Multicultural Lesson for Kindergarten

Incorporating multiculturalism into your classroom is very important, particularly in the primary grades.  The younger you can reach students with multicultural material, the better.  As perfect example of a lesson in multiculturalism that is easy for Kindergartners to understand is called "what we can learn from a box of crayons."  

Link: http://www.tolerance.org/activity/what-can-we-learn-box-crayons

This plan was written by a school counselor in Indiana.  I used this lesson in my Education 364 class, but I changed it just a little.  To teach my Edu 364 class how important diversity is, I gave each student two pieces of paper and a box of crayons.  With their first sheet of paper in front of them, I had each of them choose their favorite crayon.  Then I asked them to draw a rainbow.  The were all confused, but tried their best to draw a rainbow.  After one minute I asked them to take out their second sheet of paper.  This time they could use their entire box of crayons to draw a rainbow.  After one minute, I held a class vote and almost every single student chose their second picture.  Why?  Because the second picture was colorful!  When you only have one color you can use, your picture is bland, when you have all of the colors, your picture will be vibrant and colorful.  Diversity is colorful, and colorful is beautiful!  It is extremely important to use lessons like these in the primary grades!

Why Teach Kinder?

Alot of people assume Kindergarten is like a daycare, and not as necessary as the other grades, but I disagree. During my substitute teaching days, I subbed quite a bit in Kindergarten. Kindergarten introduces students to the structure of school. I love being organized, so teaching the students how to work within a routine will be right up my alley. I also have tons of patience. I have a 3 year old daughter and a 4 year old son, combine that with being a military wife and moving 9 times in the past 6 years and you should start to see why I have patience! Having patience is an absolute must for teaching Kindergarten because you are teaching skills that many of the students are learning for the first time. You are also dealing with their emotions, and teaching them how to behave in a school setting. Their is also a fun side to teaching Kindergarten! Kindergarten is colorful, with alot of art projects, holiday celebrations, fun stories to read, imaginations running wild, etc. I also like the idea of having a partner teacher for support. Many Kindergartens are a half day program which means you have a partner teacher that helps while you are teaching, and then you help while they are teaching. The students may not remember me as adults since they will be 5 years old in kindergarten, but I hope to make a positive impact in each of their lives!

Self-Intro =)

It is bittersweet that I am taking Education 422.  Bitter because I am not at all interested in learning about technology, but sweet in that I need this vital technological information in order to become a successful teacher.  I am not quick in picking up new technologies, but I am trying to force myself to take more of an interest.  An example of my reluctance to learn new technologies is the fact that I received an Ipod for Christmas a few years ago, and I still have not downloaded any songs to it!  In fact I still listen to the radio 99% of the time.  I do have technology anxiety but the more open I am to it, the more I pick up.  I am actually surprising myself in this course, and I think it is due to the fact that I am trying to adopt a "can do" attitude.

I have a decent amount of experience when it comes to education.  I have substitute taught for four different school districts in California and for one school district in Connecticut.  I subbed K-8 and quickly learned middle school is not for me.  I want to teach Kindergarten if possible.  I am starting the part-time multiple subject program this Fall.  I have to finish this class and Edu 350 before I can start.  

I hope to gain confidence from this class.  I am glad it is a requirement because I don't want my Kindergartners knowing more about technology than me!  I am also glad we are using Macs because I have never really used one before.  The Mac doesn't seem hard to use, just a different set up than a pc.