In understanding what Children bring to the classroom we must first understand who they are. What a key point. But how do I achieve this with so many children coming from so many backgrounds, cultures, beliefs, ideas, and behaviors? I loved the idea presented about asking the parents at every meeting to tell the teacher about their child. What makes them unique, funny, challenging...? This is a way that the teacher can get to know a child through the eyes of the parent, with whom we will be dealing with every time we work with their child. Yet every parent sees their child as extra special in need of special attention. In the class I have been working with at Martha Lake Elementary school, around the Christmas holiday there were two children arguing about the purpose of Christmas. The boy was positive that Christmas was about the presents. The young girl was adamant about the holiday celebrating family. It was a good lesson for me to just keep them calm. I told them that just because Christmas is all about the presents for him, it doesnt mean that it is not about family to her. They finally agreed to disagree but understood that they are both celebrating something different and it is ok. At first I wanted to tell them what I thought it was about. For me Christmas is a very special celebration representing the birth of Jesus, but it was not appropriate for me TELL them what my beliefs are, but instead, leave that to their parents. It was a good lesson for me in that this was an easy topic to deal with and there will be many difficult discussions that I will have to deal with and I will have to take the same stance on it; allow the children to understand that they have different beliefs and understandings of how the world works and it is ok to be different, in fact it is what makes us all unique. This is all a part of building a safe community where children feel safe to share who they are. This memory has stuck with me ever since it happened and I have been able to share it in many surroundings with many different people.

Does this all mean that we are to leave our beliefs and foundations at the door? If we do not have those as we teach are we leaving our foundations for why we want to teach, to change the world, the way that children learn and grow and thrive. I feel as though my beliefs are what are leading me into teaching as well as giving me encouragement every day in my doubts as to what I am capable of doing. How do I make this an equal balance in the classroom? I do not want to force my beliefs on children but I feel as though my beliefs, and/or culture are what keep me going and balanced in life. But, I dont want to hinder the learning in my classroom. I want it to be a place where every child can share who they are without any fear of doubt from me. Another thing that the teacher at Martha Lake Elementary does with her kindergarden class is, every morning the entire class sits together in a large circle. They pass around a foam microphone and they all have the opportunity to share something about themselves or their family. Sometimes there is a theme such as what type of food do you have at home that is unique to your family, or what did you do this weekend, or what is your favorite holiday...and so on. Many of the kids had a great time with it. They would share different things that they do on the weekend with their families and what they think makes their family special. Other days they just say what they think would be funny to say. There was one young girl that every day she was so excited because her cousin was pregnant and that was all she wanted to talk about. The kids felt safe sharing things about their family and background and culture due to the environment being safe and welcoming. It was incredible to watch because there were so many kids from different cultures and many of them were immigrants themselves having come over in the last year and were still learning the language at school and then going home and speaking their native tongue. This opens the other childrens eyes to different cultures, beliefs and ideas that are present in the world but on a level that if familiar to them. They are then able to understand different cultures and not be as hesitant to accept them as they grow in the learning and understanding. What a goal for me!

I hope that as I get closer to being a part of the classroom my fears will dissipate and I can just allow the children to come with all that they are. I think that my fears are overwhelming me at the moment and the more I think about leaving my beliefs at the door, the more I am fearful that I will not be able to. My desire is to offer children a safe and welcoming community within my classroom to allow them to engage in the material they are learning without the fear of being rejected on any standard. I should focus on the positive and not the negative even though this quarter is tough in that manner.