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I had this picture taken around two years ago. I think this is a picture that represents who I am. In other words, when I am working I am able to be myself and interact with others who share similar experiences as mine. I am able to speak my native language allowing me to feel more comfortable. I really enjoy my job/ hobby since this is the same profession my father has been doing for over twenty five years. I feel this is something I was destined or likely to have done since all of my family works in this field and has been doing it for a long time.

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Throughout the process of this multimodal project, there were many things I learned about myself. To start with, I learned who I truly am and have decided my best fit ecological setting I want to teach in. I have always wanted to go into a school with a diverse student population. I feel this is my niche or where I am the most comfortable. In addition, I need to be aware of my own knowledge and experiences that I bring with me, in other words, my funds of knowledge. As defined by Kiyama (2011), “funds of knowledge or the knowledge, skills, and resources present in homes, have been utilized to incorporate students’ and families’ experiences into the classroom” (p. 24).   One of my funds of knowledge that I bring to school is knowing about agriculture and horseback riding. My grandfather would take me to the field to harvest and plant crops. I am able to explain what is the process needed to grow crops. In addition, horseback riding is how my grandfather has made a living for himself. He was essentially a cowboy in the sense he would care for other people’s cattle until eventually, he owned his own.  Another example of my funds of knowledge my religion and language. My family is devoted to Catholicism and have been raised in this faith since I was born. I am able to understand the meaning of a rosary. Moreover, my language is Spanish but there are different dialects even within this language. There are certain differences between the Spanish dialects from Mexico compared to El Salvador. As a culturally responsive teacher, one has to find ways to build on student’s experiences and bridge their learning. Students are more easily able to learn and apply their knowledge when it has meaning.  For instance, knowing my funds of knowledge I am able to integrate my experience horseback riding to modeling a narrative writing piece for my students. I am able to explicitly model certain aspects of writing but also demonstrating to them the importance of my cultural experiences.

As a future teacher, I am closer to understanding children’s cultural experiences and literacy. The reason being is that I have similar experiences to some students. I think that provides me with an edge in the sense that I do not need to feel emphatic since I have the first-hand experience.  I think some of the literacy practices I have encountered in my life could be relatable to other students as well. For example, my case study student, Dexter some of the literacy practices such as singing and writing poems were similar to mine.  As Mui and Anderson would emphasis literacy needs to be viewed as a social practice and every household uses literacy in different ways. Furthermore, this course has enabled me to be more sensitive and considerate toward other students. I need to adapt to the individual needs of my students in order for them to be successful. In order to promote equity and better serve my students, I need to build a strong student teacher relationship. Something I always do is greet each student every morning and afternoon as they leave and come into the classroom. This has enabled me to build a strong rapport with most of my students. I am able to demonstrate that I am really there for them. I also eat lunch on a daily basis with them. I sit at different sections of the table to converse with them. I think the students really enjoy having me eat with them and sitting next to them. Some students have admitted they have never had a teacher eat with them. I think I learn much more from them when I am at lunch because I notice when they begin to codeswitch. I have seen the different personalities of students come out during this time. I use this time to get to know my students in great detail and know more about their culture.

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Interpretation of Language, Literacy and Culture

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Interpretation of Language, Literacy and Culture

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After further analysis of the photographs, I have gained a more in-depth insight into my language, literacy, and culture. The drawings were an expressive form to demonstrate my cultural identity and beliefs. I was able to integrate all the things I have learned from class and my own experience. In this multimodal project, we had to choose the photograph we felt best represented each scenario meaning that I used my own funds of knowledge and prior knowledge for each image I sketched. For a brief time, educators believed literacy was composed of cognitive and linguistic skills that were learned from storybook reading from parents to their children. Now educators are being more responsive in that literacy is taught and learned differently from one cultural group to another. Mui and Anderson would refer to literacy as a social practice instead of a linguistic and cognitive practice (2006). Most of the social knowledge we gain is constructed from interacting and communicating with people around us. What I have learned in this class has helped broaden my perspective in regards to what literacy consists of. For a long time, I believed literacy was linguistic and cognitive meaning literacy meant only reading and writing. Now I am able to visibly see literacy is much broader. There are different forms in which literacy is being taught and learned at home. Each student brings in different experiences with literacy and is better able to express themselves in different ways.

Nevertheless, I think this multimodal project contributes significantly to student’s literacy education. This multimodal project could be very helpful to not only English Language Learners but all students. This project could be used as a differentiated assignment similar to Meloi (2001) literacy artifacts that held a significant story for students to share. Each student has a different cultural background and experience that shapes their identity and ideology. As a culturally responsive teacher, one has to find ways to build on student’s experiences and bridge their learning. Students are more easily able to learn and apply their knowledge when it has meaning.  I believe this project does a phenomenal job incorporating student’s cultural experiences with literacy. My thoughts on literacy have always been consistent even before doing this project. I have never felt comfortable with literacy mainly because of the language barrier. I struggle with how to begin writing or understanding what I am reading. I have developed over the years little things to help me improve such as annotating notes when I read to monitor my own comprehension. I found this project more pleasing for me since I was able to express myself through visuals instead of writing.

Moreover, I do not think the identity of the teacher should be weighed so heavily as part of the teaching process. The reason I believe and think this is that regardless of the cultural background one pertains to we all have some sort of experience. Every educator brings with them different experiences they will be able to use for their students. Equally important, one thing that I do believe should be taken into account is the teacher’s own biases. One has to be aware of their own biases and not allow their students to suffer from it. For example, if a teacher does not enjoy interacting with a wide variety of students then maybe Title I schools may not be for him or her. For the most part, students are very observant in that they will quickly notice when one is not happy or comfortable. A teacher needs to be able to portray self-confidence or be able to demonstrate their personality. The major implications I gained about myself for my future teaching profession is that I need to be aware of who I truly am before I can be of service to my students. I need to be aware of my implicit bias and not let that affect my students. Knowing this will be critical to the ecological setting I want to teach in. I have always felt my niche or sense of belonging is at Title I schools with a diverse student population. I am better able to comprehend and understand students in this setting because I also attended a similar setting when I was in elementary Even though I believe the identity of the teacher should be weighed so heavily I do believe he or she should be aware of who they are both culturally and socially. Acknowledging culturally who I am can impact my teaching in a positive or negative way. In order to provide that positive learning environment, I need to embrace the cultural experiences and backgrounds of each student. In order to do this successfully, I need to lead by example. In other words, I need to explicitly demonstrate to my students my cultural backgrounds in order for them to embrace their own.  The students need to visibly see that I am happy being from my culture and that makes me unique. If I do not it could be negative in the sense that students will not feel secure or safe about being themselves. This could have a detrimental effect on their academic success.

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Every student is unique and different from one another. One distinction that acknowledges students as being different is their name. For instance, my name which is Christian Carlos. My first and last name originated from Spain. The translation of my name is a person who is a believer of Christianity and the English equivalent of Charles. I believe my last name is a reflection of my cultural roots. The reason I believe my name reflects my cultural background is the simple fact my last name is not common among many. Due to the fact my last name is a common name it has attributed to the multiple nicknames I have been given over the years. CC, Chris, and Chrissy are a few nicknames I have been given. Despite the fact, that I have a huge family I do not share the same name with any other relative. One commonality among some family members name is they are named after their parents. For instance, I have five cousins and my own brother are named after their father/ uncle. Furthermore, some of the troubles my name has presented me with is not being known by my name. In other words, I have always been called Carlos instead of Christian.  According to my mother my name was given to me by one of my father’s cousin. The name Christian was not the one my parents wanted instead it would have been Adonis.

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The characteristic that resembles me the most is being an observer. I think this is one characteristic that helps me focus in and pay attention to the small details regardless of the situation. I am consistently lost in my mind or looking around until I find something that catches my attention. When I am attentive I am better able to comprehend and understand what is going on around me compared to when I am not. In addition, it is also something that my grandfather has cultivated and taught me. My grandfather has always told me to watch and learn from others around me. Learn from their mistakes for I do not commit the same errors or mistakes. In other words being an observer may symbolize in my culture as a learner and not a critic. The visual I drew for my characteristic is an eye with a horse drawn in front of the iris. I wanted to demonstrate through this visual how I am attentive to things that I am interested or find more relevant to my life. Horses are something I feel that have been passed down from my grandfather’s side. Everyone from that side of my family is very familiar or orientated with horses. This is something I want to also encourage my future students which is to be proud of their cultural backgrounds. Our cultural roots shape our identity and the person we strive to be.

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An important object for myself is my first spurs. The spurs are a reminisce of my cultural background and where I come from. The spurs help me reconceive with my own culture. This item carries a lot of meaning to me personally and culturally. The story behind my spurs is that I never went with the intention of buying them in the first place. I was buying another saddle when I saw them reflecting inside the counter. The reflective light tempted me to buy them. Since then I have decided to hang them as a memory of the first spurs I ever bought. Thus the spurs have important value to me because they are the first spurs I owned and bought. Personally, the spurs remind me of where I come from and all the experiences I have been through including those not so great. The spurs serve as an extrinsic motivation to me. It is a constant reminder of where I come from and helps guide me towards the direction I am headed to. Culturally this object reminds me of my grandfather and all his “consejos” and the influence he has had on my life. The spurs say a lot of the cultural group I affiliate with the most. Despite the fact, I was born in this country I do not feel a strong affiliation with this culture. I think the spurs tell you more about the cultural group I have been brought upon. This object speaks about the values and morals I have learned from my grandfather.

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I believe privilege is quite similar to the superficial attributes of a person that differentiate them from anybody else. I had difficulty identifying any potential privilege. The privilege I believe that may be attributed to me is my gender. I think being a male gives me some sort of privilege even though I haven’t seen it yet. I believe it has been the opposite in some cases. For instance, most often than not boys or males are believed to be the troublesome students. I think being a male can have both positive and negative connotations. Gender roles are ever changing in today’s society. I believe in the past there was more emphasis on gender roles compared today. For instance, teachers or nurses used to be considered a “female” job or a job not for males. I think there is always going to be change and we must learn to adapt.  The visual I drew to represent my privilege is a sketch of myself. On the sides of the image, I wrote words such as symbolism and myth. Since I wanted to express my thoughts and opinions in regards to this so-called privilege I have.

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I really do not believe I have a bias towards anybody or anyone. I will say that my implicit bias or struggles have been towards the wealthy or those on that side of the social-economic spectrum. I feel I have not had the best of experiences and interactions with this group of people. Needless to say that I do not feel all the wealthy are the same or behave the same way. I feel their world is a completely different one from my own. I believe they see the world from one perspective while I see it from a different perspective. One thing I do believe both social economic groups share are struggles yet not in the same way.  The visual I drew to represent my struggles are two pigs. One of the pigs is actually a piggy bank with a quarter being placed inside to symbolize savings from a lower social economic status person such as myself. On the other side is an actual pig drawing with a hundred dollar bill. I was intentionally stereotyping the contrasting views of both social economic statuses. I wanted to show that the wealthy have the chance to buy an actual pig and do not need a piggy bank. In addition, the hundred dollar bill may be the equivalent to a quarter in their currency. The bill may be considered spare change because they are wealthy.

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I always feel uncomfortable mainly because that is the way I am. One of the main reasons why I easily get uncomfortable is because I sometimes cannot make a personal connection or relate to other people’s experiences. For instance, when I interact with people with different ideologies or experiences than mine. I enjoy speaking and interacting with them but it is difficult for me to build that rapport if I do not share something in common with that other person. If I share nothing in common with someone else it makes it difficult for me to maintain a conversation or understand what they are telling me. It is quite similar to the implicit bias I struggle with in regards to the wealthy. I recall my first student teaching experience at a Non-Title I school. Some of the upper-grade students would share with me different experiences which I was not entirely familiar with. In the sense, I felt embarrassed to tell them I did not know what they were talking about but compared their experience with my own.  The visual I drew was a tree from different perspectives. My intention was to draw half of a tree from one perspective and the other half from another. I wanted to visually demonstrate that the picture is just a tree but depending on your experience you may see it from a different side. Each side may be considered the experiences one encounters along their journey.

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There are a number of cultural values that I have inherited from my family. The cultural value that I feel best resembles my family is hard work. Since a young age, my family places a strong emphasis on hard work. My grandfather would tell me “nothing falls from the sky to those who wait” when I would not want to do something. At a very young age, I was always told to work hard in order to meet my goals and succeed in life. I needed to let my work speak for itself instead of me speaking for it. Even today I still hold this value with me where ever I am. This is also something I want to in cultivate in my future students. I want them to feel appreciated for their work and effort. The visual I drew to represent my cultural value is a tortoise and a hare with the quote “hard work overcomes talent when talent decides to not work hard”. I think this expression is very true in many ways. I feel people misuse their talent and decide not to put any effort from their part. I think this can be applied to certain students who may lack that intrinsic motivation to want to do better for themselves.

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There are multiple literacy practices I do every day that I was not aware of. The reading river is a great way for me to express how I use literacy in my everyday life. Even though I am very hesitant when it comes to literacy mainly because I do not feel comfortable with my level of English. I am more comfortable speaking my native language and better able to process everything in Spanish. Some of the literacy practices I engage in is drawing or doodling every now in then. I think this is more meaningful in that I am able to express my thoughts, feelings, and emotions through art instead of writing. I also think the reason behind my interest in drawing comes from my own experience as an ELL learner. Other literacy practices are communicating through email or facebook. I am able to essentially codeswitch between this two modes of communication. Through email, I need to be more professional and use correct grammar while on facebook I am able to text with close friends and communicate how we usually do.

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My favorite literacy experience is oral storytelling, especially from my grandfather. I think my grandfather has lots of stories and experiences to tell me. Even though sometimes I second guess him whether they are factual or not. When he tells me one of his stories I feel like I instantly teleport or immerse myself in the story. I am able to visualize and picture the story in my mind. Most of his stories are similar to fables in the sense that there is always a moral or lesson from each of stories. The visual I drew to represent this is me thinking or recalling some of his stories. In my thinking, I drew small aspects of some of the stories he has told me. For instance, the field or “la sierra” is one area he always tells me about. This is an area he is very familiar with since a young age and has experienced lots of things. In one particular story he has told me about a legend/ myth there is wealth hidden within it. He says no matter how hard you search for it you will never find it unless it appears in your path.

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Looking back during my early years I never enjoyed reading for pleasure. The only time I actually read was when I was required but rarely did read I would skim through the pages to appear like I was reading. Nevertheless, I have always been interested in picture books because they were more aesthetically appealing to me because of the illustrations. One of the most aesthetic and intellectual books I have read is The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs. I think this book has been an important book for me. First, the illustrations are very vivid and explicit in that they convey the wolf was innocent and he was framed. The wolf did not eat the little pigs on purpose rather he had no other choice. Second, I believe the author conveys an important message to readers and especially younger readers. That message is that there is more than one perspective or point of view. Students need to learn to be able to reason more critically.  For most of the little pig stories, they were always from the pig’s point of view. In this book, it is the opposite and demonstrates that there are always two sides from every story.

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One of the struggles I think I may have with teaching at a culturally diverse school is communicating with students. There are multiple languages students speak at home that may result in making it difficult for them to communicate. Not being able to communicate or speak with them is one of my biggest fears. For instance, if I have an ELL student who speaks another language no one else speaks how do I make him or her feel comfortable. I think that will be one of the many struggles I may encounter. One thing that will help me cope with this struggle is that I speak another language as well. If the student’s native language is Spanish then I will be able to communicate with them. I will be able to understand and comprehend whether he or she needs assistance or help. The struggle will be with other students whose native language is not Spanish. The visual I drew to represent my struggle is myself in my future classroom. I sketched three students who appear to be confused because of the language barrier.

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One of the strengths I think I may have with teaching at a culturally diverse school is my experience. I have always attended schools with a widely diverse student population. For instance, my field placement is quite similar to the elementary school I attended not so long ago. In addition, I graduated from that school district. In essence, I feel my experience is similar to those of my students right now. I think this will help me support the students even more since I am aware of that struggle and difficulty the students encounter. For example, not being able to speak English proficiently or having responsibilities at home such as caretaking. I could advocate for these students in that I do not need to be empathetic since I have the first-hand experience of their constant hardships and struggles.  The visual I sketched was two aspects of my life from the past and now. The younger aspect is in reference to when I was an elementary compared to who I am now. I am able to look at my past as a reference point to who I am today.  I want to demonstrate to my future students I have walked in their shoes and understand what they may be going through.

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I am Christian Carlos
I am an observer and dreamer
I wonder who I truly am
I hear my grandfather's voice in the middle of the night
I see my dreams within my arms reach, yet so far
I am an observer and dreamer

I pretend to walk in others shoes as if they were my own
I feel the pressure to succeed in life
I touch my shiny, silver spurs for inspiration and motivation when I am lost
I worry I might not be the best teacher for my students
I cry blindly not knowing what my future holds for me
I am an observer and dreamer

I understand student's frustration of not being able to speak proficiently
I say hard work overcomes talent when talent decides to not work hard
I dream with my eyes open wondering what that all means
I try to reach for the sky but I'm often stuck gazing at the stars
I hope to challenge and influence students of different cultural backgrounds
I am an observer and dreamer