positively. However when behavioral issues arise I will handle each situation according to its circumstances. I will ignore it in some cases, promote apologies and teach good morals, or restrict privileges. I will involve the students in creating the rules and expectations so that they feel accountable. I will always accept late work with a percent deduction because the most important thing to me is that my students are learning, and to me better that they learn late than never learn that part of the material. I will assign a lot of projects that are open ended and creative, which you never really finish. This way the students can put as much time as they want into their projects but they will be personal and they will want to do it, rather than doing the worksheet until all the answers are filled in.

I am teaching the technical usage of a DSLR camera. This will be one of the first things I will teach my students in a photo class, because I want them to be able to get out there and start shooting from the beginning, to get as much hands on experience as they can. I will teach it by starting with a little history as an anticipatory set where we are inside a pinhole camera. I will cover the windows with black and only leave a small hole for the light to come in where we will see the image of outside projected on the wall. We will then briefly discuss the history of photography and then I will teach the technical and manual settings to the camera as a hands-on learning experience. The students will be taking pictures as they are learning how to manipulate the photo they want. I will adapt the lesson to available supplies. The main thing for my students to learn is how they can manipulate an image based on changing the light sensitivity, depth of field, and shutter speed.

            During the lesson I am carefully reading my students. Paying attention to their cues of when they are getting distracted, bored, discouraged or engaged. Ready to throw in an anticipatory set, or activity. I am using proximity to keep my students on task. I am giving positive and constructive feedback.

Some of my students are working hard on their worksheet. Some students are confused and discouraged. Some students are talking to their friends. Some are working on other things not from my class. I am aware of them all, and I am adapting my teaching to engage my students and to help them understand the content.

I will develop my own feedback forms and value the information from the students. I will adapt and change each year to improve and meet the student’s needs. Students will learn what we test for, if we test for facts they will learn facts, if we test for problem solving they will become problem solvers. My long-term goal is to learn more about and then to implement improved mechanisms for assessment of students maybe ability based or performance based. After Information is presented I will provide opportunities to for my students to apply it and then a way both the student and myself can evaluate their progress. One way I can know if my students have learned is if my tests are open ended where the students can tell all they know about the topic. This creates greater motivation to learn everything you can and not just “the answer”. I will provide a variety of assessment tools such as tests, projects, and reflections to accommodate to different needs. I will use written reflections, quizzes and tests, projects, and portfolios in order to evaluate and assess my students. Quizzes and tests will allow me to compare between students and understand the different ability levels. While reflections will help the students to be in charge of their own learning and inspire them. Project will allow for freedom, creativity and give them the opportunity to go above and beyond. Portfolios at the end of the year will help me to see the progress of each student and give them a grade that is fair based on their unique skill levels. I will use the national and state standards to base my curriculum while tailoring it to the interests of each unique group of students. 

Yellow

I first thought of the color yellow because that is the mood I want in my classroom. It symbolizes light, enlightenment, positivity, and fun.

Open Door

I chose this open door because I will always keep an open door policy that my students can come to me for help anytime.

Chameleon

I chose the chameleon because it represents change. I will change as I improve as a teacher and continue to learn more about my field. I will change with each new class because I believe each class and student is unique with different needs and styles of learning. I don’t want to ever do something the same way.

Circle Desks

I will have a circular desk formation or a set up that is familial and promotes discussion and engagement

Mac Lab

I hope to have resources available to my students that they will be able to work on projects in class and my curriculum will be project based.

Surroundings what does the room look like how are resources used during lesson

photo credit:
yellow: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/ICS_Quebec.svg/2000px-ICS_Quebec.svg.png door: http://www.fggam.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/open-door.jpg chameleon: http://www.lizardtypes.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/chameleon-picture4.jpg circle desks: http://homesdesign2016.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/american-high-school-classroom-1.jpg mac lab: http://homepages.se.edu/act/files/2014/08/VA-iMac-Lab-Fronts.jpg