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I am willing to go to extraordinary measures to ensure that I am providing each individual child in my classroom with a great learning experience. I believe that all children can and will learn but have different abilities and styles of learning. I will foster opportunities for children to exhibit their own diversity and learn to appreciate that of other peers. When allowed I will take my classroom on field trips to visit museums, organizations, and restaurants that display different multicultural traditions and ways of daily living.
Children’s parents will be allowed to come in and talk about a subject that correlates with what we’re doing in our curriculum to infuse diversity into our lesson plans. I anticipate that it may be somewhat of a struggle to indentify the most appropriate way to teach each child according to their cultural and individual learning styles. To ease this transition I will attend any seminar or learning conference available to better educate myself. I will also ask parents for their advice as to what will benefit and help their child succeed in class.
Cultural awareness is the foundation of communication and involves the ability of standing back from ourselves and becoming aware of our cultural values, beliefs, and perceptions. Being culturally aware is not easy because culture is not conscious to us. We learn, over time to behave and do things in a certain way because of our experiences, values and cultural background. We operate at an unconscious level. My goal as an Early Childhood Professional is to foster a desire in my students for them to be exactly who they are and to celebrate their culture.
This can be done through music and dance. I will ask children to bring recordings of music that their family enjoys. I will teach them songs and dances from different cultures around the world. Eventually, children will realize that everybody loves to sing and dance, but have their own way of doing it. I will talk with them about the differences in what they hear: the tempo of the music, the pace of the beat, and the different instruments. If there are instruments available I will have them accessible for the children to play with.
Another method I will use to educate children about differences and similarities are thumbprints. The children can make prints of their thumbs by pressing them on an ink pad and then on cards. They will label each print with their name and then use magnifying glasses to see how the prints are alike and different. I will mention to them how everyone has a print on their fingertips but are different from anyone else’s. The most important thing that I want my classroom to be is a place where children feel welcome and supported.
I will have a well organized classroom so that children can work collaboratively together and have access to many learning materials. Parents will be welcome to participate in the classroom so they can see how well their children function with peers. There will be designated quiet times for work and reading so that children can focus on material without being interrupted. I will treat all of my students with respect and kindness and expect them to treat each other with the same thoughtful behavior.
There will be opportunities for several different types of learning. Visual learners rely on pictures, graphs, and illustrations. I will provide children in my classroom with handouts and use Power Points and the white board. Kinesthetic learners excel by being involved. For this I will ask for volunteers and allow them to show me what they have learned by putting together a project or doing an experiment. I will encourage children to ask questions and if they’re interested in learning about something I will teach them while also relating it to our curriculum.