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Literacy is all around us. Everyday we encounter situations where we have to read or write something. However, literacy isn’t limited to only reading and writing. Literacy can also be listening to music or speaking. Before doing this project, my thoughts on literacy were limited to reading and writing only done in school. But as I was exploring and collecting my self-data, I realized I encounter literacy everyday even outside of school. My implication of the knowledge I gained about myself for my future teaching career is that having an education is very important to me and anyone can have an education no matter where you come from. This awareness will help me push each student to see the importance of having an education and why they should never give up. It is very important for teachers to consider their identity and cultural background as part of the teaching process because they can find some similarities with their students and be able to relate to them better, which would result in being able to teach them better. It is also important for the teacher to recognize that children are not illiterate because as I stated earlier, literacy is everywhere and we encounter it everywhere. Even within their cultures they may encounter forms of literacy you are not used to, but it does not mean they are illiterate. It is also important for the teacher to understand funds of knowledge because it will help make a connection between home life and school, making the classroom more culturally responsive. As a teacher, I use real life examples to bring the funds of knowledge into the classroom. Before this class, I was one of the people who thought cultural experiences had nothing to do with literacy. Now, I understand that literacy is found in our everyday lives regardless of the culture or language. What I also learned from this class and books is that we should make literacy more engaging and connect it to the students so that they are more interested in it. In my own classroom, I will find books that are not biased and that also capture students’ interest. I will get to know my students well enough to where if they are going through something I can find books that help them get through the situation and help give them light and positivity.
I have learned that getting parents involved outside of school and helping their kids at home helps increase their literacy levels. In an optional reading from class called "Leyendo Juntos (Reading Together)" by Robert W. Ortiz and Rosario Ordonez-Jasis, getting the whole community and parents to help children outside of school is key to their education and being more literate. That is why I would want to help the parents of my students get involved as much as possible. In another optional reading called "Family Stories Night" by Paula L. Meoli, parents were involved in their children's education by coming to a family story night that a teacher had put together in her classroom. The families would come and share their stories in their native language. As I learned from this assignment, literacy is not only reading and writing, but listening to oral stories is also another form of literacy. I think this is a great idea as a method to use for getting families more involved in their child's education and is something I would love to try in my own classroom in the future because I want parents to feel like they can also help their children in their education regardless if they finished school or not in their native country.

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Happy, Smiling, Optimistic Melissa :)

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Strengths Teaching Culturally Diverse Students: Making Them Feel Accepted 

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Strengths Teaching Culturally Diverse Students: Making Them Feel Accepted 

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I take pride in making students feel accepted. Whatever they bring to the table, I accept because there is always something interesting we can learn and I want my students to feel safe to be themselves at all times. It is important to never forget who you truly are. I chose this picture to represent how I have accepted and embraced the differences my friends bring into my life with their culture.

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Struggles Teaching Culturally Diverse Students: Overcoming Racism

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Struggles Teaching Culturally Diverse Students: Overcoming Racism

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During my field experience in the older grades such as 3rd and 4th grade, I have heard some students make racist comments and/or experience mild racism. This is a topic I struggle to speak about with my students because it makes me uncomfortable and I do not know how to address it in a manner where my anger does not show. I want my students and their generation to rise above racism. I chose this picture to represent different cultures mixing together to create a wonderful friendship & bond!

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This book is very important to me because last year I was going through many struggles. In order to overcome them I turned to God and went to find books that would give me motivation and light and help me get out of the dark hole I was in. This book did just that for me and also brought me closer to God!

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My bed is my favorite place to read and write because it is very comfortable, warm, and the lighting is just right. I have to make sure I am wide awake, otherwise I will fall asleep from being too comfortable!

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These are my favorite literacy experiences because I am always on my phone and there is actually a lot of interesting information I can read from these apps.

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Everyday I speak to my family and friends, read street signs, listen to music, go on social media, and so on. These are examples of the literacy practices I encounter everyday to communicate with people and read.

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My family values education because they believe it will take us somewhere higher in life than they were able to reach. It is important in my family that my generation must at least finish high school. Currently I am the only one in college and I will be the first to graduate from my family. They are very proud of me for being a hispanic female graduating from college and achieving my goals.

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This is the catholic church in Nacaome, Honduras. My grandmother would take us to this church whenever we visited Honduras. I am a christian so the things they did made me a bit uncomfortable because I wasn't used to it and my grandmother said we had to do it so it definitely felt forced.

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I do not support Trump or anything he is for. I view him as a racist for the things he has said about my people and other cultures. In my opinion, he does not care for anyone but others who are exactly like him. I also view other people who support him as racists, even though they many not all be racist. This is a cultural bias I am working on to correct.

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I am privileged to have a mother like mine. She does so much for me and I can always depend on her. I may not agree with everything she says, but i've learned that she is always right. No one loves me as much as she does and I would not be able to live without her.

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My father was in prison for four years. That was four birthdays that he missed of mine. This necklace is the gift he gave me at the first birthday he was able to spend with me once he was free. The pearl is my birthstone and there is a small star holding the pearl. Within the star, is a small diamond. This necklace was very meaningful.

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Loyalty is very important to me and is my favorite characteristic because I am very loyal. This picture represents that because I have gotten into many arguments with these women, but no matter how angry I am with them, if they need me I am there and will always have their back.

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My Favorite Physical Characteristic: Hair

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My Favorite Physical Characteristic: Hair

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In the hispanic culture, long, thick hair is very beautiful. I grew up with that image in my head which is why I refuse to cut my hair. My long hair is now like a security blanket for me. I would personally feel ugly and boy-looking if I had short hair.

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My full name is Melissa Marine Tamayo. If you look up the name Melissa, it is a Greek name that means “honey bee.” However, if you ask my mom why she named me Melissa, she will simply say because she liked the name. Although my first name is not so interesting, I feel that my middle and last name make up for it. My middle name is passed down to me from my mother, except she spells hers with a “Y” instead of an “I”. When I asked her why did she change mine to an “I”, it was just because she liked it better that way. (My mom is always saying how we have to choose a name with meaning for our future kids, but she clearly didn’t do that!) My grandmother chose that middle name for my mom because she heard it in a novela that she used to watch. If I have a daughter in the future, I plan on giving her the same middle name to make it like a new tradition in the family.

Now, my last name is my favorite part of my name! It is Mexican and very unique in my opinion because I have only met one other person in my 21 years of life with the same last name. I carry this last name with pride, and will most likely even keep it when I get married in the future! Most people will pronounce my last name as “To-mayo”, which is a pet peeve of mine and then I have to politely correct them and say it is “Ta-ma-yo”. I think the issue is that they see “mayo” and think of mayonnaise so decide to pronounce my last name ugly. Most of my Mexican relatives live in Texas, where you can find even more people with the last name Tamayo. I almost feel like we are in some exclusive club for having this last name because not too many people have it.

Melissa Marine Tamayo sounds so much prettier in Spanish. I love my name and feel that it incorporates both my American and Hispanic culture. If I had the choice to change any of my names I would not do it.