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.