Diversity in my future classroom

Throughout our class, we read Enrique's Journey and after each chapter we had to summarize what we read and we also had to draw a picture of what we think the story was trying to show us. Enrique's Journey is about a young boy and his journey to reunite with a mother who left him at the age of five to find work in the United States. Enrique's mother, Lourdes, struggles in Honduras to support her young children, Belky and Enrique. This story is very eye opening to teachers and to young students who are unaware of these circumstances some children have to make. Lots of people would do anything to live and work here in the United States for a better life. Illegal Immigration is extremely common nowadays, and in your future classroom you may encounter students who are not supposed to be here.

A stereotype is “...a fixed, over generalized belief about a particular group or class of people.” (Cardwell, 1996).  Racial stereotypes always seem to favor the race of the holder and belittle other races. It is probably true to say that every ethnic group has racial stereotypes of other groups. It is a “natural” aspect of human behavior, which can benefit each group because it helps in the long-run to identify with one’s own ethnic group and so find protection and promote the safety and success of the group.

"One advantage of a stereotype is that it enables us to respond rapidly to situations because we may have had a similar experience before."
"One disadvantage is that it makes us ignore differences between individuals; therefore we think things about people that might not be true (i.e. make generalizations)."

Teen birth rates in the U.S. are down 9 percent from 2013, and they are the lowest they’ve been since 1940. U.S. teen pregnancy rate is higher than in other western industrialized nations, and the racial/ethic and geographic disparities in teen birth rates persist. The children of teenage mothers are more likely to have lower school achievement and drop out of high school, have more health problems, and face unemployment as a young adult.

As the saying goes, children are our future. The best way to change negative stereotypes about people experiencing homelessness and ultimately end homelessness is to teach young people how to be compassionate advocates.
You can take action to help end homelessness by:
C- Contributing (goods, food drives, money..)
A- Advocate
R- Reach out
E- Educate

Raise funds for a program. Ask your group to abstain from one meal and donate the proceeds to a shelter or soup kitchen. Organize a walk-a-thon or a yard sale and donate the proceeds.

Consider giving directly to people experiencing homelessness. Deciding whether or not to give to panhandlers is a personal decision. Some may not give money out of fear that it may be spent supporting an addiction. Money also may help someone buy a meal, afford housing, buy clothes, purchase an ID to stay in a shelter, pay for transportation to a job, childcare, healthcare, support a family member—the possibilities are numerous.

Smile. Whether or not you choose to give change, please don’t look away from homeless people as if they do not exist. Making eye contact, saying a few words, or smiling can reaffirm the humanity of a person at a time when homelessness seems to have stripped it away.

Author/Speaker Brooks Gibbs explains bullying in the most simplistic terms: Dominance behavior. He provides a simple solution to bullying and how to better prevent it in the future if this ever happens to you. Sadly, lots of children and even adults experience some form of bullying. Bullying can come in all different types of ways, either online or in person. It is important to bring awareness to this problem and find a solution.

Examples of discrimination in society today come in many different forms. Discrimination can be based on many different characteristics—age, gender, weight, ethnicity, religion, or even politics. For example, prejudice and discrimination based on race is called racism. Harassment – inappropriate jokes, insults, name-calling or displays such as a poster or cartoons directed at a person because of their race, color, sex or gender, and sexual orientation. In class we watched many videos based on racism, discrimination, and prejudice. It is important to be aware of this in your future classroom and treat all your students equally.

Diversity is extremely common, and you see it everywhere you go. Early childhood providers are called upon to do many difficult tasks. One of the most difficult of these is providing our children with diverse, multicultural experiences. Since the beginning of time, young children have been raised by their families, extended families, clans, and communities. The challenges on how diversity is perceived or treated. The discourse on diversity has become so prevalent in education that it risks becoming meaningless. Diversity presents children with a mirror reflecting on how society looks at them and how they should look at themselves. Many children can get very discouraged, and become depressed from being diverse and different from everyone else.

Depression is a very hard topic to talk about for most people, as common as it is in the United States and all around the world, we need to be aware of warning signs and how to help those who feel as if they are trapped. Being depressed often feels like carrying a very heavy burden, but you are not alone in this struggle. Millions of Americans suffer from some form of depression every year, making it one of the most common mental disorders in the country.Gaining a deeper understanding of depression can help begin the journey to recovery. Taking some time to learn more about the causes and symptoms of depression will assist you greatly when it comes time to consider methods of treatment. Depression is more than just feeling sad. Everyone feels upset or unmotivated from time to time, but depression is more serious. It is a mood disorder characterized by feelings of sadness and loss of interest in daily activities.

There are 4 main types of learning styles; visual, auditory,reading/writing, and kinesthetic. In your own classroom, it is important to pay close attention to everyone's type of skills and learning types. It is also very important to use different strategies when assisting your students with assignments or learning new material. Be open to new ideas and being patient with your students as everyone has different backgrounds and ways of learning. Visual learning *is a style in which a learner utilizes graphs, charts, maps and diagrams. An *auditory learner depends on listening and speaking as a main way of learning.** Kinesthetic learner** is a learning style in which learning takes place by the students carrying out physical activities, rather than listening to a lecture or watching demonstrations. Lastly, Reading/Writing. Sometimes known as the second visual modality for learning, reading and writing is a learning style where individuals are able to absorb and retain the most information through reading and writing text, versus imagery and symbolism.

Cognitive Disability: A person who has a certain limitation in mental functioning and in skills such as communicating, taking care of themselves, and social skills.
In order to support these students with this disability you must:
Teach one concept at a time
Teach one step at a time to help support memorization and sequencing
Teach in small groups, or one-on-one, if possible.
A cognitive disability is not a disease. You can't catch a cognitive disability from anyone. Cognitive disabilities are also not a type of mental illness, like depression. There is no cure for cognitive disabilities, however, most children with cognitive disabilities can learn to do many things. It just takes them more time and effort than other children.