Personal Narrative: My Teaching In A Diverse World

My awareness, perception, and experience with diversity has greatly changed during my time as an ECHS and Ivy Tech student. My classes have exposed me to a variety of individuals of different race, ethnicity, age, political affiliation, sexual orientation, and religion. The sociology course I took this semester and the philosophy course I took last semester also gave me a sociological imagination or an open mind which enabled me to search for different perspectives regarding these topics. These classes pointed to the many inconsistencies in various news reports and highly-rated television shows which have influenced and continue to influence thousands of people’s views. They also pointed to the stereotypes I or others may have created.

I seek to join Teach For America because I would not be where I am today if it was not for caring teachers who pushed me into the right direction and validated the idea that I can be a successful student. Growing up my mother and grandmother were both teachers, and hearing their struggles of teaching, I had vowed to never become one. When high school came I was convinced that I was going to join the military and that college was never an option. That was until I met Ms. Mudron, my English teacher who planted a seed in me that grows till this day. My answers to questions that she asked regarding our readings were nothing like the other students, yet they were not wrong, she informed me that I thought outside of the box and that is why I should

In school we look normal to all people like nothing was happening i was gland that my sister and I were in the same high school but different floors. My school was mixed, Hispanics from Honduras, Mexico, Puerto Ricans, but mostly Dominicans, African Americans, etc. My teachers were A few African Americans, one Spanish, and mostly White Caucasians. All my teachers were so lovely except for one, he was African American and he was a history teacher. It was my freshman year and I couldn’t express myself properly in English, he asks me to read a page of a book, and I didn’t have the abilities to pronounce properly most of the words. The teacher lost his patience and shouted me “what I was doing in a school where no one speak Spanish” I responded

I was then able to interview the general teachers, she is a substitute teacher in the classroom covering a maternity leave, and was recently graduated from college. As I mentioned before there is no special education teacher in the classroom. I was able to ask her several questions and to my understanding most of the help she get is from the school team support, she said there is always someone around to answer any of her questions and doubts about the students who have an IEP. She has learned to use a lot of verbal prompt with those students, to maintained order among the students she said she remind them about the classroom rules. To explore learning opportunities she stated that like to do open lesson where most of the times students communicate

I have had many life experiences which have helped me foster an understanding of diversity. When I was in the military I was stationed in South Korea and I experienced diversity on a major scale. For once in my life I was considered the minority. However, the strongest experience I have with diversity was growing up with a mother with a developmental disability, this life experience taught me to be accepting of others. It is a social worker’s primary responsibility to respect the inherent dignity and worth of a person. I believe that I had this social work value instilled in me when I was a child. From a young age, I have been very accepting of people with disabilities in the local community. The exposure to this world has also influenced

Tuesday, September 12, 2017, I eagerly interviewed a fellow co-worker, Patricia Britt, a kindergarten assistant teacher at my school, New Hope Elementary. She has been a paraprofessional for almost twenty years. When asked to define the term 'paraprofessional', Britt replied, "An underpaid teacher who does just as much, if not more, in the classroom as the certified teacher but doesn't get recognized for it." In a sense, Britt is undoubtedly correct. Most of the time, assistant teachers are considered not as important or not as valuable as certified teachers. Assistant teachers can perform the same duties as certified teachers, but do not get compensated for it nor recognized for all the hard work put into the task.

While growing up, I have always been around a cultural setting. Being of Ethiopian descent and living in the diverse area of Silver Spring, Maryland, I was always surrounded by culture. My best friends were Filipino, Salvadoran, Nigerian, Jamaican and Ethiopian, so I was constantly exposed to various lifestyles. However, I came from a predominantly black, low-income middle school, so moving to Bethesda and attending Walter Johnson was quite the culture shock for me. Nevertheless, I did not notice the achievement gap in my school until my sophomore year.

The class I am tutoring is a 3rd grade classroom at Palmers Elementary. Mrs Keri Shivle is the teacher of the classroom. I tutor Tuesday from 12:30 to 1:30pm. The times i'm in the classroom the students are always reading or doing an language art activity. The times i have been in the classroom i been working with three students. One is Jakiey and Lavonta and sometimes i work with Angeli. I do different things with them such as helping them with homework or reading to them and then having them read it back to me. We also play games such as vocabulary ones, phonics.

Diversity: the state of being diverse; variety. We all come from different backgrounds; there’s heritage, there’s race, there’s different political views, sexuality and many more countable things that make us diverse. Not one human is the same. Not in thought. Not in experiences. I come from a latin culture, I was born in Rio Grande, Zacatecas and raised in Nieves, Zacatecas. The culture is so rich and the festivities seem like endless parties; there’s always a reason to celebrate. When I moved to the Dallas, Texas, for a more financially stable life it was two different worlds. It was something to get used to. People automatically labeled me as “dumb” a “criminal” the next “drop out” just because of skin tone.

As a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Public and International Affairs Department, I maintained the website. In addition I was the President of the Graduate Student Association, where I reached out to students and faculty members through social media accounts in Tweeter, Facebook and LinkedIn. I have helped with the creation of newsletter and emailing databases. In addition, I have been involved in the nonprofit field, where I have helped with marketing material. Years ago, I also translated and designed the website for a manufacturing company.

The outside of my mask represents what I show or represent the world. The blue on my mask represent my calm and relaxed thoughts. Several people have told me that I seem relaxed all the time. Also, the blue represents positive thoughts, since I seem to be always positive outside. The eyes are closed also because I looked relaxed and calmed. The zipper symbolizes how I am introverted and shy. I would not talk unless you talk to me. My archetype is the caregiver, I do love taking care of other people more than me. These are the personas I show the world.

I was only five years old when I first moved to to the small town of Latham (back when it was still small). As I grew up, the community grew with me, and we both embraced more and more cultures, lifestyles, and religions, evolving to have a special affinity for diversity.

When I was four months old, I was adopted from India. The uniqueness of this situation is that my adoptive parents are of Polish, German and Mexican descent. Due to this, I have always had the opportunity to surround myself to a variety of cultures. Furthermore, it has influenced me to have a different perspective. Growing up in a small community has shown the lesser of diversity. At times, it was hard to fit in but I have and will always treat my fellow man with respect and acceptance. No matter their ethnicity religion or color, I will treat everyone the same. I was raised by a single parent and know what it is like to go without and believe all should be treated equally. I want to go into the medical field to continue to help people and

Without diversity, our world would be a very singular place. To me, diversity is the depth of knowledge that you get when people with different backgrounds and experiences (such as socio-economic, religious, ethnic, cultural, and sexual orientation differences) come together to find a solution to a problem. Since individuals usually draw on their specific life experiences when trying to solve a problem, a diverse group of problem-solvers with diverse approaches inevitably results in more creative and practical ideas. I look forward to spending my college years learning from people whose perspectives are different and unique from my own and enriching the dialogue with my own experiences. My life has always been different from most of the

I have been fortunate to be working at this school for the past 5 years. I have many people that are there for me and willing to help. My Mentor teacher is Mrs. Myers. I first meet me at my son’s 5th grade teacher. She is now the 6th grade math teacher and helps the new teacher. She is easy to talk to and has had lots of experience working with students.