This class made me a bit uncomfortable. When I asked about teaching difficult subjects, I was mainly thinking about a black kid telling me I didn’t know anything because I was white. I’m not sure why, but I had narrowed my thinking in terms of race and failed to think about all of the other possibilities of running into a sensitive subject for which I’m unprepared. I tend to think of myself as a fairly open minded person. I don’t think I’ll have any issue with any diverse population, my “issue” will be the possibility of not knowing what to say when a student asks an off the wall question. I know this because I can’t even begin to count the times one of my boys has done the same. While I agree with learning everything you can about the topic to be as prepared as possible for the unexpected, sometimes that’s not enough and that scares me. However, I think the fact that I’m aware of this possibility is enough to allow me to tread lightly when it comes to delicate subject matter.
I’m still having a hard time wrapping my head around the situation Lynne told us about when she asked a student to address her as ma’am. While I can understand the parent’s perspective, I don’t know why it wasn’t about teacher student and had to be about race. Lynne may have been a white woman but she was/is also a teacher and in a position of authority. I guess maybe it’s the way I was brought up…? I’m just still having trouble wrapping my head around that situation. I do, however appreciate her sharing because I would have never thought something like that could be an issue.
I appreciate the time to work on Virtual Field Trip stuff. I think I got so excited about all of this new technology that I’ve learned about in Drew and Ryan’s class that I may have over-complicated things. Leave it to Dr. Stohr to bring me back down to reality. 🙂 Seriously though, I would love to think of working in a school with access to basic technology resources, but am afraid it may not be possible. If that’s the case, I’m going to have a difficult time adjusting but will definitely manage.