Last year was my first year of teaching. I was surprised at the number of different cultures represented in my Pickens County classroom. I had Hispanic, Chinese, Indian, African-American, and White children in my classroom. A couple of these children could speak very little English. I feel that I did a fairly good job of making these children feel loved and welcomed in my classroom. Even though they may have not always understood what I was saying, smiles and hugs mean the same thing in all languages. At the beginning of the year, I spend a great deal of time teaching kindness and respect for others. I do this mainly through read-alouds, discussions, and reviewing classroom rules and expectations. Our schools also teaches character education. Our guidance counselor teaches a lesson to my class once a month. I try to review the monthly word/concept on a regular basis.
This year, my classes are not quite as diverse. I have one Hispanic student and two African-American students. I have been guilty of trying to "not see them as different." I need to pay more attention to their different learning styles and their different backgrounds. I found the chart on page 323 to be very helpful. I would like to see a similar chart for other cultures as well.
In the future, I plan to become more educated on various cultures. For example, I never thought about African-American students being more communal than other students. But, I can see that now that it has been brought to my attention. I want to embrace all of my students. I want every child that enters my classroom to feel welcomed, loved, and respected.
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