Yourself as a Reader

I was never really that much of a reader. I always needed to find a book that would grab my attention. I always used to like reading mysteries or books with happy endings. When I was younger I loved being able to figure out a mystery along with the main character, they were always fun because it felt like you were apart of the story. You could help the main character figure out what was going on and it felt more interactive that way. I always used to enjoy books with fun pictures, anything that had animated pictures with colors were always fun. Those type of books always gave me a positive reading experience. I never really had any negative reading experiences that I can remember.

Community in classrooms

I think there are many ways we can create a community in our classrooms. One way is having students share their experiences from their homes or communities. They can share their experiences in their writings. Also the different books offered in the classroom can share community ideas. There can also be newsletters distributed that can help create a community in the classroom.

Lessons from children

I think one of the biggest lessons that we can learn from children is to enjoy the simple things in life and not take life too seriously. Sometimes we can get caught up in the day to day things and we forget to calm down. I remember when I used to watch my little cousins, I quickly learned that they didn't care so much about anything other than getting your attention and acknowledging them. They wouldn't care if we went outside and collected rocks together, they found excitement in the simplest things, as long as it was done with you. So they really made me realize that taking time out to do something simple with ones you love can really mean a lot. I think this is probably one of the biggest things that you can learn from children, they can really just make you stop and think about things.

race/ethnic groups

I think one way that I can expand my knowledge on racial/ethnic groups is to never assume. I was a basketball coach one time for a group of seventh grade girls. They were all very nice except there was this one girl who would give me attitude sometimes. I never understood why she was like that. I met her mother at the beginning of the season and she seemed very nice. I soon learned that the daughter was getting her attitude from her mother. Her mother would give me major attitude when I wouldn't put her daughter in the game that much. But she didn't realize that her daughter was confused and didn't understand the plays. Well, when I tried to explain this to the mother, she didn't want to hear any of it. so I quickly learned where her attitude was coming from sometimes. it was very difficult to deal with but I learned never to assume. It turns out the daughter was only practicing what she was being taught at home, which was when you don't get your way give attitude. That really helped me with future seasons because I learned to never assume and take something for face value.