Module 1: Goals for This Course and Thoughts About Article

My first goal is to invest myself in completing this course. I have been teaching for 22 years, and now I am being mandated to complete this program. I have put off starting this course, due to the fact that my mind wanders off to all the ungraded assignments, lessons to be planned, meetings to attend, and countless other tasks that pertain to teaching. I have to get over the notion that if this is of utmost importance, which I believe it is, why instead of providing us with meaningless workshops, aren’t we working on acquiring these skills at our facilities?

My second goal is to work on this with an open mind, and not to fall into the idea of this is not going to work, because, at my place of employment, we are held by various constraints. I will move forward with these methods that will help my students, I will learn and in turn, provide my ESOL students with the best education possible.

As for the article Teaching Tolerance, it hit me on a personal level. I was a student in NYC during the early 80s, all my teachers were white, I was a bilingual student of Puerto Rican descent, and felt misunderstood. I felt that the teachers pitied us, we were not encouraged to reach beyond what was in front of us.

At home, I spoke both languages, my mother mostly spoke Spanish, however, she also spoke English with an accent. When I was in elementary school, my mother was taking college courses, however, she felt insecure helping me with math. This and my own insecurities led me to be pulled out for small group instruction. This is the best thing to happen to me. This is when I meet Mr. Hidie, the teacher who had a stack of National Geographic magazines. Utilizing my interest in the stories and pictures that the magazine held, Mr. Hidie was able to help fill the math gaps that I had. Mr. Hidie was white, but I never felt pitied by him, he made me feel as if anything was possible.

As I write this, I begin to wonder was my comfort with Mr. Hidie due to the fact that the National Geographic magazine, spotlighted people of all ethnicity, from around the world. The pictures had images of people with all different hair textures and skin colors. That this white man enjoyed learning about other cultures, therefore I could let my guard down and allow learning to happen?

Children need to be encouraged beyond their experiences not shackled due to their lack of experiences. They must feel accepted for who they are and the experience that they bring with them. As the article stated, literacy is a very valuable tool in allowing ethnicity, differences, and abilities to be put forth in a positive tone.