Blog Post 2

 Reflection Prompt for Videos 1 and 2: 

I believe that we all have bias. I think that it is not possible to be a totally non-biased person. Bias comes from the interpretation and analysis of things from the background of our own culture. I was raised in a small, rural community in California. We were surrounded by people who were very similar to us. At the time, we did not have any black children at our school. I actually checked back to my grade school year books. In my cultural and family, black people were scary, dangerous, and lazy. There were a lot of racist people in the area I lived and I am sorry to say in my family too. This feeling was part of my cultural bias. I grew up and met some incredible people who were black. I became friends with a wonderful family that lived on our street. As a teacher, I had many black students in my classroom. The bias I had against black people was overcome because I experienced and learned for myself. I believe we can overcome biases by experiencing and learning about the bias for ourselves. Despite our upbringing, we can be different.

As a teacher I believe it is very important to be culturally responsive. I hosted and chaired an international festival at my school. This brought families together from different cultures. I always make sure to bring the cultural celebrations of my students into the classroom too. When I discuss Christmas, I make this include winter holidays. Last year I did, Diwali from India, Aussie Christmas, Hannukah, and more.

Reflection Prompt for Video 3: 

The Kamehameha School in Hawaii is keeping the culture of the students alive through the language. I believe that native languages are dying and keeping them alive is so important. I loved listening to the language spoken in the video.

I think they do a great job honoring the agricultural historical practices of the Hawaiian people too. Teaching children to garden, grow, and take care of their native lands is key.

There are so many great things happening at this school.