What I Have Learned...

     One hope that I have when working with early childhood students and their families is that they all receive the resources that will make a difference in their lives and in the way that they view education.  Each child should be made to feel as though learning and school are exciting explorations of the world rather than something that they have to stress over.
     One goal that I would like to set for the field of early childhood education is to come out of the box and embrace each child and love each child for who they are before us, not who we could possibly mold them to be or who they could be if they did this or that.  Children should be loved by teachers, and although some students make it harder to love them, those are the students who need it the most.  There are things about each of us that we are not thrilled about, but that does not mean that we are a waste, we all have good points and the ability to love and be loved- if not, this profession is not for you.
     I would like to say thank you to the awesome group that I collaborated with during this course.  I have enjoyed learning about you and from all of you.  I truly believe that the collaboration makes the courses more meaningful and the material that we learn more relevant. Good luck and best wishes to all of you only your journey! 

Jamie Reid

Start Seeing Diversity Blog: "We Don't Say Those Words in Class!"

   The first thing that came to mind with this topic is when I was student teaching and a child in my class asked "why is that boy walking like that?" about a student who was using braces to walk because of his prosthetic legs.  The teacher quickly reprimanded the student and told him that he was moving his clip to yellow because he was talking in the hallway.  Never again did I hear the teacher explain to the student what was so different about the  boy with braces.  
     The problem in this situation is that the teacher was represented a teachable moment and she turned it into something that made him feel ashamed for asking.  The teacher's reaction may also have caused the boy to rely on his own perceptions about the other student which could have been wrong as well.
     An anti-bias teacher would have explained that some people including children have illnesses and other medical conditions that cause them to lose parts of their body.  Doctors can make new parts out of different materials, but they are not as easily controlled as our legs and arms are so they use braces to help them.  Students need to learn that there is not a difference in people on the inside due to physical differences on the outside.