February 10, 2008

A Response to
ABC Who Is Me?

Joanna Garza Explores
Identity and Acceptance.

Dear Students:

I am delighted to share a fellow teacher's response to the ABC Who Is Me? assignment. Joanna Garza is an ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) Level 1 Social Studies and English teacher at The English Academy in the Rogers, Arkansas, Public Schools. She previously published for Planet Gnosis as a Guest Writer. She is an accomplished educator and writer — and a dear friend of the CornDancer cybercommunity.

Teacher Garza's letter addresses many of the issues we have discussed in class: the dominant culture, socio-economic status, assimilation, and self-awareness of oneself in relation to cultural identity.

Many thanks to Teacher Garza for sharing her experiences about growing up in the United States. She sent this missive after reading several of your ABC Who Is Me? cultural identity poems.

First, Know Thyself
And Accept Who You Are.

By Joanna Garza

Interestingly, as a child, I didn't understand who or what was the dominant society in America until I experienced living in Hawaii. After my years there, I was able to appreciate and love my own identity.

The America I grew-up in was white. I was raised white. All my life the "dominant society" made me what I wasn't. My mother, grandparents, and great-grandparents all knew this reality of not getting to be what you really were. They were Indians.

Since European contact, the Indians were never really understood. Now, plenty of people are proud to claim Indian blood from somewhere back in their lineage. Many people think Indians get stuff for free, so now they are interested in digging back in time.

I always thought my family was different, and I saw the contrasts when I started going to school. We were different.

My family was behind the times. Many of us had out-houses and drew water from a well. This was in the 70s. I quickly discovered that we were considered poor. I didn't know that until about the 2nd grade. My family never talked about not having indoor plumbing or running water. We were outside most of the time anyway. We visited.

Nature was our playground. We didn't need to go to the stores to find something to do. In school, I learned that people looked down on us if our clothes were dirty, and we didn't wear shoes in the summers. I thought we were having fun.

This is an interesting topic of identity that is well worth examining. It is essential that people know themselves well before they can contribute meaningfully to the group. Without a deep evaluation of yourself, your family, your community, your government, your God, it is difficult to reach your full potential as a person.

When we evaluate who we are, we understand our own inherent values and the standards of the people around us. We are individuals, within our families, our communities, and if we can accept who we are, then we are prepared to give of ourselves.

February 10, 2008

Let's Pause and Review
Our Progress to Date.

Greetings, Interns:

First of all, go Hogs! Teacher Bowles and I were at the Razorback game yesterday and got to see the team go at it with the Ole Miss Rebels. What an exciting game and an enthusiastic crowd! (I wore red shoes to support the team!)

Next, I'd like to thank Teacher Garza for her reflective response to your ABC Who Is Me? assignment. Her life exemplifies many of the issues raised in our discussions and in our text.

I'd also like to thank Angela and Jessica for giving permission to post their Video 1a responses with my comments on their Student Pages. Both students surpassed the target expectations with their thoughtful, critical, and insightful responses, not to mention their use of academic discourse — that special language of school that we all try to master.

Anthony, Jessica, and Marilyn also were active in submitting ideas for activities, readings, and events to help us understand the concepts involved in multicultural education. Remember, my students, these adages:

Learning is forever.
Learning is a process.
Highly effective teachers are life-long learners!

Be Prompt and You'll Be Fine.

To allay any fears of failure in this class, I have decided to collect the remaining video/DVD responses as completion grades. Everyone will receive the full five points if the assignments are complete and turned in on the due date, which is the day before the chapter assignment. I will be reading your responses. If someone misinterprets a question, I will let you know so that you can revise it.

Thanks to Elizabeth for pointing out a "due date" error on the calendar. I'm always happy to know that students are reading carefully!

For the Class Profile assignment, go to the Learning Resources page for directions and rubrics. This IS a graded assignment, so please review the information carefully.

Your remaining graded assignments include the mid-term and final projects and the MI STEP OUT assignment. You will receive directions and rubrics as I develop them.

Finally, I hope Teacher Garza's response to your poems brings the issues of class to life.

See you in class.

Dr. Bowles