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I definitely have a different outlook on literacy as I conducted this projected. I realized the simple things such as social media is an everyday literacy and learning more about myself it may be something I implement into the classroom along with my passionate personality and my cultural fears. I also noticed the connection of literacy in and outside of the classroom and how each one is just as important as the other. Engaging students in the classroom it is important to integrate content and different literacies of the students so it is important to get to know the students to learn your students culturally.

Identifying who I am what I like and dislike, along with my fears and strengths I feel is important. To do a self-evaluation as a future educator to evaluate what may be brought to the classroom and what should be left is key to being a successful teacher. Being aware of who I am culturally will impact teaching in many ways allowing me to tackle cultural weaknesses as they occur, not letting me judge based on my cultural biases, and allowing me to use my literacy practices to meet the needs of my students.

Being able to relate to the teachers cultural background allows for better connection to the students and other teachers. Considering the identity of the teacher will help understand the teaching process and they approach different types of students. Teachers have to realize their own cultural identity and learn their students’ cultural identity to fully understand that children are not illiterate or smart due to their culture. Using this in the classroom will eliminatesome of the biases that occur and help create a secure and positive classroom environment. Biases occur every day because it is our perception of people based on our up brining so, learning how we see other people and working to eliminate some of those biases is important in creating a safe classroom for all. A great approach to use to ensure the teacher is meeting all the needs of her students and parents by creating a culturally relevant program is by using and understanding the funds of knowledge. Funds of Knowledge are the essential cultural practices and bodies of knowledge that are embedded in the daily practices and routines of families. It is important the teachers know this to promote a culturally responsive classroom actually understanding all of the families involved. When teachers shed their role of teacher and expert and, instead, take on a new role as learner, they can come to know their students and the families of their students in new and distinct ways. Incorporating different foods and books into the classroom to meet the needs of their students will maximize learning for all the students’.

In my classroom I will integrate literacy in an engaging way that children will respond to making learning fun. In the beginning of the year I will learn all of my students’ cultural backgrounds and use that to promote learning in the classroom incorporating families to create a culturally diverse classroom. This will maximize learning the students’ creating a new way to learn the content. Incorporating what I learned in class about involving all the students in different ways and not making reading and writing the only way to incorporate literacy but “good literacy” connecting students to the content using book and activities students can relate to.  The teacher cannot force their cultural beliefs and ways of learning onto the students but learning the needs of the students and integrate both so learning are not mismatch and no students will be left behind.

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My name is something that was giving to me from my parents to represent me as a person. Whether my name had meaning behind it or was thought of that day It identifies me.

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Jasmine
Positive, Outgoing, Social and passionate
Simply beautiful with a smile of confidence
Family oriented, unified with two kids, stable, and blissfully happy
Deeply routed in family traditions like watching the lights dance on the tree
Highly diverse in social media outlets
Difficulty adjusting to implied sexuality in today's cartoons
Resourceful, flexible, productive and culturally responsive
Slight discomfort with foreign languages spoken around me
I start and end my day in my big cozy bed!
Lover, Libra, Self sufficient, ME
Burton-Gladney

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This portrait identifies me and how I see myself inside and out. Its simple but beautiful. Happy with passion in my eyes and always working!

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Struggles with Culturally Diverse Students

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Struggles with Culturally Diverse Students

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I feel my struggle with teaching culturally diverse students will be our communication. If they do not understand me and visa versa causing them not to be able to get any work done how will I collect data on the individual student. Will I have time to work with the student individually to be able to translate? How will I communicate with parents to receive the support I need from home? These are all questions that come to mind that I look at as a potential struggle in the classroom. I choose this picture to represent the communication between a Spanish speaking student and myself.

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Strengths with Culturally Diverse Students

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Strengths with Culturally Diverse Students

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My strength with teaching culturally diverse students I feel would be that I am resourceful. I am always looking for ideas, activities, books that have been used and was successful to apply in my classroom changing it for my students. I feel having different resources benefits the student and makes it easier on the teacher. The photo shown represents some of the resource tools that can be used to help students.

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My important book would be the Dr. Seuss collection. As a child my grandmother would by me every
Dr. Seuss book they had resulting in me having the whole collection. We would lay and read the books as I learned to become a fluent reader.It was something me and her shared and If I knew what I knew now I would have kept that collection for my children but as I grew my mom gave them away to a friend with a younger child. This picture is one of the books from the Dr. Seuss collection that I bought for my son starting new traditions of our won.

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My bed is my favorite place to read and write because i am comfortable i get the most work done. With music playing in the background I can prop my self up or lay on my stomach how ever I am feeling and zone out into my book or writing. Snuggling with my kids and reading a good book or having movie night is also a plus. It all happens in my big cozy bed

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My favorite literacy experience is Facebook because my whole family and all of my friends engage in it as well. It is a easy way to keep up with what is going on in everyone life and also share moments that occur in mine. I can share stories and have albums to always look back on in the future. I can like, comment, message, share and post.

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This reading river represents everything I engage in during the week pertaining to literacy. Majority of my literacy pertains to social media in some sort Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat. Different ways to communicate with family and friends and to keep up with what is going on. Also, my children encourage me to engage in literacy by reading stories, helping with homework, or movie night.

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This photo captures the happiness iI share with my family. I have been blessed to have been brought into a family with strong family traditions. We respect tradition and enjoy doing it with one another. Every holiday we are together, we take trips together and got to church as a family. It is rare that someone is going through anything and the family is not there. We have strong values and family comes first!

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My cultural discomfort is being an outgoing person who makes friends with everyone but feeling out of place around their family. I had a best friend when i was younger that was Mexican and I would go to her house all the time but I did not understand anything her family would say. I felt uncomfortable because I could not communicate with them I found my self talking slow like that will help or pointing out things but it would come down to my friend translating. This photo represents words being thrown at me that I have no clue what is being ask, said or talked about.

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The only cultural bias that I feel I have or could identify with are children cartoons today. As a parent seeing that cartoons integrate homosexuality with their characters bothers me. I feel sexuality is something that should be determined once you get older not forced upon as a child. Having a 8yr old son and having to explain why on the cartoon the little boy has two dads I feel is too much too soon.

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I am privileged to have two children that I can support financially, my own place and car. Many people are not fortunate to have their own stability. I have a lot of support from my family but i financially support myself since i was 19 yrs old. My kids are able to do whatever they want and with the stability of having a roof over our head, a car to drive, and food on our plate I am privileged .

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My wedding ring is an important object in my life. It signifies love, family and unity. In each culture a ring may symbolize something different but in mine it represents the commitment you and your spouse made before god that should last an eternity. My wedding ring represents two families joining together.

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My Favorite characteristic is my passionate personality. I love helping and listening to others. Since I was a kid people have always called to talk and tell me their problems. I received this trait from my grandmother who is the backbone of our family. She recently had a stroke and everyone has really been looking to me to keep things together and communicate with everyone because " I can talk to everyone" Is what I am told. The importance of being passionate may reflect the cultural outlook of giving.

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My favorite physical trait is my smile! As a young child I was very insecure because I had a gap in my teeth. People would make fun of me when they seen me smile and it did not make me feel good inside. Always smiling with my lips tightly shut, I kept feeling that this could not be happiness. As I grew and my gap closed I developed a beautiful smile that people felt were the product of braces. Now when I smile its with confidence and I LOVE IT!