Final Post-Reflection of TE448

As this semester comes to an end, I am able to look back and see how much I have learned about multicultural literature. At the beginning of the semester I knew very little about diverse literature and I wasn't sure how to incorporate it into my classroom someday. I can now say that my understanding has grown and I now feel comfortable using diverse literature in my classroom. I think the main reason that I was not used to diverse culture is because I was not exposed to it when I was younger. The classrooms that I was in contained literature, but nothing in the genre of diverse literature. Or at least not to my knowledge.
I am very grateful to have learned about insider and outsider authors. It now makes me look at literature in a different light. As a future teacher I am now able to analyze a piece of literature to make sure that it is appropriate for my future students. When picking diverse literature I will make sure that the text contains accurate information and doesn't promote stereotypes. If literature promotes stereotypes it causes the children to have misconceptions.
One thing that I still have a concern with is being able to teach diverse literature in a meaningful way. I want my students to get the most out of a piece of literature so they will be able to learn about a different culture or race.
I feel that this class really opened my eyes to new ideas and thoughts. I am very happy that I took this course and I can't wait to teach diverse literature in my classroom.

Text Set Reflection

Overall, I felt that the books that I chose were quite helpful and beneficial. The books that I chose were The Beaded Moccasins, Cheyenne Again, The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses, and Eagle Song. All of these books dealt with Native Americans. Each book dealt with different areas of Native American culture and heritage.
The Beaded Moccasins focused on the Delaware Indian culture and heritage. This text included many important aspects of this culture and made the reader interested in this particular tribe. Eagle Song focused more on the aspect of Native American culture when it came to feeling alienated by people of different cultures. This is a good book to teach in a classroom because at some point everyone has felt alienated by other people for some reason or another. The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses is a good book to read because it includes many important traditions that Native Americans have as a culture. This is helpful for the students to learn more about the whole culture. Cheyenne Again did a nice job at giving the reader the opportunity to see how some Native Americans were forced to be 'more white'. They went to drastic measures to make sure the Native Americans would loose their unique culture and heritage.
Overall, this text set did a good job at showing readers what it is like to live as a Native American. Some of the books I would consider to put in my classroom one day, and others I wouldn't. However, it is important that the classroom library be full of diverse literature to expand the children's current knowledge of different cultures.

Critical Resource-Cheyenne Again

Eve Bunting's CHEYENNE AGAIN

Slapin, Beverly. 'Eve Bunting's CHEYENNE AGAIN'. A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children. AltaMira Press. Maryland. 2005.

I found this critical review written by Beverly Slapin for Cheyenne Again on Debbie Reese’s blog. I actually just stumbled upon this review and was very excited to see what this individual had to say about the book. The review originally appeared in the book, A Broken Flute: The Native Experience in Books for Children.

Slapin first starts her review by talking about the illustrations drawn by Irving Toddy. She comments on his ability to correctly illustrate what a boarding school would look like and it’s surrounding environment. Toddy was an actual student who went to an Indian boarding school so he was able to use his prior experiences in his drawings.

Then Slapin goes on to talk about the author, Eve Bunting, and respond to how her story was not very realistic. Slapin states in her review, “In Bunting’s telling, on the other hand, conditions appear far better than they were.” She goes on to explain that there were many deaths brought on by malnutrition, disease, and beatings. It is interesting to think why Eve Bunting left out such drastic measures that were done to Native Americans. Was it because it would be too graphic for children to read? Or was it left out because she didn’t know this took place? One could ponder these questions for a while. Another piece of information that Bunting tends to leave out according to Slapin, was the fact that when parents would voluntarily send their children to these boarding schools it wasn’t because they wanted their children to ‘learn the white man’s ways’, but rather to learn English. Slapin also adds in her review that there would have been no teacher telling the students to hold on to their memories, the teachers would force the children to forget their 'Indian-ness' inside and out.

So all in all, Slapin doesn’t agree with this text and thinks that it doesn’t promote the correct ways of the Indian boarding schools. This is not a recommended book to read to a class because it doesn’t portray the boarding schools in the correct light. They are made to seem a lot less harsh than they really are.

After reading this review my outlook on this book was changed a lot because I was taking what the author was telling me as the truth. However, it wasn’t the truth I was reading. It is the teacher’s responsibility to make sure what they are reading to their class is being correctly portrayed. Reading Beverly Slapin’s review really opened my eyes to things that I never would have known before. I am grateful for her insight on this particular book and her feelings toward it.

The Beaded Moccasins

By: Lynda Durrant
(Durrant, Lynda. The Beaded Moccasins. Yearling Publishing, 2000.)

This book tells the story of 12-year-old Mary Campbell's capture and first year of captivity among the Delaware Indians. This story is based on a real incident. Kidnapped in 1759 from her Pennsylvania home, Mary replaces the deceased granddaughter of the chief. Angry, lonely, and frightened, she resists assimilation into the tribe. However, by story's end, she recognizes her Indian family's genuine affection for her, helps with daily chores, and earns the name Woman-Who-Saved-the-Corn for her valiant efforts to salvage the tribe's crops. Throughout her ordeal, Mary weighs the relationships of her past life against the hardships and isolation of her current existence. The dissatisfaction she once felt for her real family fades as she struggles to understand the values of her tribal family. Mary's quaint, observant narrative reveals a young girl coming of age, discovering her inner strength, and gaining sensitivity to the needs and hopes of others.

This is a very compelling story of Mary Campbell. Durrant does an excellent job at portraying this real incident in a way that can be comprehended by students. This book could very easily be taught to upper elementary students. This book gives excellent insight into the life of this young girl living with the Delaware Indians. The book gives a lot of information regarding the culture pertaining to this particular tribe. This fictionalized account is entertaining, insightful, and compassionate. The book is also very informative because it contains a glossary of Delaware terms, a list of sources, and an afterword that completes the facts of Campbell’s true story. The cave that Mary Campbell lived in is still around and people are able to go and visit it. This would be a great opportunity to take a class on a field trip so they are able to see first hand what this young girl had to endure.

Eagle Song

By: Joseph Bruchac
(Bruchac, Joseph. Eagle Song. Dial Books for Young Readers. New York, 1997.)

This book tells the story of a young Native American boy, Daniel Bigtree. Daniel and his family moved to Brooklyn from their Indian reservation. They have been living in Brooklyn for two months and Daniel is having trouble making friends because people aren’t treating him fairly at school. He is being bullied because he is Native American. This is an obstacle for Daniel to face. He not only had to move from his comfortable life on the Indian reservation, he is being alienated by his peers. Daniel’s dad, Richard Bigtree, works a lot and is not able to spend a lot of time with his family. When Daniel does have the time to be with his dad, he tells his dad the problems that he is facing at school. Richard Bigtree suggests to Daniel that he come into his classroom and talk with his classmates about their heritage and how important it is to them. Richard hopes that this will show the students that it is important to embrace different cultures and heritages. However, it took some time for the students to accept Daniel. One of Daniel’s bullies, Tyrone, threw a basketball at his face while everyone was outside for recess. This took Daniel by surprise because he thought it was going to be better for him at school. After the incident happened, Tyrone apologized to Daniel and said that it was an accident. Daniel told him that he wanted to not be enemies and make peace between the two of them. Tyrone agreed and they set aside their differences.

This book was very interesting and engaging. The author has written many other books, all written very well. The issues that the author addressed in this book would be helpful to address in a classroom because many children would be able to relate to Daniel’s problems. The issue of Daniel feeling alienated from his peers is very relatable by students. They are able to see that it is not just them that suffer from this certain problem. It also lets the student have a personal connection to the character in the book, and when this happens it makes reading much more engaging. The text does a great job at informing the reader of Native American culture and heritage and how unique it is. This book would be a good to read to a class during a social studies unit on Native Americans because it tells the story of Aionwahta. This is a great story to read because it gives background information about the start of the Iroquois Indians. Another aspect of the book that was great was the sporadic use of Native American language. This is interesting for the reader because it lets them step into the world of Native Americans. There was a glossary and pronunciation guide in the back of the book for the reader to look up the words and see how they are supposed to be pronounced.

The Girl Who Loved Wild Horses

By: Paul Goble
(Goble, Paul. The Girl Who Loved Horses. Bradbury Press. New York, 1978.)

This is a story about following your heart for what you love. A young Native American girl follows her heart for her love of the wild horses. Her tribe would train horses to hunt buffalo but she preferred to have the horses run wild and free. It gave her a sense of freedom from her own life watching these animals. The young girl traveled with the horses while a storm hit her village and forced her to leave her family. After fleeing the village to not get hit by the storm, the young girl and her horses were lost for a year. When the young girl was found by two Native Americans she did not go with them she continued on her way with the horses. However, the young girl had an accident and fell off of her horse and the hunters helped her back to her village to her parents. When getting back to her village the young girl falls ill and says the only way that she will get better is by going back with her wild horses because she felt that they were part of her family. The young girl left her family to be with her horses and each year she would take a colt to her family for them to remember her.

This text does a great job at letting the reader step into the life of a Native American girl. The text does a good job at showing the reader different cultures and heritages. Many children wouldn’t be aware of Native American culture and how it may be so different than their own. This particular book would be useful in a classroom because the students can see how Native Americans live and some of the traditions that they have that are interesting.

Cheyenne Again

By: Eve Bunting
(Bunting, Eve. Cheyenne Again. New York: Clarion Books, 1995)

As I read this particular multicultural picture book I was very intrigued by the issues being discussed. This book informs the reader of the hardships that Native Americans went through to become ‘more white’. This story is about a young Native American boy, Young Bull, who is sent away to attend an off-reservation Indian school. He is sent there to learn how to become ‘more white’ and to learn that his heritage and culture is not acceptable. It shows Young Bull having to live in a cold and lonely barracks. This is hard for him because he is used to a totally different living environment. Then it shows Young Bull getting his braids cut off by a white man because that is not how whites wear their hair. This is just another way of trying to conform this young by to be 'more white'. During the time that Young Bull is at school he is daydreaming of what it was like to be back on his reservation and how free he was. Young Bull is also exposed to church-life according to the whites. He is not used to this type of religion because his culture prays differently than the whites. Since Young Bull is not accepting of this new culture he tries to run away back to his reservation, but he gets caught and a ball and chain is locked to his ankle for a day. They say that this will enforce more discipline in Young Bull. As Young Bull continues his education one of his teachers tells him that he should never forget that he is Indian inside and that no one should be able to take away his memories. The story ends with Young Bull reminiscing about his heritage and culture and that someday he will be back on his reservation and will be Cheyenne again.

Reading this book really opened the eyes of the reader to things that were not known before. It is known that Native Americans were wrongfully abused by the whites however; most don't know the extent of it. At the end of the book there is an afterword written by the author. This information tells the reader that these off-reservation Indian boarding schools were very popular among the United States. It continued to give names of different schools that Native American children attended. These schools still exist today for Native American children. However, the schools aren’t as harsh and they tend to be more sensitive to the young people’s needs. They also encourage the children to embrace their Native American heritage.

This particular piece of multicultural literature did a nice job at informing the reader of issues that they may not have known. The afterword at the end of the book was very helpful for the reader, it is a good resource tool. It gives the reader more information about this particular issue and they can see that it actually exists in real life. This book does a nice job at getting the reader comfortable about talking about these issues. These issues can be raised and addressed in a classroom and children would have many things to say.

Group Discussion about Boy Meets Boy

Today my group and I had a discussion about the book, Boy Meets Boy. Our discussion was very productive and I feel that everyone was able to express their feelings about the book. Everyone raised many intriguing questions for their paper. One thing that we talked about in regards to this book was that it may portray inaccurate portrayals of the gay lifestyle. Even though this book seemed to be set in a 'perfect' community, it isn't realistic. If a child is reading this book, it gives them the impression that all societies feel similar to the gay lifestyle, when it reality they don't. We felt that if this book was taught in a classroom, then it needs to be addressed by the teacher this type of lifestyle and that it isn't accepted as much as it is in this book. It is only fair for the children to be aware that this doesn't happen everywhere.
We also brought up the idea of actually teaching this book in our classrooms. I feel that this book wouldn't be necessary for elementary school. It might be reasonable for 6th grade, but nothing lower. It would be more necessary for middle/high school. The teacher would also have to use his/her discretion as to whether or not to even use it in their classroom. There could be a lot of unwanted feedback from administration/parents/community.
The discussion that we had was very informative because I was interested in seeing how everyone else felt about the book. I am still indifferent on how I feel about the book, but it was nice to hear other people's viewpoints on it.

Boy Meets Boy

I was really interested in reading this book because I had never read any GLBT literature before. As I was reading the book I was really taken aback by the intense descriptions of the homosexual lifestyle and culture. I didn't think that was how the book was going to be. Since our society is very 'hush-hush' when it comes to talking about the homosexual lifestyle and culture, I figured that texts about this issue would be the same way. However, it was totally the opposite. This town that the book took place in saw homosexuality as carefree. The school that was portrayed in the book portrayed many different sexual orientations. The sexual orientations were so diverse that it was almost like it was being replaced by race. For example, many schools are very diverse when it comes to race and ethnicities, not sexual orientations.
I am not sure where I stand at this point when it comes to deciding if I enjoyed the book or not. I see good and bad points to this book. On one hand, these issues were addressed in the book so they can be talked about and made aware to people who live in a society where sexual orientation isn't discussed. On the other hand, because this lifestyle is portrayed as so carefree it may give off an inaccurate portrayal of the homosexual lifestyle. Even though this lifestyle is becoming more accepted, it is still a touchy subject for some people in the society.
If I were to teach this book in upper elementary/junior high, I would make sure to take into special consideration when explaining this issue. Some children may be unaware of the facts when it comes to homosexual lifestyle, and if they do know anything about it, it may be a misconception that was told to them.
Boy Meets Boy is a book that contains many important issues that should be addressed to students, but it needs to be done in a careful manner. The teacher wouldn't want to do anything to offend the families in the classroom.

Project Mulberry discussion

Today in class my group had a really good discussion about the text, Project Mulberry.
When I was reading this book it really brought a lot to my attention. The one thing that stuck out to me was the issue of racism. The issue of racism was directed towards Julia's mother. The author flat out told the reader that Julia's mother doesn't like black people. I thought this was so blatantly thrown out to the reader. As I thought about my question that I would pose for my QTT paper I knew I wanted to make it a point to bring up the issue of racism in the text and how it affected Julia. I thought of the fact that Mrs. Song had the bad experiences with the black soldiers during the Korean War and if this caused for her racist views towards black people. It is never said to the reader the real reason for her mother possibly being a racist. Julia contemplates during the book why her mother feels this way and she really doesn't understand the reasoning behind these views that her mother has. It is hard for a child to hear that their parent has such distorted views about another race, especially when Julia's favorite teacher was a black woman and the man helping she and Patrick with their mulberry project was a black man. This issue was one of the main problems that Julia dealt with during the book.
We also raised the question about the politically correct way to address someone's background/ethnicity. The example in the book was when Mr. Dixon asked Julia if Chinese people used a lot of peppers in their cooking. He automatically assumed that Julia was Chinese and he made a snap judgment about her ethnicity. What is the best way to ask someone about their background? Is there a way to do this without offending anyone? Our group thought that possibly asking someone the question of, "What is your background?" instead of asking them "Where are you from?" The last question assumes that they are not an American citizen which can be offending to the person.
Overall, the discussion that our group had was very productive. I thought that the book was well written and raised many issues that could be addressed to a class. The author said in her note at the end of the book that she raised the issue of racism because she was hoping that it would help in the healing process that racism can have on a group of people. Discussing the issue is better than just trying to ignore and hope that it goes away.

My Personal Philosophy

I chose to take this class because it was a requirement for my Language Arts degree and because I really enjoyed TE348 and I figured I would like this course just as much.
This course connects to my professional goals because it makes me become more aware of diverse literature for my own classroom one day. It has also made me analyze texts in a way that I had never done before. Analyzing texts can be very important because one has to be aware of what they or their children may be reading. I wouldn't want to give my children a book to read that was very stereotypical because I wouldn't want them to get the wrong impression of that particular ethnic group. This course has also opened my eyes to diverse literature that I may not have been aware of because I was not really around it when I was younger. Well, I may have been around it, but it was never emphasized when I was growing up. I hope to someday make the children in my classroom as well as my own children, aware of the necessity of diverse literature and to be aware of people who are different from yourself because you can learn so much from other people.
The role of issues of diversity play a huge part in literacy teaching and learning. This type of literature can be very helpful in engaging students to become more interested in different ethnic groups and to take a stand on what type of diverse literature they enjoy the most. It is also important to address some of the misconceptions that different ethnic groups have and try to get rid of these misconceptions from the children's thinking.
My personal philosophy about multicultural education is that it should be encouraged in classrooms. I feel that all students should be aware of the world around them and it should be encouraged by the teacher to enforce such learning. Children's literature for multicultural education would play a huge part in my personal philosophy. I think that it is easier for children to relate to a text, especially if it is about someone of their same age.
I feel that one challenge would be finding the right books to bring into the classroom. I would wants texts that the children would be able to relate to, as well as have a powerful statement. But the whole idea of bringing in such diverse literature is very interesting and exciting to me. I feel that with diverse literature comes a promising future for the classroom as a whole.

Al Capone Does my Shirts....and he saves the day...

Al Capone Does my Shirts is by far my favorite book read thus far in TE448. I felt a strong connection to the characters and I felt like I was right there with them. I thought this book was wonderfully written. However, I wonder about the role that Al Capone played in this book. Many know Al Capone for his criminal record and the things he has done wrong. But in this book it is told to the reader that Al Capone helps Moose and his family get Natalie in the Esther P. Marinoff School when she has been rejected twice already. I wonder why Al Capone was chosen to be the person who saves the day?
The book did bring up many historical facts about the prison and the prisoners that resided there. This is helpful for the reader because it gives them the background information that might be needed to know.
I thought that this book did a good job at not portraying the typical stereotypes that are usually given to persons with disabilities. There were a few words used; retarded and stupid, to describe Natalie by Piper, but this type of language was not repeated during the book. It is typical of a young person to use these types of words and not really understand the meaning behind some of the words that they use and that they can be considered offensive. I also thought the book did a good job at trying not to portray the typical stereotypes about the descriptions used for persons with disabilities. For example in the Tal article, she states, "Common stereotypes identified by Douglas Biklen and Robert Bogdan include portraying the disabled character as weak or pathetic, a burden to others, or incapable of participating fully in everyday life". This was interesting to me because certain parts of the text stood out to me that followed these certain stereotypes. However, sometimes the book portrayed the opposite side to this argument too. So all in all I think the book did a good job at addressing the subject matter.
I am not surprised that this book received the award that it did.

Awards for Diverse Literature

Last week in class we discussed different types of awards given to diverse literature. It was an interesting topic for me because I was not aware of most of these awards given to diverse literature. The group that I was in researched the Lambda Literacy Foundation Award. This award is given to LGBT literature. I had never heard about this award before so it was interesting to research and become more knowledgeable about this type of award.
Both of the articles that we discussed raised many important points. I feel that all books should be considered for an award. I don't think it should matter if the book deals with diverse literature or not. Pinkney talked about in his article that books should be honored for their diverse literature because it lets people become more aware of diverse literature and that they are being honored for their work as well. I think it is also important for the certain minority group to be recognized in literature. It has to be such a good feeling for them to know that their minority group is receiving an award for their literature.
However I can understand where Aronson is coming from with his viewpoints. But I think that it is better for these books to be awarded because it shows support for the minority group and to let other people be more aware of such minority groups. It also shows children that there are books winning these awards that come from different minority groups and they should be aware of such literature.

Bronx Masquerade Discussion

Last week in class my group had a great discussion about the text, Bronx Masquerade. The question that was posed to our group was along the lines of, do you think it is the teachers responsibility to intervene when it comes to cliques in their classroom/school. To discuss this question we all shared our experiences with different cliques. For the most part we all had similar experiences when it came to cliques and how each group was treated by everyone else in the school. So when we shared our thoughts about if teachers should intervene at all, there were some good points that were brought up by my peers. I feel that a teacher should intervene in the classroom if it is making it hard for the students to work together. For example, if there is a certain clique in the classroom that would never work with other members of the class for whatever reasons. Then I feel that it is the teachers responsibility to make it a point to mix and match the students when doing group work. So instead of having the students pick their own groups the teacher would already have groups picked. The teacher should also tell the students at the beginning of the year that the classroom is seen as a community of learners and that everyone is to work with one another and respect each other. I feel that there isn't much the teacher can do when it comes to the children outside of the classroom but hopefully making the children work with one another would make them see a different side to their peers.
I really enjoyed this discussion with my group. I feel we all had really good points to bring up and it was interesting to hear everyone else's experiences in high school. We also shared some of the poems that we liked a lot in the book and it was neat to hear everyone's explanations to their specific poems.

Insider or outsider?

Last week my book discussion group and I were talking a bit about how we felt about insider and outsider authors. I have to be honest, when I went into the conversation I had my view set on only insider authors can write about certain race, religion, etc. I thought this made sense because it is better to have the view of someone who is actually of that race to tell the story because they have the first hand on the situation.
However, when my other group members started sharing their opinions, I started to see the other side to the issue. They all felt that it shouldn't matter if the author is an insider or an outsider. I asked why they felt this way and they responded that as long as the outside author takes the time to get their facts straight about the issue and it would help if the outsider author took the time to get personal experiences from people who are of that race, religion, gender, etc.
As I listened to their thoughts it really opened my eyes to a new understanding of insider and outsider authors. I believe that it shouldn't matter if the author is an insider or an outsider. I believe that as long as they are knowledgeable about the subject then they should be allowed to write their book.
I hope I don't sound like a pushover when it comes to my opinions. I was just thankful that my group members shared their thoughts because otherwise I would still think that insider authors are the only ones who can write about their race, gender, etc. It opened my eyes to new ideas and thoughts. It is always good to hear how other people stand on an issue and they could even help you understand a different view point on the issue.

Introductory Post!

I just want to say that I am very excited to be in TE448. I feel that I will learn a lot and be able to develop a classroom library that includes diverse literature.
I think that this class will open my eyes to new ideas and thoughts regarding different races. It will be good to feel comfortable talking about different ethnic groups and to incorporate it into my classroom someday. I did not grown up with such diverse literature so it will be nice to feel well-rounded when it comes to diverse literature.
I really enjoyed reading The Heart of a Chief. I thought that it brought up many good points that children would be able to take a stand about and share what they would do in a situation like Chris'. I hope to get the most out of this course and take everything I learn to my own classroom.