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My name is Molly. This is a picture of my parents twenty-four years ago with me inside my mama's pregnant belly. According to my parents, my name is just a random name that they agreed on together. My mom found out later that there was another Molly in my family from the 1800's on my dad's side, but she had no influence on the choosing of my name. I was almost named Mary Katherine and Mary Helen, both my dad's choices. A good Catholic name fits, right? Wrong. My mom hated those names. I was almost named Hannah and Ansley, both my mom's choices. But apparently my dad knew a dog named Hannah and there was a mall called Ansley Mall, so my dad said no. But one day my mom was driving home from work and thought of Molly and my dad loved it. So, now I'm Molly. Molly is the Gaelic form of Mary and Molly means bitter in Hebrew. I don'y feel that I am a bitter person, but I do feel like a Molly and I love my name.

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My favorite characteristic about myself is my love for nature and the environment. I picked this characteristic because I grew up hiking, camping, bird watching, fishing, and just being barefoot in the backyard turning over rocks. Being in nature and a part of nature was a huge part of my childhood and is still a large part of my adult life now. Growing up my parents taught me the importance of the environment, the true connection we have to our food, and the need to take care of the Earth while we are here. This has remained a very large part of my life as I have grown, because I do consider myself to be an environmentalist. If I was not raised this way by my parents I would probably not have had this viewpoint on nature and the Earth.

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I picked multiple objects for my important object, because how can you choose just one? The picture was painted by my maternal grandmother, two of the crochet hooks are from my maternal grandmother's mother and the other is from my paternal grandmother's mother. From my grandma and my great-grandmother's you can see that artistic people are in my family. I come from a long line of not only women, but people that work with their hands. I enjoy working with my hands and making art just like the women before me in my family. And the interesting thing is, none of them taught me how to crochet or paint, they have just always been hobbies of mine. So I guess it just runs in my blood to be creative and work with my hands. These objects are important to me because I have a connection with my family members through the activities I enjoy doing.

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My family is white, middle-class, and from the South as well as the Mid-West. The privilege I am choosing to cover is my family's socioeconomic status, which is middle-class. I chose this privilege because there is a large number of people who did not grow up living comfortably like my family did. I chose this picture because even though we were not rich, we were still comfortable and fortunate growing up. We were always going on vacation, even though we did not stay in elaborate hotels and eat out for every meal, or even do much more than sight see and walk around, we still were fortunate to experience and see so much. The process of deciding to use a picture of travels came easily, but deciding which vacation picture to choose was a challenge. In the end I chose the picture of my siblings and I in Chicago, Illinois, because Illinois is my dad's home state.

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The bias I have found myself having has to do with gay people. When I was younger I did not have positive views on gay people. This was the case until my sister came out when I was in middle school. At first I did not take it well, but then I came around and realized my ignorance when it came to gay people. Why should I care who people love? Even now though, I do find myself stereotyping sometimes, when people show certain characteristics, I just assume that they are gay and this is stereotyping. I chose this picture of myself and one of my friends at the gay pride parade a few years ago. Since my sister is gay and I have a number of gay friends, I have found myself honestly stereotyping gay people more, thinking that I know the "characteristics" of gay people so I know. I know I need to work on this, and this picture is a reminder to me that I need to not make assumptions about people.

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There are definitely situations I have found myself in that make me uncomfortable. This picture is an example of that. My family and I were on a trip to Belize City, Belize when I came across this homeless woman begging on the side of the road. This made me uncomfortable because as previously mentioned, I grew up comfortable. Comfortable enough to go to Belize City and vacation while this woman is begging for money from my family to eat. This made me uncomfortable because it is unfair that I have a full belly and I am on vacation while other people are living their lives so poor and hungry. I chose this discomfort because this is something I cannot relate to, but I have empathy for people that are living like this. It is not the woman in the picture that made me uncomfortable, it is her situation and the fact that this is her life every day. The process of finding this photo made me uncomfortable because it makes me wonder if she is still out there doing this very thing today.

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My number one value in life is family. This value is the most important to me because my family has always been there for me and I am always there for my family. I grew up very close with my family and I am still very close to my family. The process of choosing this photo was very simple because I knew family was the most important thing in my life and this picture was on my coffee table where I see it every day, so the choice was clear.

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A literacy practice I do every day is Pinterest. I am always on Pinterest finding new ideas for every aspect of my life, whether it be home, school, hobbies, interests, future plans, or anything else. I am constantly finding new articles on topics that I am interested in and learning new and more information about these topics. I practice literacy every single day with Pinterest.

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My overall favorite literacy practice is playing board games. My family has always played a variety of board and card games together. This is my favorite literacy practice because one I love playing board games, two I love getting competitive with my family and friends, and three I love being able to be social while practicing literacy. This image represents a literacy practice because through out the game we are reading, asking each other questions, and using strategy to win the game. The process of creating this photo was very easy because I already knew that playing board games is my favorite literacy practice, and because my family is always playing board games, this was very easily accessible.

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Struggles in Teaching Culturally Diverse Students

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Struggles in Teaching Culturally Diverse Students

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The number one thing I struggle with in teaching culturally diverse students is when parents do not help their children academically. Some by choice, but others just because they simply do not have the time because life takes over. I have found that when parents do not support their children's education, it makes teaching so hard. I have to find ways to overcome this, but it is truly a challenge for me. My fear is that I will help these children as much as I can in school, but they go home and receive no academic support from their parents. Yes, a child can still succeed in school in these situations, but when parents are helping their children with homework and reading with them, their chances of success are so much higher. I chose this struggle because I know from experience that this is a real issue I am going to have to learn to handle as a teacher. This process of choosing this photo was simple because this was a past student I had who I went through this struggle with. He was eager to learn and succeed academically, but he had no support at home so he was further behind than other students in his class.

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Strength in Teaching Culturally Diverse Students

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Strength in Teaching Culturally Diverse Students

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My greatest strength in teaching culturally diverse students is my ability to make connections with them. It comes naturally to me to be able to connect with people, no matter what their cultural background is. I can be an advocate for connecting with culturally diverse students by being a role model for other teachers. No matter where our student come from, the beliefs they carry with them, or what they value, we can connect with them, love them, and show appreciation for their cultures. I chose this strength because it is very important to me and from connecting with my students through the past two years, I can see that it is very important to them as well. They are so willing to open up and share and they know that their culture is important an valued to me. The process of creating this photo was easy because this picture is a good representation of the fact that I have connected with my students and they feel a connection with me as well. Teaching our students the standards is an everyday must, but connecting with them and letting them know that they are important to us is extremely important as well.

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Even though this is not a "selfie" that I took myself, I still feel that this is a picture that captures my truest self. I am unkept in my pajamas, hair a mess, and to be honest, not a very flattering picture, but I am in my element. I am barefoot in the grass and smiling in the sunshine. I am leaning against the bat box my dad and I built, next to the mullein plant my dad and I grew together in the backyard to make tea that we drink together everyday. I love this picture so much because I am so happy and proud of this plant that my dad and I would walk to the furthest part of the backyard to check on everyday. This is how I picture myself in my natural form.

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I remember in fifth grade reading this book and it was the first book that ever made me cry. At eleven years old and economically privelaged, I never had the realization that I was better off than others. This book made me realize that this was true. People have in the past and are currently suffering through unimaginable pain. This book became very important for me and I became very interested in the Great Depression. Then from talking to my family members, I had family affected by the Great Depression. This is where I truly connected to this book. My family had endured some of the same struggles that this little girl went through during these times in the United States. The process of creating this photo was easy because I knew that this was a very important book to me, even though I have several important books, this one was the first that had a large emotional impact on me.

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I am Molly.
I am an environmental naturalist,
I am baiting hooks and cleaning fish,
I am barefoot in the sunshine,
I am a world traveler,
I am a homebody,
I am next to the fireplace playing cards,
I am taking naps on my mom's lap at twenty-four,
I am a Southern Belle,
I am a Mid-Western farm girl,
I am a family tradition keeper,
I am a craftswoman,
I am a civil rights advocate,
I am a student, forever curious,
I am a teacher, forever promoting curiosity,
I am Molly.