Diversity+Discussion


 * Multiculturalism, Different Ableness, and World Views all make up this section on "Differences." We select for a wide range of student interests and backgrounds. **

1. Agosto, Denise E. “Building a Multicultural School Library: Issues and Challenges.” //Teacher Librarian// 34.3 (2007): 27-31. //Library Literature and Information Science Full Text.// Web. 15 Aug. 2008. AND Draper, Norman. "Missing Character in Kids' Literature: Muslims." //StarTribune.com.// Star Tribune, 28 Dec. 2010. Web. 29 Dec. 2010. < [] >.


 * //Including diverse materials (not just race but everything from disability to gender or geographic differences) not only makes for a well-rounded collection, but gives students a chance to experience other cultures or lifestyles. I really liked the quote that tells us that by including these materials it will “facilitate student learning, foster acceptance of individual differences, and increase student knowledge about the world ” I also noted the comments of how to evaluate the author of such works in print or online. The more authentic experience the author has, the more authentic the piece will be. I also took note of the “Going beyond Diverse Selection” section, which tells us to do more than just promote the materials, but to integrate it into the curriculum as well (Agosto)!//
 * Draper's article dropped some titles for us: "The American Muslim Teenager's Handbook" and "From Somalia With Love." However, I did note that the librarian noticed that, like all teenagers, even the Muslim-American students would read just about anything. But that, in my opinion, shouldn't stop us from filling our shelves with multi-cultural materials, including books from/about the Middle East. The books are easier found for elementary levels, it says.

2. Barack, Lauren. "Islam in the Classroom: Teachers and Parents Alike Are Unsure About the Topic, But It's Never Been More Important." //School Library Journal//. 1 Oct. 2010. Web. 14 Oct. 2010. < [] >.

> 3. Cifuentes, Lauren and Serkan Ozel. "Resources for Attending to the Needs of Multicultural Learners." //Knowledge Quest // 35.2 (2006): 14-21. //Academic Search Complete. // Web.
 * //When I first starting reading about how these teachers are wanting to include more about Islam (Afghanistan) into the classroom I had two thoughts. 1. How wonderful! So many of our **adults** don’t even know enough about their culture besides stereotypes. And, 2. From a brief personal experience with a parent, I can see passionate parents not being pleased if we teach about this subject—especially if it isn’t **against** them. This article mentioned those concerns as well. I was interested in the idea this article brought up about a world religions class in high school—I think that would be an excellent addition to help create diverse curriculum beyond what we can do in the library. //
 * //The first thing I latched onto in this article was the description of our students from other cultures and how they not only respond to what they see in our culture through the screen of our own, but they also speak, think, and act through the beliefs and values of their culture as well. I can see the importance of being able to help that one student assimilate to our culture, but also help our students know enough about other cultures, you can see into //their //lives—like the example the article gave about a man with his hand in his pocket during a presentation in Germany. I’ll always remember a teacher in high school telling me about where she studied abroad (can’t remember where) and how she got a lot of shocked faces when she raised her hand to ask a question. To ask a question in that country is to tell the teacher that she/he hasn’t done his/her job well enough (Large Power Distance). In all, variety and relating lessons to what the students// do //know is key.//

//<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> 4. //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">//Discovering Assistive Technology.// California School Library Association 2.0 Team. n.d. Web. 5 Aug. 2010. < [] <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">>.


 * //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">I really like the casualness of this article—it tells great information and motivates to dig deeper without trying to sound too “research-y.” Sometimes we forget about some of the disabilities are students have. We hear so much about technology to help the “obvious” disabilities that we can SEE (loss of motor function, sight, hearing, etc.) Module 1 reminds us that there is more out there than what we can simply see. Module 2 and 3 had some new technologies I had never heard of, like moving a mouse cursor with your mind! This site reminded me of an article I read for one of my classes where an app for an iphone allowed visually impaired users to take a photo of something and it would describe the color of the item. I really liked Module 4, and wish I knew of this site a couple of weeks ago when we were doing lessons on Disability Awareness Month! We talked about how to address people with disabilities with my elementary students. //

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">5. Jackson, Camille. "Inclusion on the Bookshelf." //Teaching Tolerance// 34.Fall (2009): n.p. Web. 29 Oct. 2009. < [] <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">>.
 * //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">I have to admit, what this article says is true in my library. Whenever we see characters with disabilities in our picture books, that IS the story. We tell our students to treat impaired students no differently than we would a, in the words of my first grader, “normal” person. Yet, our picture books rarely include characters with disabilities—with the disability as a unimportant side note. For Disability Awareness month, I had a hard time finding a read-aloud story book (I finally landed on “Grandma’s Wheelchair” which focused on how a 4 year old was able to help his grandmother). I have listed some of the titles mentioned in this article on my wish/review list for next year’s purchases! //

//<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">6. Papertigers.org. //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> Pacific Rim Voices, 2006. Web. 6 Aug. 2009. < <span style="color: blue; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">[] <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">>.
 * //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Great site! The idea of them focusing on multicultural books for children is really helpful. I’ll have to keep this on my bookmark list when researching for new titles, especially the Review and Reading List section. One of my fears going into my new position was ordering/purchasing and building a collection. I know my collection is heavy on the 500s… especially animals, and it should be (student interest, curriculum, etc.). But I had been noticing a lack of multicultural books. We have quite a few great ones, but it needs to be more inclusive of other cultures. We have little from Asia. Sites like this will help! //

<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">7. Rajput, Toby. "Questioning Your Collection." //Knowledge Quest// 38.1 (2009): 62-69. //Library Literature and Information Science Full Text.// Web.
 * //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">The idea that books can be, depending on your background, mirrors or windows is a great analogy. I’m going to have to “steal” that quote! Still, questioning materials for racism or sexism is important—but I like the question the author brings up: should the story, as charming as it is, be enough? Or should we avoid “distorted perceptions” of other cultures… especially if the characters are being shown stereotypically or through the guise of “cute” animals that represent that particular group. Are classics okay because they are classic? I’ve always wondered this when teaching Shakespeare (it’s okay to have sex jokes and heavy sexual content and violence if it is SHAKESPEARE, but not if it is in a modern novel?). Still, this brings up questions that I’m not sure I have an answer for. //

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">8. Reese, Debbie. //American Indians in Children’s Literature//. n.d. Web. 6 Aug. 2009. < [] <span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">>.


 * //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">While looking through this site, there were VERY few titles I was familiar with, //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Little House on the Prairie, //being one. Like many of the other sites listed here, this one could also come in helpful when purchasing.//

//<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Titles in Charleston, MO school libraries: // //Man... I've got to do some fixing in my card catalog. So many of these are listed as separate titles (two seperate entries for Woodlawn, 2 copies for one, 1 of another. Same book!)//
 * 1) //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">1. ////<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Arrow to the Sun: NONE //
 * 2) //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">2. ////<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Caddie Woodlawn: 3 copies at elementary, 1 copy at middle //
 * 3) //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">3. ////<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Little House: 2 at elementary (plus some videos and adapted books), 1 at middle //
 * 4) //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">4. ////<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Indian in the Cupboard: 2 copies at elementary, 1 at middle //
 * 5) //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">5. ////<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Laughing Boy: NONE //

<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">9. WHAT DO YOU THINK of this posting? "Tom and Jerry in TWO LITTLE INDIANS." []
 * //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Well, the video didn’t work, so I couldn’t see it. However, I see her point. With stereotypical imagery that keeps being used, how will we teach authentic history to our students. That said, I’m not sure that imagery will ever go away. It is too much a part of our culture and OUR history. Hundreds of years from now, will our Disney videos, like //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Pocahontas //tell more about our culture than of the misrepresented stories and images from our past?//

//<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">10. Worlds of Words. //<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> U. of Arizona College of Education. 2010. Web. 20 May 2010. <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"> [] <span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">
 * //<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Another resource for world literature. I really like how you can sort reviews out by location/topic AND age level AND genre. Also gives themes or searchable terms that go with the books. By browsing through some of the options, I can see this being really useful. //