Context: 

I created this artifact under the advisement of Dr. Nancy Mamlin during the Spring semester of 2007.  It was created as a requirement for Block 1 as a part of my CI 3000 class, Learner Diversity.

Impact:

By completing the Culture Report and Case Study I have learned ways to analyze student behavior as a response to their culture.  I have learned ways to improve my teaching with many diverse groups.  Learning the new classroom practices will enable me to better teach my students as well as help me to overcome any cultural obstacles to communication.

Alignment:

This artifact has helped me to meet these NCDPI standards:

4.4- By completing the Culture Report I have found multicultural children's literature that does not represent stereotypes or have a racist/sexist bias.

7.3- By interviewing students and learning about their prior knowledge, misconceptions, and interests I would be able to create a lesson that would be designed around the information that I know about the students.

7.4- By including recommended classroom practices and communication techniques I would be able to better communicate with students of a different culture.

7.5-  By including recommended classroom practices and communication techniques I would be able to teach students new learning strategies to address specific content.

7.6- Learning about the students' cultures would allow me to create assessments that are appropriate to their culture.  I am more aware of wording as well as cultural bias in assessments and instruction.

14.1- Completing the Cultural Report and Case Study enabled me to see that many different cultures have different views of education that I will need to be aware of.  For example, some cultures may see learning as a group process instead of an individual process.  Others may view the teacher as the authority and never ask questions.  I will need to be aware of all of these attitudes and beliefs so that I can address them with the parents.  It will be important that I know these beliefs so that I can effectively communicate with the guardians.

14.4- After completing this project I am more aware of different family structures, community values, and ways that the family and community effect a student's learning. 

14.5- By choosing appropriate books as a part of the Culture Report I analyzed materials for cultural biases or stereotypes.  As a part of the Culture Report stereotypes were also addressed and disproved.

14.6- After completing this artifact I have learned that there are certain instructional strategies that, for the most part, work the best for some cultures.  I will need to be aware of the generalized learning patterns so that I can adjust my lessons and goals appropriately.  I have also found that there are numerous instructional materials available to teachers that teach to or about specific cultural groups.

16.8- I researched the demographics of Moravian Falls Elementary School and used the Culture Report to find specific teaching practices that are appropriate for the population of the school.  Through practice, I also learned about the practices that worked best for the students that I was working with.

16.9- Throughout this project I have collaborated with my colleagues to get ideas and opinions of practices that I was using in the classroom.  I also collaborated with my instructors to get help on developing appropriate lesson plans that would meet the state competencies.

16.10- As a part of the Case Study, I have given a few suggestions for helping the student that I observed.  I also communicated with the classroom teacher about the resources that are available to the student.