Bronx Masquerade

After reading Bronx Masquerade I can say with ease that it is my favorite book we have read so far this semester. I thought the language and unique style of writing was fantastic and Nikki Grimes did a great job of taking serious issues and creating an adolescent novel. Although I did find some aspects stereotypical and a little questionable I think I would have this book in a middle school classroom.

Wednesday's film and Habibi

After watching and thinking about the film from last Wednesday's class I have realized that I still have a lot of conflicting feelings about the whole situation. On one hand, I tried to put myself in her shoes. How would I feel if that was happening in my town? To be honest, I don't know. Although many of people from the University that were interviewed were ignorant and insensitive, I tried to put myself in their shoes as well. Unfortunately this was easier for me to do considering I attend a university where our Mascot is God. I'm definitely not saying I agree with how the university handled the situation but imagine if they tried to have Sparty removed from MSU....the whole community would be in an uproar. However, as far as I know, Sparty does not offend any culture/ethnic group so I don't know if it can compare. Also, even though she thought it was offensive, I think she should have realized that they weren't trying to be disrespectful. To me, it did not seem like she knew that. This ongoing argument is something I am definitely on the fence about.
On a lighter note....I really enjoyed reading Habibi. I haven't read much literature/stories on this particular culture and I think it was portrayed really well. I also loved that I could relate to the main character in certain ways even though her experiences were far different than my own. I look forward to hearing what everybody else thought!

Insider Vs Outsider

Initially, when I first thought about the insider versus outsider scenario it made sense that only those who were apart of a particular group (culture) could truly understand and write on that particular group. However, after reading more and more children's literature I feel that this is not always the case. For example, one of the books that my group and I read was I believed called "Three little Rabbits" and was a counting book that dressed rabbits up like Native Americans and portrayed them in a very stereotypical manner. What was interesting was that the author had spent most her life on a reservation! She was an insider. As of right now I am still pondering the debate.
As far as our readings for class this week are concerned I have to say that the last article by Cai made the most sense to me. Although the other three were quite interesting in the fact that Shannon, Bishop, and Harris all had something to say about one another, Cai (I believe) hit the nail on the head. One particular quote that stuck in my mind is this: "To include every culture, the curriculum would not only be unmanageably large but also miss the ultimate goal of multiculturalism."
I believe that this topic/debate is extremely difficult to take sides on. During class this semester I hope we can discuss the different sides and points of view to further our insight on the topic.

First Post!

Hello fellow TE 448 peers!
First, a little about myself. I am currently a senior here at MSU and like many of you are majoring in Elementary Education with a focus in Language Arts. I enjoyed TE 348 which is one of the major reasons why I am taking this course. I don't feel as though I was exposed to much (if any) diverse literature when I was in Elementary and Middle School and taking these courses has made me want to dive into the world of diverse literature. Many of the books we read and were exposed to in 348 were great and I think would be useful in the classroom. I received many tips on picking out the right books for teaching diverse literature and hope that this course will continue that.