Final Class Reflection

At the end of this semester I can say that my view and knowledge of diversity has changed since August. To begin with the fact that we looked at such a wide range of diverse topics has broaden my views in general, however some of the categories we examined I have had little or no experience with. I feel this class was benefically because it gave me the needed skills to look at literature with an anti-bias approach in order to evaluate the ideas and messages that the text and pictures convey to a reader.

Overall I enjoyed the range of genres that we examined because it presented many aspects of diversity that are important to teach children about. When I was growing up I was never presented with such a selection of books, therefore in order to create a diverse classroom I feel it is important to include everyone. I feel by providing the range of diverse genres every child is able to see themselves in someway which creates a welcoming community for everyone.

I feel the course pack was helpful when accompanying the books due to the fact that most of them presented fact about that aspect of diversity that offered insights to the text. I especially enjoyed the article by Cortez discussing the issue of generalizations versus stereotypes. I feel this is a very important topic to discuss with students due to the fact that it is commonly misinterpreted. What I mean by this is that sometimes an individual feels they are stating a generalization when in fact they are presented a pre-existing stereotype.

Overall, I enjoyed all of the books due to the fact that they were not like anything I have ever read before. I would have to say my two favorite books were "Al Capone Does My Shirts" and "Boy Meets Boy". I found both of them to be very interesting while still conveying very strong messages, I even had trouble setting them down to work on other homework! These are two of the books I would keep in the course for future classes


Overall, I really enjoyed this class! I feel I learned a lot about children's literature and how to choose appropriate books for my future classroom. The are stereotypes often presented in children's literature that I would have accidentially overlooked had I not take this course.