Link to Artifact:
Standard 2:
The teacher uses understanding of individual differences and diverse cultures and communities to ensure inclusive learning environments that allow each learner to reach his/her full potential.
Connection to Standard:
My artifact is my book resource guide. Having books in the classroom is very important for students to be represented in or learn something about. Books serve as mirrors, windows and sliding doors. Mirrors where students can view themselves and their experiences. Windows where students can learn through the book and sliding doors where students enter the book. Creating this book’s guide allowed me to broaden my knowledge on understanding the importance of different books in a classroom environment. Books expand vocabulary, bring different knowledge, allow students to relate to the books and enhance reading comprehension. In my classroom I want to provide access to books and promote literacy. My students will be provided with diverse books that will allow them to see themselves and learn about others. This has a connection to standard 2 because it talks about the importance of individual differences and diverse cultures. Through my reading guide it displays individual differences though the book and the children’s experiences. Books allow students to see their own individual distinctions from their point of view as well as others points of view. Moreover, these books in the classroom allow for students to relate to them and learn about different cultures. My artifact also relates to standard two because of diverse cultures. The books displayed in my artifact each have different descriptions and different messages they illustrate throughout their story line. For example, one book I wrote about is called “A Piece of Home” by Jeri Watt. This book is about a boy named Hee Jun and his family and how they moved to America from South Korea. Throughout the story he faces many challenges such as difficulty adjusting to a new home, adapting to the language barrier and making new friends. This incorporates standard two because the students are using mirrors, windows, and sliding doors, to learn about different cultures and their environments and how those might differ from what each student is used to and thinks is societal normality. This captures the point of teachers understanding diversity and individual differences and incorporating that in the classroom because students will be exposed to a number of different works of literature highlighting diversity and different topics to broaden their knowledge and exposure to religion, ethnicity, and cultural differences. It is very important for everyone to grow up knowing that not everyone’s the same, and that is okay and what makes each person unique. It is also imperative that students not only understand the many differences each culture has to offer, but they also accept it and understand that it is okay to not be the same as everyone else. Being unique is what brings variety and importance to the world. My artifact displays a number of different readings which cover a variety of different reading levels overall allowing for students to reach their full potential in reading and critical thinking skills.
What I learned:
What I learned in this assignment is how to incorporate teaching diversity and inclusion in the classroom in numerous ways. I also expanded my knowledge on why it is so important to teach such information to students. Some ways to instruct students this information is to assign reading and follow up with the readings with open discussions, quizzes, and reading assignments where students are to answer questions I ask in short answer format. An example of questions I will have the students answer is, “Name two ways how Hee Jun from “A Piece of Home” faced struggles in America and briefly explain why he may have faced these challenges?” A second question I will have the students answer will be more engaging and have them relate to this story. I will then have them answer the question, “If you were in Hee Jun’s situation how would you feel and what would you do to try to overcome these challenges?” This question requires critical thinking and as well as requiring the students to think personally and put themselves in this position of being a new kid in a new environment knowing very little and struggling to fit in. This will allow the students to think selflessly and passionately about diversity and how it is important to be understanding and accepting of all people.This will improve my knowledge and help me better my metacognitive teaching skills because I will know how to appropriately and effectively teach my students how to be aware and understanding of these diversity problems present in today’s society. This has also made me aware of the importance of creating a classroom environment based around a classroom library to build important skills such as building classroom community demonstrating mirrors, windows and sliding glass doors, building vocabulary embedding in the importance of literacy and critical thinking skills.
