Chapter 4-5 Discussion leader

The idea of "family" is good and has its points, but how much of this is really true or relevant to the educational restrictions put upon us by our current educational system. For example, one of the teachers shared that she picked up some of her students for church. Well, that sounds like an awesome idea... but in reality, or should I say in America, there are so many things that could go wrong in this situation. What do you think of when you hear the word family? How does or doesn't it relate to the classroom setting?

Culturally relevant teaching is essential! I love the example on page 92. The teacher asked the students how would you describe the princess in the story that you read (there were no pictures in the book). An African American child describe the princess as a Caucasian with blond hair. Well, the teacher seemed so surprised by this, but lets get real! Maybe she had brown hair, but she most definitely in our minds would not be Asain, or black, or Indian. She would be white! Let's look at all of the Disney movies... until recently when they came out with the "Princess and the Frog" I don't see why you would expect any other answer from this child. Thankfully times are changing, and that will allow it to be easier to generate culturally relevant teaching. It's so funny... relating it back to my own personal life. It was hard for my parents to find African American Barbie dolls, so I never really played with them. Now that I am in a relationship, heading toward a long-term commitment with a Caucasian male, we always talk about the future...especially kids. I've asked him before, "What color dolls are our babies going to play with?" Of course... he says white!