Gay student bullied and killed

I recently read an article in the state news about a 15 year old student shot because he was gay. THere was a vigil held in Lansing for the student as well as to raise awareness about a bill that will be going to the Senate which will require schools to have a uniform anti-bullying code.
I think that this bill is an important piece of legislature but I think something more proactive needs to be done in schools to stop bullying before it even starts. One important way of doing this is getting students to see that many minority groups are just like them and have many of the same emotions and feelings that they do.
Bullying starts because of a misunderstanding and intolerance for others. Teachers need to work to create an atmosphere that makes all students feel comfortable and safe. Teachers also need to help students become aware of minority groups that may be too scared to talk openly about how they feel and show their true identity.
A great way for teachers to open up the conversation in their classrooms is to take a piece of literature that can get students talking about different groups of people and how the text may depict a group differently than the students would have thought and therefore allows them to question the stereotypes that exist in their class, school, and community.
This can also be a great way to get students talking with their parents about the student's feelings, and even their own identity. Anything that can get parents and children talking about issues that are sometimes hard to talk about is a really great thing.

Native American Stereotypes on T.V.

I was recently watching on TLC a show called Little People Big World. Part of the episode had to do with the Roloffs wanting to put something on their farm that represents the Native American culture in their area. They originally just wanted to put a teepee up until they were corrected that the tribes in their area build plank houses.
I thought this was a really good episode to connect with our conversation about Native Americans and the stereotypes that exist even now. I thought it was especially important that the Roloffs recognized that their stereotype was incorrect and they took the time to correct it. They did this by having the plank house handmade by a local tribe, as well as having a traditional ceremony once it was built. I hope the episode opened others eyes to the rich, unique, and very diverse culture of Native Americans that I am just now beginning to understand. By going to the conference, reading the articles in class and the discussions in class I can see now how important it is to take the time to understand the Native American culture and learn about the many differences. I also was glad that the episode touched on the many similarities that people have as humans and no matter how different one may seem they are actually the same in many ways too.

Little House on the Prairie books

When discussing the Little House on the Prairie books in class yesterday, I found it very interesting to heard about what others thought about the portrayal of Native Americans in the book. I along with others had never thought twice about the fact that Native Americans were described like animals would be when we were younger and reading the book. It also disturbs me that no one took the time to correct these stereotypes to me. It is for exactly these reasons that people still hold these descriptions to be accurate. This is so damaging to an entire group of people just because there are people that do not want to let go of their childhood memories that they have of these books without even thinking about how it affects others. I am definitely going to be talking to people I know about the problems with these books so that more generations do not go on being ignorant about these books.
I do think they still hold a lot of value but without direction from adults how will children know that these descriptions are not accurate and never were even in the time period it was supposed to have taken place. It is important to helps students know the difference between fact and fantasy and the incredibly false descriptions and pictures created in millions of children's mind's eyes while reading these books.

Philosophy

When thinking about why I was taking this class lots of things came to my mind. The obvious ones like, it's required, or it sounded interesting were there but there really is a bigger more important reason about why I am taking this class. I want to be able to broaden my horizons about children's literature and be able to impact students ideas, beliefs, and life just by opening their eyes to a new book that presents a particular topic that may be new or different than what they had originally thought about that subject. I also wanted to learn how to pick books and learn what makes one book better than another. I learned in 348 that that can be a hard thing to do somethings. It take a lot of time and effort and research to figure out the criteria and to know what is appropriate for all students in my class.
I know that in my class I will incorporate reading into all of my subjects and lessons so knowing how to pick good books is a huge part of what I hope my students will get out of my class. I also hope to some day write some of my own children's books so I know that I need to know what the criteria is for good books so that I can create a book that is mindful of all viewpoints and does not make generalizations about a particular group of people.
It is so important to me to embrace all of my students into my lessons and in order to do this I must work hard to give good representations of all groups of people in my teaching. I know that it will take more work to be conscious of this but I also know that it will be worth it to show my students that I care about each of them equally and that I do not value one group of people over another. I hope that my students will pick this up and also begin to see that as a valuable trait for themselves and see it as something they want to do.
By adding more multicultural literacy into my curriculum, I will be able to give all of my students a book to either relate to, or to learn something new from; at least that is my hope. I think it will be really hard to make sure all of my students see these connections and understand that I want them to learn something about these many cultures. I think it will also be hard to not put my own bias into the lessons.
Thinking about what my philosophy about multicultural education is, is a complicated task. I know that in order to reach and connect with students you must show that you respect all people and cultures. I think one of the most efficient and best ways to do this is to use books to explain all sides of a story or event. In this way I can get my students talking to each other about hard issues that may be uncomfortable. I hope I can create an environment that is safe and students feel they can share their opinions and learn new things about their peers that they may have never known before. I am worried that this may not go smoothly at first but I hope eventually I will learn what works and gain new knowledge about how to approach different subjects in a way that makes all students feel I am respecting the culture.

Habibi

This book really made me think this week and although I am not writing a paper on it it still brought up some questions for me. I loved that the book was written about a subject that is rarely talked about with children because few adults know the details and reasons that the Arabs and Jewish people are fighting. Children hear about the holy war all the time but few probably take the time to think about the children that live there and how they are affected and the countless violent acts that take place in front of the children living in Palestine.
However one thing that I found interesting about the book is the character that was supposed to teach the reader and Liyana about Jewish culture was a boy. I feel this complicated the relationship further and made the relationship between
Liyana and Omer a little more superficial (that may not be the right word). It seemed that she was not basing her feelings on a long lasting friend but rather on more of his surface qualities. I think its interesting that Nye would not have chosen a female for Liyana to make a connection with.
I also found it interesting that her fathers family was so welcoming of her and her mother and brother. From the experience I have meeting family for the first time from another country, it is awkward and hard to make conversation. Perhaps she was showing how she felt her family's culture would participate if put in that situation.
I think this is a great book for all ages and will definitely be recommending it to my niece because it gives information about cultures and religions that are often overlooked in mainstream culture.

Insider vs. Outsider Debate

I do not feel that it is necessary for a person to be an insider or an outside to a culture to be able to write about the culture they chose to write about.

Prior to reading the articles, I would have definetly said that in order for an author to write about a particular culture they would have had to live it and know how a person of that culture feels deep deep down in their emotions. However, I have decided that in order to write a story about a culture you defiantly need to do your research and talk to all different people of that culture, but there is no reason an outsider could not do this just as well as an insider. Both would run the risk of writing stereotypes or making a mistake about some aspect of the culture just as both are able to succeed in writing an enlightening and enriching story about the culture.

I feel that books need to be judged by what is in them not by who the author is. As long as the author takes their time and works hard at writing an authentic text, it should make no difference if they are an insider or an outsider.

Introduction

My name is Katie and I am a senior in the elementary education program. Since I was very young my parents have always tried to introduce me to new cultures and diverse people and situations. They have expected me to make my own decisions about people and not to form opinions or stereotypes based on other peoples ideas and viewpoints. Because of this, I have always had an urge to learn more about cultures and groups of people I may not have the opportunity to interact with in my daily life. It is for this reason, that I have turned to literature and novels to learn more about diverse culture and people.
I am most interested in this class because I am hoping to broaden my horizons when it comes to children's literature. I think students learn best when the teacher puts subjects like history and science in the context of a story. Students usually become more engaged and want to learn more about the topic. I am hoping this class will teach me what to look for in diverse literature and what makes the book an appropriate and useful book for the classroom.