Diversity Discussion

 

 “We should all know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color” 

-Maya Angelou

On September 9th, 2020, the Teaching Fellows program hosted a virtual diversity discussion. The purpose of this event was to help future teachers get over fears of talking to our students about issues related to diversity. During the discussion, we were put in Zoom breakout rooms to share our feelings relating to social and political issues in the classroom. These conversations were uncomfortable at first, but the more we talked, the easier words flowed. I am glad I had this experience and I feel that I am better prepared to facilitate conversations around this theme in my future classroom. I liked that our discussion was pulled from media already out in the world like memes (such as the one I included below) and films/movies (such as The Hate U Give). In my future elementary school classroom, I want to facilitate discussions among students using books, history lessons, media images, and other real world examples relating to the themes that we will discuss.