My 'Culturally Diverse' Reflections

It was nice to meet with the students at Charlotte's class today, It seems to me that working with children will be fun with new adventures during every class. Robert, Tyson and I sat with four students and they were wonderful and attentive. I read a family story called "Nora's Ark' and they seemed to like it. I hope for this semester we will work together well and that I will get to know some new people and we can began to share what is personally theirs. I love stories, it's like a glimpse into someone life, some are special and some are funny but the times we have together I know will be worth it.

Today was a class with Charlotte Bradshaw. I am so glad we went over the NM six traits rubic, this is helpful for me to guide these young ones in their writing. She asked the UNM students if they would read their 'I AM FROM' poems to give the kids some ideas of who we are and what we are. For me this poem was really about Alberta and what I am and what my life's about. Most of all I am proud of my kids, they keep me going whether or not I want to or not.

I look at these kids now at this age and I think when I was young what was I doing? Was I writing stories? No...I was living my stories, now I have to remember them. Even at this age they have stories to tell and they might not know it, it's going to be fun to help them remember what they want to write.

I love Charlotte's teacher qualities, one thing that is unique is her 'look' when the students are not doing what they are suppose to. One 'look' and they know what they were doing or not doing and then back to class they go. I need to develop a 'look' because she didn't have to say a thing the 'look' did the trick.

I have been given two students in Charlotte's class to begin writing their stories and making a book of their memories. I am looking forward to working with Ashley and Orlonzo and one comment about the kids is when I began our session by sharing one of my stories with them it was like opening a page in their lives. When we finally got on common ground and it was comfortable they talked and talked. I am lucky they were talking and we laughed together so I feel this is a very good team-up and it's only going to get better.

When we got back to class and talked about cultures I found out this is a very sensitive subject for me. My culture identifies me as who I am and I know when people look at me they know I am different. Yes, there are differences about me but alot of philosophies are the same in the America we live in. When an outsider steps into my world differences are going to be evident because you have never lived the Navajo way and I want to tell you we are unique and special. I can say this and be proud of who I am and it's these differences that make people who they are. I liked what Frances said about culture 'we make our own culture as we evolve." It almost seems that as I live my life I am creating my own culture with my family and they in turn will hopefully not forget me but use this to begin their own way of life with the families they create. It doesn't matter what changes our culture like money, class, skin color or language we are all people and we all live and breathe and have to survive just as any one else would.

As a future teacher I see students as people and they have to be educated so I need to do my responsibility to teach them and guide them so they can get through the educational system. So along the way I will respect them and accept them just like a teacher of long ago did for me.

I had a great time with Ashley she has made me realize that kids have alot to say when given the opportunity. She had so much to write down thank goodness there was alot of space on her paper to begin. I now have only one student to work with Orlonzo has moved and is no longer a student here. I have a great partner to begin this session and we worked really well to begin her story. She understood what was expected of her and she just got in there and started doing the job. We started one web for her story then we made anther one. I really credit her studious nature as a product of Mrs. Bradshaw only the best from her.

I can understand why this little girl loves her grandmother. She was adopted by her grandmother and Ashley calls her mom. I can see that this grandmother has really passed on the Navajo ways to her because she talks so easy about it. She even knew her clans when I asked her, alot of kids don't know this very important cultural identity about themselves.

Back at class at the Andrea Kristena shop 'which I am beginning to love' was a great idea to meet. I am struggling to stay with class because after two shots yesterday in each cheek I am pretty sore and not quite with class yet. Our group got in there and covered the chapters necessary for today. We talked about culture and the importance of our knowledge of other cultures. The bottom line for me is when acceptance happens this is where it begins and the door to understanding opens and you become a great teacher. I better stop I am not feeling so good .............:)

Today was a productive day for Ashley and I. Her family back ground is shocking to me because she is so stable and happy I suppose living with her grandmother is absolutely fulfilling for her. Her stories seem to flow out of her and she knows what she wants to put on paper and when we talk about revisions she always has some ideas of how to add a word or redo a sentence. I am so lucky to have her for my student she makes me smile and I'm a better person because I spent some time with her today.

When we work we do about 3 or 4 lines of sentences then we go over meaning and sentence structure. She uses 'and' alot and I'm trying to get her to use other words in place of it. This is why I was really glad to receive the paper today on other words to use. Another word passage she uses alot are 'in it', she recognizes what she is doing when she reads her own sentences and then I ask her if it makes sense. When she looks at me, I can see her brain working and she sees what is wrong then flips her head to rewrite that sentence. Just a little help, she fixes, then we are on our way.

I have written my story and it's on my webpage. I want you to know that everything I wrote is true because I lived it. I know I am older now and it might seem so unreal but it is true. I did herd sheep and ride horses when I was young. I feel I need to write this, just to let you know.

Your team teaching with Charlotte is the best. She gives a little and you give a little it's great. Thank you for the calender dates for our class. I am looking forward to finishing this project because I can't wait for everyone to see her work. She knows the Navajo way of life and alot of little ones her age, don't have a clue! I really appreciate her grandmother for teaching her and opening her world to Ashley.

The tips on sentence structure and story writing are really helpful and we will use this guide to complete our stories. Do we finish only one story? Ashley has two stories written and I haven't asked her if she wants to publish both. When we sit down to work she works and I'm proud of her. Good day in class today!!

Ashley is very proud of her story I can tell. When she reads it she smiles alot. Today we corrected her mistakes with punctuation, spelling, and sentence structure. I liked that we could talk about each line and have her think about the story. She has very good ideas when she rewrite materials and is very positive, that is her nature. Time went by so fast I didn't have time to read my story to her because we worked with another student in our group. We are making good progress though.

Our time at IHOP was rewarding because our group works well together. It's been a while since we read 'The Prince of the Pond' so we talked about the chapters previously read to catch up. Our text chapters were discussed and I presented chapter 12. Of course students that are ESL students have a tremendous load when they come to our country because not only do they have to learn the language but they have to learn content material in the classroom.

We talked about the four ways english can be taught to ESL students. Because kids have different ways to learn anything we as teachers have to find the best possible way 'this' child can learn this language. When we hit a brick wall I'm glad there are other options to take when teaching. I talked to Three Rivers today and our meeting there for next week will be OK.

Just before class begun I was talking to a couple of fellow students and they seemed frustrated because their kids weren't producing like they should be. I am so proud of my Ashley and what kind of work she is doing. Thank you for this little girl..we are still cleaning up word phases and sentence structure and punctuation and the story is getting done.

Meeting with my group is one of the highlights of my week. Everyone in my group contributes alot from personal experiences to everyday encounters. Our group covered the chapters for week two and for me the bottom line is respect and basic knowledge of other cultures when dealing with them. I covered gestures and realized that a wink in one culture might mean one thing and in another culture it could mean something off the chart. Not only from one country to another but within the United States regions can be different. For myself I noticed that dialects are difference and skin color also. How students participate in the classroom vocally could come from the students' cultural background. Americans want direct speech while Native Americans use indirect speech. People from China and Japan have 'high considerateness' when speaking (they don't interrupte while others are speaking) and the cultures with 'high involvement' interrupt and speak louder and quicker. This is really interesting how different people are from around the world I need to be respectful and do my part to understand them so that they might learn to understand me.

Today I went to Charlotte's class to work with Ashley. We needed to add some Navajo words to her story. She wanted to add words that her grandmother says to her and I told her to go for it. It really does add a nice favor to her story and a really good connection to her Navajo world. I had typed her corrections from our last visit and we went over the new copy I made. We talk all along the hallway to the cafeteria and she had a fun Halloween and came out with a whole bag of candy. I only hope she brushes her teeth often. I feel at this point in the semester we have a good trusting working relationship. Like I said today we went to see the Navajo bilingual teacher for correct spellings on some words and it worked out really good. This is Ashley's story and she is so proud of it. We have made so much progress in this story we are almost ready for illustrations.

I am so glad when I come into class Ashley is ready to work and thats what we did. I had typed lasts week revision and we went over it again. We talked about changing some word choices she had and made two sentences better. Two weeks ago we added voices and it does make the story more personal it was what we needed. Her story has fluency now and I really like the flow. She is happy about it also.

When we gathered at SJC for the other half of class I especially enjoyed the paper questions and feedback from the questions shared. I have a real issue with racism and I found from todays class I wasn't the only one. I am glad it was discussed and I hope as we go out into the world we will have educators' eyes and hearts. That understanding and acceptance and respect will grow in our own minds so that all people will feel and know that they are accepted by you.

My first comments are about working with a wonderful little fourth grader who has made me realize that the world is full of good people and that our futures will be in good hands. Ashley is full of good ideas and always willing to try anything to make her story better. Today I shared with her my story about when I was young. Before I began my reading I asked her to listen to what she might want to change to make the story sound better. She really listened to me and smiled as I read and when the story was all over she said it didn't need any changes and she liked the story. She has given me some confidenced that maybe I can write a story too. When she is given the chance to talk she will talk and I listen. For our partnership it goes both ways we listen and talk and keep going. I find that little ones have experiences in their lives and those are just as important to listen to as our own experiences are. We are nearing the completion of our project so we are just about ready to hand over our hard work. We are handing it over with alot of pride. :)

When we met at IHOP today the conversation that really impressed me was about the article Whites and Indians. We live in a bilingual bicultural place here in the four corners and for those teachers who might have to be in a class with over 50% Native I hope they study out the culture because barriers can be broken and respect can happen when an understanding is sought.

Today at Charlotte's class we helped out students with their dress rehearsal and they read their stories. I was really proud of them. When I was in the fourth grade I couldn't do that. I couldn't stand in front of anyone and speak. This is the honest truth!! I was voted by my fourth grade class to lead the pledge of allegiance every morning. I couldn't do it and my wonderful teacher didn't make me do it, bless his heart. Just listening to the students you can see complete and total diversity in all of them. I guess I was really 'rezed out' when I was young but these kids are urban indians and they are so full of confidence.

I really enjoyed working with Ashley from Charlotte's class she is special and it was very good for me to work with someone so young and to see improvement in her story and improvement in our interaction with one another. We sure had alot to talk about and we had many things in common.