Multicultural Classroom for High School by Thomas Bement

My Guiding Philosophy

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-24 23:16:12 UTC

My guiding philosophy is making all students feel safe to express themselves as they please, within reason of course, and ensuring they accept each other and themselves.

Seating Arrangement

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-24 23:23:33 UTC

I would like my classroom's seating arrangement to look something like this. I would not have assigned seats, as I always hated assigned seats in school. At the beginning of the year, as a teacher, you don't know how the students will interact with their classmates, so I see no point in having pre-fabricated seating arrangements.

Decorations

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-24 23:26:44 UTC

I chose these posters because all of these people are a part of history. I want to have a large variety of historic people in my classroom so every student I have can see at least one of those posters and see themselves in it. I'm going to limit myself to only three photos, but just know that I love shopping for history posters for my future classroom and strive to have a diverse collection.

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-24 23:28:35 UTC

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-24 23:29:53 UTC

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-24 23:30:22 UTC

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-24 23:34:03 UTC

I chose this TEDTalk by Manuel Hernandez because he talks about "bridging the gap" between students and teachers from different cultures. I think he makes fantastic points about students from different backgrounds may have problems connecting to the material we try to teach them.

I want my students to feel accepted

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-25 15:11:43 UTC

I hope to build my knowledge of any culture I may come into contact with in order to help make my students feel accepted for who they are.

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-25 15:18:54 UTC

In this era, we have nearly unlimited access to any information we want. I will continuously use any resources at my disposal. For example, the video I have linked in this post talks about "intercultural competence" and highlights the need to examine our own actions and thoughts while interacting with a diverse classroom.

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-25 15:22:38 UTC

Linked above is the University of Southern Indiana's page for resources for students of many backgrounds.

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-25 15:28:21 UTC

The page linked above has a handful of strategies that I found incredibly useful. The article emphasizes the need to get to know students as individuals and demonstrating a genuine interest in what makes them unique. In addition, the article mentions maintaining consistent communication and acknowledging and respecting each student. I believe that while there are other important strategies, the ones pointed out in this article are most important to me.

African American Museum in Evansville

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-26 02:16:51 UTC

As I want to be a social studies teacher, I believe the way I should connect by learning about and teaching the various groups that have a rich history in my area.

HOLA

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-26 02:20:58 UTC

HOLA is a non-profit organization that bridges the gap between local Latinos and the rest of the community. They have partnerships with Ivy Tech Community College, University of Evansville, University of Southern Indiana and Junior Achievement of Southwestern Indiana in order to achieve this goal.

South Asian Student Association

thomasbement8 — 2024-01-26 02:25:10 UTC

SASA is a student-led association at the University of Southern Indiana. Its purpose is for any and all students to gather and learn about South Asian culture.