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While doing this project I discovered that literacy is something that we experience more often than we realized. Whether it is checking your emails, shopping online or in store, reading Facebook articles, reading school textbooks, or even driving, literacy is everywhere you go. The photographs that I took show the literature I am interested in, the travel that I have done, my personal and professional life, and many other aspects of my life. While doing a project like this, as a future teacher, I have really gained perspective of what kinds literacy they experience in their everyday lives. When we tell our students to read for 30 minutes a night, we don’t think of the signs that they read while driving to basketball practice, or what they decode while learning a new technology software, this project got me to realize that we should give our students enough credit for literacy practices that are untraditional as well.

I believe that is tremendously important to consider the identity of the teacher’s cultural background as a part of the teaching process. Along with the children, I think it’s important for the teacher to express their culture into the classroom. This would be a way for the students to experience a new culture (if they don’t know anyone else like the teacher) and it also keeps the teacher interested in the content that he/she is teaching. It is also very important to recognize that children are not illiterate and fail at school because of their deficits. I would never consider anyone incapable because of his or her culture; I believe that having another culture makes you richer because they can be a contributor to a culturally responsive aspect.

I believe that I bring a lot to schools as a teacher. Especially at this time in history my culture is looked at with very different eyes. As a Muslim, I think I can clear stereotypes and misconceptions that people may have. Though I know not everyone wants to listen, I think that I always stand for myself and want to clear any misconceptions that people have. This is also what I would like to instill in my future classroom to create equality. Being apart of a targeted culture and religion I understand that children will bully each other and not treat each other equality but this is something I have been attacked with also. This is why I can relate to these students and help that not be a characteristic in my classroom.

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I am Sarah
A teacher, student, wife, daughter, and sister.
An American born Pakistani who married an man from India that grew up in America.
A person that wears both jeans, and sarees.
A dog mother, a food lover, and a traveler.
I am Sarah

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YOUR STRENGTH WITH TEACHING CULTURALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS 

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YOUR STRENGTH WITH TEACHING CULTURALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS 

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My strength with teaching culturally diverse students is that because we have so many resources on hand, I tend to always read up on different situations. Books, online articles, and even the news, I try to always stay updated on what is going on that may involve my students, and how I should address it. I always try to be prepared for different situations that may come up.

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YOUR STRUGGLES WITH TEACHING CULTURALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS 

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YOUR STRUGGLES WITH TEACHING CULTURALLY DIVERSE STUDENTS 

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My struggle with teaching culturally diverse students is trying to make sure that I am relating to all of my students. I want students to be able to make connections to my lessons no matter their race, or culture. I don't want to just focus on relating to one culture because then the other students will be left uninterested.

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When I read this book a few months ago, it reminded me of my grandmother. When I was younger I used to spend days with my Grandmother and drag her around to get things and do things with me. This story brought back many memories of my Dadi, and because my Dadi passed away many years ago, this is a great book to always remind me of my relationship with her.

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YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO READ AND WRITE OR ENGAGE IN LITERACY 

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YOUR FAVORITE PLACE TO READ AND WRITE OR ENGAGE IN LITERACY 

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LIVING ROOM:
My favorite place to engage in literacy is our living room. Our living room is a place that I can relax and sit on the couch. Because the walls are still bare, it's easy for me to concentrate on my literacy. This is where the Facebooking, Homework, and most of my Snapchats take place.

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NETFLIX:
One of my favorite literacy practices is Netflix. This show subscription is my favorite because it is somewhere I go when I've got too much on my mind. When life gets too stressful, the best thing to do is escape to an childhood show that you love.

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LITERACY PRACTICES OF YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE

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LITERACY PRACTICES OF YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE

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PLANNER:
I use my planner every day of the week. This is where I can plan my life out...assignments, dinner plans, birthdays, and special events.

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TRADITION:
I chose this value because to me carrying on culture is very important. Coming from a family where the adults immigrated from a different country into America to give their families a life that they could not get back home, culture is something that was hard to hold on to. It's important for me to carry on this culture because it is something can easily be forgotten... But I would never want it to. One day I would like to teach the same traditions in my children so that the memory of my family can live on no matter what country we live in.

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LANGUAGE:
This summer I took a trip to Istanbul, Turkey. There I realized that it made me really uncomfortable because I didn't speak any of their language. Something that makes me uncomfortable is when I can't communicate with someone, instead I use hand signals... How do I know they know what I'm saying? When I tell the taxi driver where I want to go, how do I get them to understand?? Or how do I ask for directions?

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Even though I define myself as an Indian, something that I am bias against is thinking that people that have just immigrated to america are uneducated, and socially backwards. A term I grew up using towards people like that is "Fob-- Fresh off the boat". If I hear someone with a thick accent, my first reaction is that they have just arrived here from India and don't know how America works.

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SOCIAL ECONOMIC STATUS:
I chose this privilege because this is something that follows me around. I was blessed enough to grow up in a comfortable lifestyle. My parents own a business, and they made sure that we were comfortable. Wether it came to our home, cars, or other materialistic belongings they worked hard so we could enjoy the luxuries in life. I was always very proud of how I grew up, but recently have been experiencing guilt towards people who were unable to grow up in such environments.

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MY PHONE:
An important object to me is my cell phone. Through my cell phone I can be in contact with my family who lives thousands of miles away through just a few clicks. This is how I access my social media apps which help me connected to my family no matter where they live. My phone is also a place where I organize my schedule, like events, trips, lists..etc. This object is also culturally relative because I have a few apps that help me be better in my religion and allow me to practice my religion no matter where I am.

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POSITIVE OUTLOOK:
My positive outlook on life is my favorite characteristic about myself because it is something I've always had. growing up I lived a life that was very divided, between my friends at school, friends at my place of worship, and my family. I always positive that I could put all of these aspects of my life together, and this picture represents when I finally got to live my life with all of my favorite people, no matter where I met them, and who they were.

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EYES:
My eyes are my favorite physical characteristic about myself. Generally people say I look like my mom, but I get my eyes from my dad. Almost everyone in my dad's family have small eyes. This physical characteristic is something all my cousins ( one of them below) share, and I'm proud to have something physical that links us all together.