Teaching Diverse Students

This artifact is an informal journal paper that I wrote for ENGL 352 (Children’s literature) in Dr. William Boerman-Cornell’s class in February of 2022. I created this artifact in order to explore and embrace the differences in the stories we were reading in the classroom. In this artifact it focuses on 5 different books that give a sense of inclusion and diversity. These different stories include those who are of color, those who obtain different disabilities, and those of Vietnamese descent. By embracing these differences, it allows for children to see themselves in literature. Not only seeing themselves, but for others to have their preconceived stereotypes to be liberated by truly exploring the differences of people and understanding the similarities between one another. By examining and researching  multicultural books like these, we are able to take the step in making society a better place by embracing diversity and respecting one another. 

The importance of this artifact is to research and discover different pieces of literature that will be able to be used in my future classroom. By researching these stories, although some may be fiction written, there are going to be real students in the classroom that will fit the narratives. So, as an educator it is important to be aware of that and to embrace the diversity in the classroom. By completing this paper I was able to add 5 different books to my library that I will use in my classroom that will help “facilitate(s) a learning community in which individual differences are respected,” (1K). I will be able to use this experience of the stories from this class to help with my own and my students' growth of understanding one another in order to cultivate a welcoming and loving relationship within the classroom. 

Through this assignment, I learned an immense amount of information from 5 simple, yet beautiful, children’s books. I was able to learn that there are many differences that I have not been aware of, that I will be able to have a better understanding of when I encounter the differences within my classroom. This is extremely important in my development of teaching because there will always be differences in the classroom and it is so important to understand and embrace everything who the students are. Although this assessment’s title is “informal journal response” I think that this document was one of the most important assignments that I have completed. I believe this because of the vast amount of information the 5 children’s literature books taught me and what I will carry with me as I continue on this beautiful journey of becoming an educator. 

This artifact was created for an elementary literacy class in the Fall of 2022 for Professor Lyudmyla Ivanyuk. It contains a mock Project-Based Unit Outline in which me and two other classmates created a unit that was centered on the students and their futures. The goal of this unit was to expose students to different career paths/lifestyles that they can follow and to see where they would want to be in the future. Each student comes from a different background/culture, so they would have the ability to be creative and unique with their writing on who they are and who they would want to be. At the end of the unit, the students would be able to invite their families, friends, administration, community workers, and other classes to the classroom. Students would then be able to read their narrative about themselves in front of the class and visitors. At the end, students will be able to mingle with families, friends, administration, and community workers to learn more about what they want to do when they grow up. 

The importance of this artifact is that the students would be able to express themselves and venture out to understand who they were. Not only for themselves, but for the rest of the class to learn about each other's aspirations in life. To “use(s) information about students’ individual experiences, families, cultures, and communities to create meaningful learning opportunities and enrich instruction for all students,” (1L), the students are able to take who they are today and apply it to who they want to be in the future. Whether that be exploring things within their cultures, their communities, or even to follow in the footsteps of a relative. This is showing progress towards the standard as it is an understanding that there is diversity within all of the students and using a project like this that embraces these differences. By embracing these differences, the students are able to educate one another, which maximizes students' learning and respect for one another. 

From this assignment, I learned how to incorporate many different strategies and techniques in helping students discover who they are and who they want to be. Each student has a difference to bring to the table and it is so important to constantly be embracing this diversity. This is extremely important in my development as a teacher as I will be encountering many different students from many different backgrounds. An assignment like this can help me discover who my students want to be and their goals for the future, which is what I am here for to help push them to get where they want to be. I will want to incorporate this assignment in my future classroom each year as it can help me discover on a deeper level of who my students are and what their aspirations are.