Seeing differences

Throughout this experience, it is hard to say whether or not I have been opened up to a new understanding of poverty and racial issues, only because I know that this is what I have grown up with myself. I think one thing that I should take upon myself to do is to visit school with less diversity and more funding. Do the teachers seem less tired? Are the students better behaved? If so, how do the resources that these other schools contribute to their success?

In my classroom, the race of the teacher definitely plays a role in her relationship with the students. I believe that because she is a woman of color, it is easier for them to relate to her. She speaks spanish, which definitely helps her to connect with her class of mostly hispanic students.  Her gender also plays a role in her relationship because she is able to have a student on her lap or hug them for a long time without it seeming as suspicious as it might with a male teacher.

My race will play a role with my future students, as it already does with my kindergarten friends. A lot of them assume that I am just white, and when I speak spanish to them they are shocked or confused, but also kind of happy. I also do not connect as well with the boys as I do with the girls, and I’m sure it is because I seem young enough to still have cooties lol.