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.