Practicing Awareness of Microaggressions

• Describe at least one example of a microaggression which you detected this week or remember from another time. In what context did the microaggression happen? What did you think and feel when you observed the microaggression or when you found yourself as the target of a microaggression? One microaggression that I have experienced was religionism. I remember growing up being mocked or picked at for being a Christian. People would either call me a goody two shoes or assume I did not do certain things are simply sneer at me for being a Christian. On both sides of my family different family members have made comments about my family being Christians. It has become frustrating and discouraging throughout my life having these things said to me. More than anything it has made me question myself. Growing up I had a lot of confidence in who I was and what I believed. But with every person who would make a comment in my direction about my religion or make a statement about something I believe I would become a little less confident about it. As much as I would like to believe that people do not influence who I am, it is next to impossible to completely 100% ignore everything that others say to us. I have matured and not let what others say bother me as much, but it does not make it any less hurtful every time someone says something to me about being a Christian. 

• In what ways did your observation experiences this week affect your perception of the effects of discrimination, prejudice, and/or stereotypes on people: I have learned a lot about microaggressions this week through the readings and the resources. My knowledge has broadened and expanded regarding this topic. I have been able to put myself in the place of others as well as relate my own personal experiences in regard to this topic. I see the importance of having a sensitive attitude toward this subject. In some ways this subject has taught me that it is necessary to simply agree to disagree about certain things. Every has a different view on things, but it does not mean that they are wrong. This has also made me take a careful look at myself. I am trying to pinpoint biases that I have developed over time and work on them so that I can become a better educator and accommodate children and families better. 

Perspectives on Diversity and Culture

Matt – Diversity- I guess I think diversity is like our differences and stuff.

                Culture- Culture is hard to define. I guess it’s like the food we eat and like the stuff we believe in or something.

Roni- Diversity- To me diversity is about the things that make us different. But it goes further than just what we look like and our race. Diversity includes our feelings about things and how we react to different things.

           Culture- Our culture is like our heritage. It is part of us and it makes us tick. Without our culture we would not really have an identity.

Megan- Diversity- To me diversity is like a way to describe things that make us different. Like my husband is African American but like his grandmother is white and his grandpa is black and like his mom and dad are both black. But like I think this is like diversity because he comes from lots of different stuff.

               Culture- I think culture is kind of like our way of life. Like the things that we love and are important to us and stuff like that. Like I said with my husband, his culture is different than my culture which I guess is also diversity. 

 I was interesting hearing my friends discuss these topics from their point of view. I feel like maybe they skimmed the surface on what these words mean but they do not fully appreciate them or understand them even. My knowledge and understanding of these topics is growing and developing as I am taking this course. I think that my friends understand concept of diversity and culture but maybe not to the extent of what they really mean. From their standpoint this is probably their only experience with these words. I am excited to learn even more regarding these words and what they mean.

My Family Culture

• A description of the three items you would choose
• A scrapbook/photo album with photos of friends and family and other important things that I want to remember
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• My Bible
  
• My jewelry box
  
• How you would explain to others what each of these items means to you
• I would take a photo album because pictures are very important to me. I think I really like pictures because they remain the same even when the people and things in them are completely different. If I took my photo album it would be a reminder of all of the good times even though i would need to be leaving my home.
•  I would choose my Bible because my faith is important to me. I would want to make sure to take it with me and to hold onto it even though I would be going to a culture where they do not have the same faith as me. 
• I would also take my jewelry box because although it does not actually have any real jewelry in it, it has keepsakes that are special and important to me. It has coins in it that my grandmother gave me before she passed away and a small marble painted to look like the earth given to me by my grandfather. By taking the jewelry box, I would also be taking these special things along with me that would make me thing of people in my family.
• Your feelings if, upon arrival, you were told that you could only keep one personal item and have to give up the other two items you brought with you..
• .If I have to choose only one to keep and two to part with, I would chose to keep the photo album/scrapbook. Photos are very important to me and  I would want to make sure that I still had this small part of myself with me. It would be very hard to give up the other things, but this one would be something that I would be able to look at over and over again and to share it with my children, if I ever had any.
• Any insights you gained about yourself, your family culture, diversity, and/or cultural differences in general, as a result of this exercise,
• This was actually much more of a difficult task than I thought it would be from reading the instructions. It was really hard for me to narrow it down to three things that I would bring. It was also interesting for me to think about what it would be like if I lived in a different culture and had to choose three things to bring. In the United States we are a very materialistic culture, there were so many things that I considered taking but I had to choose from only three.