Older Adult Interview

For my final blog post, I decided to interview my grandma, Lavonne Morrison. She was born in Zanesville, Ohio in November of 1939. She grew up right outside of Zanesville in a little collection of houses referred to as Stringtown with her mom, dad, two sisters, and baby brother. Grandma says some of her first memories are of her mother, watching her hustle and bustle around the kitchen. Great-grandma was an amazing cook and baker and people would come from all over to buy her pies every season. They had a small orchard tree farm and one of grandma’s first chores as a child was to help gather the fruit from the orchard with her brothers and sisters every season. After the pies were made and sold, great-grandma would can the fruit and make jams and jellies to give away as gifts. When asked about factors such as the Great Depression and WWII and how those events affected her family, she claims that they didn’t really because her parents were so resourceful. There was never a time when she and her siblings had to go without food or proper attire. According to grandma, the only hardship she faced as a child was having to use the outhouse in the middle of winter until she was about 10 years old because her dad believed it was unsanitary to build a bathroom in the house. Her mom, who was very pregnant at the time, won the battle by forcing her dad to follow her to the outhouse every time she needed to use it. Including in the middle of the night.

Gram talks a lot about the holidays when she was a child. Especially Christmas. In early December, some of her family would drive in from out of state and stay through the new year. She and her cousins would spend the weeks up until Christmas finding ways to earn money so they could buy and make gifts for their parents and one another. She says they would shovel snow, shine shoes, recycle bottles, whatever it took to make some money. And then, a few days before Christmas the whole family would pile into the car and head to town to Christmas shop.

She also talks about Christmas cards and how big of a deal they were back then. Especially to her mom who handmade all of her cards. Great-grandma’s whole family lived out of state and long-distance phone calls were expensive. So, correspondence through the mail was how she communicated with her family and she took great pride in decorating the Christmas cards she sent to them. Great-grandma and her sister would spend weeks sketching, painting, and detailing beautiful winter scenes on parchment paper before filling them out and sending them to friends and family. The kids weren’t allowed in the kitchen when they were working on Christmas cards but every once in a while, they would let Gram sneak in and quietly watch them work at the table.

When talking about her childhood, Gram also likes to bring up Green Stamps and the year they went without a radio…

Allow me to elaborate.

S&H Green Stamps was a program that ran from the 1930s until the 1980s. Essentially, how it worked was after you made a purchase from a store, you were issued a certain allotment of stamps depending on the amount of your purchase. The stamps were basically currency that you used to order items from a catalog that was issued by the S&H company. The catalog contained EVERYTHING from housewares to horseshoes. Items like a radio or a nice set of drinking glasses were considered somewhat of an expense back then, so it made more sense to save up for them using Green Stamps.

Speaking of radios, let me get back to my point. Gram absolutely loved the radio when she was young. Her dad didn’t buy a television until she was around 10 or so (about the same time he built the indoor bathroom) so she spent lots of time listening to shows and music on the radio. She says that one day after school, while she and her sister were lying on the floor listening to a program, her ginger tabby cat Tommy ran across the table the radio was sitting on and knocked it over and broke it. And while they weren’t poor, her dad didn’t have the money to just go buy a new one. So, after months and months of no radio, her mom told her that they could save up their stamps and order a new one from the S&H catalog. The only problem was that Gram’s parents didn’t go to town very often on account of how resourceful they were in growing their own food, so stamps were hard to come by. Finally, Gram and her sister got so desperate they started writing family members, including their out of state aunt, asking for unwanted stamps. Christmas was coming and they were bummed out about not being able to listen to holiday music during the season. Eventually, an elderly friend of great-grandma’s caught wind of what the girls were doing and gave them a whole stack of stamp filled booklets that she’d been saving. Gram said that there were more than enough stamps to order the radio and that when they tried to return the leftover stamps to the friend, she insisted that they keep them. So, Gram and her sister combined all the stamps they had collected while saving up for the radio with the leftover stamps they were given and ordered a brand new set of matching dishes from the catalog and gave them to their mom for Christmas. Great-grandma had been wanting new dishes for years before that and was elated on Christmas morning when she opened her gift.



          Learning to recognize and confront conscious and unconscious bias in myself and in my classroom is what has left a lasting impact on me after taking this course. What stuck with me is that no matter how tolerant or diverse a person may seem; EVERYONE harbors unconscious biases. Even the most dedicated and well-meaning teacher holds stereotypes and beliefs that affect their students. These biases and preferences can influence students’ interactions with peers in the classroom as well as educators’ selection of books, materials, and other classroom resources. What we are about in education is preparing children for the future; giving them what they need to be successful. We need to give children a critical perspective and appropriate tools. In order to do so, we have to confront our own personal biases to ensure that our students are received an enrichingly diverse education.

Reflective Journal and Observation #3

          Students have been participating in lots of stations during my morning visits to preschool. Memory games, name tracing worksheets, sorting manipulatives, and even Bingo, it’s been a great and beneficial experience watching what these smart kiddos are capable of accomplishing academically. It felt great participating in some of the stations and having that opportunity to see how proud of themselves some of the students were when they would successfully complete an activity. It only took a little encouragement to motivate them to want to do a good job. Children really do love positive reinforcement and will strive to finish tasks if they feel that you truly care about the work they produce.

          My favorite experience happened last week when I was hanging out with the non-verbal student in one of the stations the teacher had set up. This kiddo might not have much to say but he is the most amusing, spirited, and spunky child I’ve ever met. We were supposed to be playing Bingo… But that ornery child was not having it. Every time the TA would hold up a picture card, he would use his device to say the word “Go” (as in Bingo) even though he obviously didn’t have a Bingo. He also thought it was hilarious to keep pointing out to me, the body part pictures on his device. Specifically, the picture of the crudely drawn buttocks was most amusing to him. When I asked him if that was a picture of a booty he laughed so hard he got us busted by the teacher for not staying on task 😊    

·       Describe the range of abilities in the class. How does the teacher accommodate for the range of abilities represented in her classroom?

          We actually have a wide range of abilities in our classroom. Not only do we have the two ELL students from China, but we also have two children with IEP’s and a child who is nonverbal and uses a device to communicate with other people. We also have a few children who, based on some of the behaviors I’ve observed, I would probably recommend being evaluated.

One of the ways the teacher accommodates the wide range of skills and abilities in her classroom by differentiating her instruction in order to meet the needs of all of her students. There are several ways in which I have observed her doing so. She sets up stations and centers where students have the opportunity to work independently, in a whole group, in pairs, and in small groups. She also encourages her students to ask questions, participate in discussions during group activities. Therefore, they have a chance to not only learn from her but also from their peers as well as themselves.

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          How does the teacher talk to the children? Note similarities and differences in how the teacher speaks to individual children (i.e. gender, race, ability, etc.)

          She’s really good about engaging her students in conversations and asking them questions about what they’re interested in so that she can integrate that information into her lessons and activities. If students are interested in a topic or activity, they are more likely to want to learn more about it, thus they become more engaged. I haven’t noticed any distinct differences in the way she talks to her students individually, but she definitely is a bit more patient with her ELL students in repeating instructions and waiting for them to complete activities. She also tends to hold her older preschoolers to a higher standard when modeling good behavior to the other students.

Reflective Journal & Observation #2

1) Reflective Journal

          My last two visits were much better experienced’s than my first! I’ve had the opportunity to get to know a few more of the students and I’m finally remembering all of their names. Bittersweetly, the child I wrote about in my previous post has moved in with different relatives, more apt and knowledgeable in helping her receive the assistance she needs to overcome her trauma and learn how to manage her behaviors. The teacher informed me that she now attends a preschool with a much smaller class size and a higher teacher-student ratio and that she's enrolled in dance class and absolutely loves it! It’s discouraging that I didn’t have the opportunity to get to know her better but I’m so happy to hear that’s she’s living with relatives who will nurture and appreciate her.

          I will say though, the atmosphere in the classroom is completely different now. There’s less disruption and students seem to stay engaged in activities for longer. The teacher is much more focused on staying on task as well. I headed up the matching game at stations today, and some of the children were concentrating so hard on remembering where the matches were that we were able to play two or three games before the 15-minute timer went off.

          Something that will definitely stick with me was listening to one of the ELL students explain the goal of the game to her little sister in Mandarin, their natural language. She said to me, “Ellie doesn’t know much English yet so I will tell her.” She’s so soft-spoken and a bit difficult to understand because she speaks with an accent but she would turn to me and ask me what the pictures on the cards were (they were valentine themed) so she could tell her sister speaking Mandarin. When she held up the cupid card and I told her “Little man of love.”, she looked at me like I was from another planet and just kinda shook her head at her sister. Probably the best part of today.

          What I’ve discovered about curriculum from my most recent visits is that the three-year-old children in the classroom are tracing their names on dot worksheets and the four and five-year-old students are writing their names. And some are really good at it too, especially Ellie and her sister who are able to clearly write out their first and last names. I have two and almost three-year-old children in my classroom and I’ve never considered trying to show them how to write their name because they just seem so young to me. Perhaps I’m undermining their potential and maybe this is an unconscious bias of mine that can now be confronted.



2) Environmental Analysis of Diversity.

How are families involved in the classroom? How are cultural differences between families and diverse language backgrounds addressed by the teacher? How are cultural differences and diverse language backgrounds evident in the classroom environment? What are your ideas for involving families in the classroom?

          Family members are welcome to volunteer in the classroom whenever they’d like. They’re welcome to read a story, help out with stations, or just hang out with their child. They’re also strongly encouraged to attend classroom parties, open houses, and other school functions. I wasn’t able to attend the Valentine’s Day celebrations, but the teacher informed me that quite a few parents attended the party, and the amount of leftover treats covering the countertop in the classroom was even more evidence of parental participation.

          The teacher addresses the diverse language backgrounds by clearly labeling everything in the room in English, Spanish, and whatever other languages any of her students may speak, such as Mandarin Chinese. Thanks to online translating technology, this task isn’t as daunting as it seems. Sadly, she doesn’t really observe any diverse holidays in the classroom apart from Black History Month.

          Classroom newsletters including pictures of students should become a weekly if the not monthly norm in all schools. They help keep parents informed on what’s happening in the classroom and up to date on school events. And parents just really like seeing pictures of their kids participating in activities.

Reflective Journal & Observation #1

Reflective journal:

        The first day of observations was spent mostly getting to know the children and helping the teachers in the classroom. I arrived shortly before breakfast, so I started the morning chatting with the teacher while we passed out grapes and cereal bars as the children slowly filed in. They were very curious about me and asked me lots of questions about why I was there. After breakfast, we went to the gym and played a bit of kickball. I tried to spend some individual time with a few of the children who quickly became attached to me, but the other children were curious about the game we were playing, and individual time just wasn’t an option. We then went back to the classroom and did a few activities including my favorite which was a self-portrait. The children used crayons to draw pictures of themselves, their families, and the things they liked. It was an exceptionally diverse activity and a good beginning insight into their lives.

        I debated writing about this, just because I’m not big on conflict, but here goes. The negative aspect of the day was watching one of the professionals who work at the school taunt and mock a young child obviously suffering from emotional and psychological trauma. According to the teacher, the child lost her mother in an accident and her father is incarcerated. Because of the trauma she has experienced she is prone to tantrums and fits of rage. Some of her days at school consist of being put in the back corner of the room away from the other children to protect them from her outbursts. At first glance, it appeared that the professional was trying to console the child. He was sitting in a seat in front of her, obstructing her view, attempting to encourage her to take deep breaths so she could calm down. He eventually became more and more irritated with her defiance until he was literally mocking her shrill screams each time she would let one out. He would then glance over at us and make some kind of remark, in essence blaming her for her behavior and his, in an attempt to excuse and make light of what he was doing. His methods and words were very crude and unprofessional. I was absolutely horrified and broken-hearted for the little girl. It’s blatantly obvious that he has absolutely no training or experience in dealing with children suffering from the effects of trauma or doesn't care to apply any training he's received. I left that room with a pit in my stomach and a dull soreness in my heart.

        My goal for next week is to continue building relationships with the teachers and students. I’m looking forward to attempting to spend more individual time with each child.




Environmental Analysis of Diversity:

Describe the class (size, gender balance, diversity, disabilities, physical environment). What examples of diversity do you observe in the class?

        The classroom, which consists of 7 boys and 8 girls, is big yet cozy with comfortably furnished centers and brightly decorated artwork all throughout the room. The diversity amongst the students is considerable. We have two children from China, both ELL, another child who is non-verbal and requires a tablet device to communicate, and two other children with IEP’s. The children from China spend time with an instructor every day learning how to read, write, and speak English. I was only able to observe the non-verbal child for a few moments, I had to hold in a laugh as he was being scolded by his therapist for watching YouTube videos on his device instead of working on his assignments at home. He didn’t need any words, the look of satisfaction on his face said it all.

Defining Diversity and Culture

We define diversity and culture not just as race or gender but also as the differences in the backgrounds, experiences, perspectives, and ideas of the people around us. Life experiences and personal perspectives enable people to think and respond differently, approach challenges and solve problems inversely, and see different opportunities and risks. In this way, we are able to recognize, respect and value each individual.

I asked five different individuals their opinions on what diversity and culture means to them. Here are their responses:

• A longtime family friend, a 38-year-old single white single male, working in IT defined diversity as “Identifying differences in people and understanding and accepting those differences.” And culture as, “A set of traditions or principles a society of people adhere to.”
• My co-worker, a 59-year-old married black female, a preschool teacher for the last 20 years, identifies diversity as, “Even though we may not look alike, dress, speak, or pray together, we accept and respect one another.” And culture as, “Your culture is basically your societies way of life and traditions.”
• Here’s how a 29-year-old white female, stay-at-home mom, gay and married with a blended family responded to the question. “Diversity means that no matter what race you are, sexual orientation you prefer, or religion you practice, you’re accepted no questions asked. And culture is whatever practices the people you live among consider normal.”
• A white 23-year-old female engaged and expecting a mixed-race baby, and fellow early education student defined diversity and culture as “Diversity is our own individual characteristics and the things that make us unique. Like my red hair and big feet for example. Culture is the traditions our society observes that make us different from other societies. Like the holidays we celebrate and the way, we treat our animals.
• An 18-year-old white male, a senior in high school, defined diversity and culture as follows, “Diversity to me means like, being accepting and respectful to everyone. Like, white kids date black kids at my school, and there’s a girl who’s pregnant, but like, no one treats them any different, no one cares. So, it’s like, cool.” And culture as, “Culture to me means like the clothes we wear and the kind of food we eat. Christmas and stuff, stuff like that.

Here are the actual definitions of diversity and culture courtesy of Merriam and Webster -

-Definition of diversity

1: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements: the inclusion of different types of people (such as people of different races or cultures) in a group or organization programs intended to promote diversity in schools

2: an instance of being composed of differing elements or qualities : an instance of being diverse a diversity of opinion

-Definition of culture

1: the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group also: the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people in a place or time

2: the integrated pattern of human knowledge, belief, and behavior that depends upon the capacity for learning and transmitting knowledge to succeeding generations

So, all-in-all, even this group of exceptionally diverse people who are not related and have never met mostly agree and use the same terms to describe what diversity and culture mean to them. Broadly being, an acceptance and respectful inclusion of each individual and their cultures. Cultures being the practices and traditions a group or society observes. Acceptance of cultural diversity requires that we accept that other societies are rooted as much in their foundations as we are in ours. Respecting one’s culture and diversity means reacting with regard and the awareness of our differences and similarities.