Education for Educators

Teaching teachers
how to teach
how proactive
how prolific
how parsiminous

Multiculturalism -- Synthesis

At the beginning of the course on Multiculturalism I've taken this semester, my answer to the question, 'Should we be teaching from a multicultural perspective?' probably would have been, why? My answer at the end of this thought-provoking course is, why not?

I have found this to be one of the most valuable courses I have taken in my decision to obtain a master's degree in education because it has broadened my horizons and increased my awareness and understanding of multiculturalism far beyond what I thought possible. I had considered myself fairly well-versed in multiculturalism simply due to the fact that my family is multicultural, but the goal of education is to take us beyond our immediate borders, cultural and otherwise, and broaden them into the borders of other cultures. This course has done this for me.

So should we be teaching from a multicultural perspective? How can we do otherwise? We live in a country that is multicultural. We all come from multicultural backgrounds. We live in a world that is shrinking by larger degrees every year. We live in a country that, despite insreasingly stringent immigration policies, invites immigrants from every nation on the planet to live here, every year. We are not a melting pot, we are a melted pot. We must teach from a multicultural perspective, teach tolerance, teach understanding, demystify ethnic myths and strengthen our unity through the strength of our individual ethnicities in order to not just to survive, but to live our lives to the fullest. I have said that my family is multicultural, and it is.

My husband is Japanese, my brother-in-law is American Indian, my best friend is German-American, my mother is German and Scot and my father was French, Irish and English. My niece is half Hispanic, my ex-brother-in-law is second-generation Italian, another brother-in-law is Polish and my brother-in-law on my husband's side is Scottish. We are multi-racial, we are international, we are multicultural and we are not the only multicultural family in America today. And so, I believe that it is imperative that we teach from a multicultural perspective in order to educate our children to prepare them for the international world in which we live.

Yes, I think that we should be teaching from a multicultural perspective, to reduce stereotyping, to reduce fear of those who are different, to eliminate harassment and hostility against each other in our multicultural cities, states, country; to learn to accept the multicultural melted pot that we have become.

Muse Blues

I can't write today
there's nothing here
my muse has gone
she's disappeared

I fear she's taking
a long trip where
no homework waits
with glassy stare

Until she's back
I'll find no play
I'll have to study
day to day

But she'll return
when school is done
punishing me with
tongueless runs
(sigh)

Easter Trump

Peeves

weeds with thorns
on my bare feet
running outside for a minute

kitchen garbage
overfilled
late for work

overnight dirty dishes
in the sink
wanted coffee

light in the garage
burned out
at night

tv whispering
while I'm trying to sleep
work tomorrow

invisible toys
with sharp corners
waiting on the floor

no dog food left
at midnight
hungry dog

windows burn your fingers
in the middle of summer
living in the desert

forgetting to pay the water bill
it's 4:55 p.m. on shut-off day
beg for mercy

two teens
learning to cook
Hamburger Helper -- again

100 socks
in the clean laundry bag
no matches

four new hairbrushes
pink green blue black
none in the bathroom

lick my dry lips
again
no lip lotion

garbage can in the middle of the yard
full of spring clippings
garbage truck speeds away

soda cans, KFC wrappers, plastic cups
high school lunches over the wall
into my back yard -- grrrr

trampoline 60 pound maximum
two teenaged girls and two teenaged boys
trying to jump the California Pepper Tree

one bike two bike
red bike blue bike
nestled under my rose bushes

but

my family, my friends, my mom
trumps them all

Happy Easter

Lucid Lit Lines -- Write about Thursday and New Year's Next

Thursday's here
Thursday's gone
one after another
all year long

Monday's blue
Tuesday's green
Wednesday's late
Friday's mean
Saturday and Sunday
are just a tease
do what you can
ride on the breeze

but Thursdays ring
the week in right
till Thursday's end
New Year's night