Chapter 5- Hannah Schreiber

P. 78 "Look at your hands/ that is where/ the definition of magic/ is located at."
This quote really hit home for me. In the past year or two I have been considering trying to work in a city school. To be perfectly honest, the thought completely scares me. I personally do not have a lot of experience with people of different cultures/ethnicities/races/etc... I grew up in a mono-cultural town, attended a mono-cultural school, participated in mono-cultural extracurricular activities, and so forth. I do have friends of different cultures and races, but that has been a more recent happening since all throughout my childhood I wasn't exposed to different people. After reading this chapter, it made me realize that even though you might not have a lot of experience with different cultures, that its never too late to learn, and that by teaching children of different cultures, you will learn from your students! This chapter really allowed me to take a look at my hands, accept who I am and what I know, and create the magic of potential to push myself forward and expand my horizons as not only a professional, but as a person as well.

p. 79 "A kid sitting near me turned to his friend. 'Stupid brazers,' he said. They both laughed"
Like both Rachael and Kathleen have said, there is that one thing that kids do that really strikes a note with some people, and for me as well, name calling and bullying is something that I refuse to put up with. When I was reading the chapter and I first saw the term "brazer" I really had no clue exactly what it meant, what the derivation of the word came from, or who exactly it was aimed at... but I knew from the context of how it was used--"stupid brazer"-- that it was not something appropriate to be saying about anyone. I was surprised that Mr. Michie didn't pick up on that and reprimand the kids for saying it in the first place. As you know, this year I am teaching pre-school to 4 yr old children. Every day we have story time, where I read the children one or two books. I always make a point of mentioning the author and illustrator's names and go over the meaning of the terms "author" and "illustrator" so that the children can learn those terms. Last week (and for a few weeks before) my students had been making a habit of laughing at the names of the author and illustrator (most likely in an attempt to waste time and make a game for themselves to see who else they can get to laugh). The first week that it happened, I gently reminded the students that its not polite to laugh at people's names because it would hurt their feelings. The second week when it was still happening I became more firm with the children. Halfway through the week it was still happening. Every time. When they laughed on Thursday I had had enough. I raised my voice at the class, shut the book, and told them all to go sit at the table and put their heads down for one minute. As they were walking over to their seats I reiterated how disrespectful it is to laugh at people's names and gave an empty threat that it had better not happen again-- "or else". We turned off the lights and set a timer for one minute for which we sat in complete silence. When the minute was up I turned the lights back on, directed the class back to circle, read the book, and got on with our day. I know it seems a bit harsh for 3 and 4 yr old children, but bullying and disrespect for others is something that I refuse to tolerate. On the plus side, no one has laughed at names ever since. Maybe the empty threat of "or else" works after all!



p.92 "But before long, if you don't start saying hi to Mexico, he's gonna leave you alone. He's just gonna leave you".
We talked in class a couple of weeks ago about how many of us celebrate our heritage as Irish, or Native American, or Polish, etc... and when I read this it made me think about how true it is that if you don't actively try to keep your heritage alive that you'll lose that part of you. My case is not nearly the same as Edmundo's. For those who are reading this and aren't reading the book, Edmundo is talking about how when he's with Americans he's embarrassed to admit that he is Mexican. He says that after a while, if you ignore your heritage, you won't have it anymore. In my case, I am not embarrassed to tell you my heritage, however, I feel like my heritage has been lost. My great-great grandmother came to the US from Germany when she was 16. I am 87.5% German (technically), but if you were to ask me what my culture was I'd probably tip my head at you. My family doesn't celebrate any "German" traditions, I can barely count to 3 in German, and I couldn't even tell you where in Germany my family came from. My grandmother will sometimes bring up different things that she has that came from Germany or tell us stories of things that her Grandmother would do or say. Its times like that when I realize that my family's heritage has been brought to that simple calculation of 87.5% and nothing more. Sometimes I wish that I had some sort of culture or heritage to celebrate that set my family apart from the standard "American".

Essence Extractor: It is important that we as teachers take a look at our hands and who we are-- our identity, our culture, and our potential to help others take a look at their own hands.

My role this week is the discussion director so I don't have a 3rd job to post for.