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My name is Tamesha. The urban dictionary describes the person with this name as a very beautiful person who is also smart. Another online source says the name Tamesha means Graceful, Honorable, Sophisticated, and Love. The person who named me was my mother. She stated to me that my name had no significance but my sister's name is Tamara and my mothers name is Thelma and she wanted my name to start with a "T" as well. There was a show called Moesha that my mother loved watching. She took the 'Tam' from my sisters name and the 'esha' from the shows name and combined them, thus creating my name. Growing up I thought my name was unique because of that but there are many other people in the world with my name too. My name is related to other family members like my older cousin Kenisha, younger cousin Jolisa, and other cousin Tresha. The second born child that is a female gets a name with a sha or sa. My name has not caused any trouble for me but in the past I was scared that it was because it might sound ghetto and decrease my chances of getting a job but after seeing people with worse names than mine that fear soon faded. The name my mom wanted me to have was Nicole but Nicole Singleton didn't sound right with my dad Tamesha Singleton did. My nickname are: Mesha, Meme, Tam, and Tamesh.

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Compassionate, Cooperative, Humble, Loyal, Talkative, Trustworthy
GGC had this game night event where you could get a caricature of yourself and the artist drew me like this. I asked why he gave me a heart and he said that I look like a kindhearted person who's full of love. He was right!

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This mug was something I created with my own two hands at an event at GGC for pottery. When I seen the flyer in the email for it I was excited. Since this is my last year of college I decided to attend as much school events as possible because GGC always offer free things (i.e. t-shirts, travel cups, blankets, buttons, pens, key chains, etc.) for those first 100 or so people that attend. I love free merchandise! This object is important to me because it was the first thing I created that I will remember forever. I represented the school with the color dark green and my graduation with 2019 on the bottom. This objects function should be to drink out of but I like it better as a decoration and a reminder of my accomplishments. Maybe sometime in the distant future I will drink out of it. Maybe it can become my lucky mug that I drink coffee, tea, or hot cocoa out of on a regular basis.

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My skin color is black, my economic status is lower middle class, the location in which I grew up is Bronx, New York (where I was born and lived for 2 and a half years), West Patterson, New Jersey (where I was raised for over 4 and a half years), and Covington, Georgia (where I was raised all the way until adulthood). I believe that I am privileged and not privileged at the same time. I am privileged because I had the ability to attend college is a privilege and not privileged because I have to fear for my safety or my brothers as fathers safety as black males. This picture represents my privilege of growing up and having a good life with food on the table and clothes on my back and money for a greater education.

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I do not believe that I have a lot of cultural biases. I don't stereotype people but people tend to stereotype me. Well actually when I really think about it I often see a person or a baby and question whether it's a girl or a boy because it the clothes they are wearing and the face and voice makes it hard to tell. I don't know why I care to know their gender but I am just so curious when I encounter someone who's gender I can't tell.

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I currently don't have any cultural discomforts and even if I did I don't think I would be comfortable sharing them amongst people who may not have the same view point. Ones culture has never single handedly made me feel discomfort or fear but of course people in general have and that's normal. I fear police brutality and unjustice when I encounter a cop. I fear serial killers, kidnappers, rapist, terrorist, and muggers but those people don't belong to just one culture it's in every culture. I do not have the mindset like Donald Trump who claim Mexicans are "bringing drugs. they're bring crime. They're rapist. And some, I assume, are good people.

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When every I have a lot on my mind about my life I either write on 'Notes' on my iPhone or write in this journal book my friend gave me that has a proverb on it. Social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are definitely somethings that I engage in throughout the week 24/7. I occasionally send emails, read to my students, and read recipes (plus my job [McDonald's] requires me to read a customers order and say the same greeting over and over again) but social media takes the cake. I would like to get back to reading books to help stimulate my mind further. I used to love picking up a good book but every since books started turning into movies I became a movie fanatic! It seemed like picking up a book was no longer worth the trouble but now I am going to go back to reading.

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I would have to say that the literacy practices that I engage in the most would be social media. I do spend a far share amount of time on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat but a majority of my screen time is spent gathering the tea that's been spilt on The Shade Room. This photo is just what their website looks like. Filled with stories on celebrities and other relatable things to read.

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I got this book from my Aunt who lives in London. I was about 12 years old when I got it but didn't start reading it until I was 14 going on 15 when I was reorganizing my room and found it again. This book was about a young girl who's 21 and discovers that she's pregnant. Her parents are extremely disappointed in her and try to convince her to get an abortion but she is happy about the news because she's having a baby with the person she loves the most. Her parents also do not like the father of the child because he is trying to become a movie director and has this dream of moving to London but the girls family just thinks that he's a bum and is no good for their daughter. Fast forward she has the baby and he is perfect. The girl realizes that being a mom has many challenges especially since she isn't getting support from her family and the man she loves is trying to get his career started. One day the girl is very exhausted and oversleeps while the baby is downstairs. She wakes up and goes to check the baby. The baby's face is all blue. He was dead. The first suspect was the mother but she got cleared, the second was the girls fiance and he got questions almost everyday until his alibi checked out. The case was then closed...........
I forget what happens after that but it turns out that the girls father was the one who murdered the baby by suffocating him with his pillow! The father had went to the girls house to convince her to leave the fiance and come back home but the door was unlocked because the girl was so tired she forgot to lock it and the baby was sleeping peacefully downstairs and he just decided that if he took the baby out of the equation that would make her come back home but he was wrong it just made the bond between her and her fiance stronger. And her fiance became a famous director and the two moved to London to start a new life together.

This book had me crying so hard! It's what started my love for reading. I never knew I could cry from reading a book but it was a good cry. The author made the emotions in the story so clear that it hit my heart directly.

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Struggles With Teaching Culturally Diverse Students

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Struggles With Teaching Culturally Diverse Students

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My fear is that won't be able to make accommodations for my students based on their cultural differences. I'm not so much worried about the students but the parents. In field I have seen parents get offended over a great deal of things a teacher does. Something as small as playing a movie that the family doesn't agree is appropriate for their child. It's a scary thought that I might unintentionally offend someones parent. And its hard because in order to be a good teacher you have to understand your students and before you understand your students you have to understand their cultural background. How they communicate and learn can all be different from what I have experienced. I just afraid of doing more damage to my students than good.

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Strengths On Teaching Culturally Diverse Students

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Strengths On Teaching Culturally Diverse Students

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It's easier working with a student one on one. Getting to know your students all at once in such a limited amount of time seems like too much pressure for me. Spending that one on one quality time is my strength in finding ways to teach to the needs of my students.

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                                                     Self-Portrait

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                                                     Self-Portrait

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I am Tamesha Singleton
I wonder if the grass is really greener on the other side
I hear dogs barking
I see people walking
I want to make it to graduation
I am Tamesha Singleton

I pretend to be okay
I feel incomplete
I touch my hair
I worry about my future career
I cry about everything
I am Tamesha Singleton

I understand nothing...
I say random things
I dream of darkness
I try not to be mean
I hope for change
I am Tamesha Singleton

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                                                  Reflection (SO WHAT?)

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                                                  Reflection (SO WHAT?)

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My thought on literacy hasn't changed much while I was doing this project as it did for when I learned about the different forms of literacy like family literacy that I unknowingly practiced everyday. I realized that every semester I gain so much knowledge that helps me prepare for becoming the best teacher I can be for my students. I firmly believed that I didn't have any cultural biases or discomforts but when I really thought deep down and thought long and hard about it I realized that I do, we all do, as much as we would hate to admit it. But I realize that these cultural bias and discomforts I have are not applied to children. By that I mean that I don't see it in my students I just see my kids being kids. It's very important to consider ones cultural background as part of the teaching process. When you walk into a school you can feel its atmosphere and you can see it culture. Before deciding to teach at that school you have to first be aware of your own cultural background and then the cultural background of the school. Going into a school blindly can prove to be difficult. You can't expect to be able to help your students if you don't take the time out to understand them culturally. This in turn can improve your teaching and aid in accommodating your students needs. Too often teachers assume that a child is a failure at school before giving that child a chance to understand how they may learn differently in their culture. That's is where teachers cultural biases come in and make assumptions without being understanding or accepting to the needs of that child. Funds of knowledge that I bring to school as a teacher are my cultural experiences that may be similar to what my student experience in their everyday life. It's important for teachers to understand funds of knowledge because its a way to be culturally relevant to your students. I agree that children's cultural experiences and understanding of literacy is mismatch to the schools and teachers ways but I don't believe its like that for me. I feel that our education program has prepared us so well for when we become teachers that nothing can wavier our way of teaching. What I've learned in this class definitely informed me about bad literacy, especially when I did my research on social class representations in children's literature. I am not a hundred percent sure what I can do to promote equality and better serve my students but I know what I should not do. I will be an effective teacher and ensure my students receive the best support. It's important to me to make one on one connections with my students and to build a good rapport and positive relationship as well as a positive learning environment.