Cultural Snapshot- Asian Americans

Artifact 1:


Artifact 2:

Artifact 3:

Artifact 4:

Artifact 5:

Artifact 6:

Artifact 7:

Artifact 8:

Throughout my search for the single story we use to represent our Asian American students, I came across many of the same things--good looking food, good looking people, incredible martial arts, and high academic expectations. The high academic expectations, as we see in artifacts 1, 2, 5, and 7, tend to be seen as pressure from parents, but also high capability. The snapshots show that nothing but perfection in acceptable in an Asian American family. The second most prominent factor, as we see from the Karate Kid clip (4), Jackie Chan (2), and Agent May (8), is the assumption that anyone of Asian decent must be a master of martial arts. Many of these artifacts, such as the clip from Mean Girls (6), show that besides being smart, all Asian students must be good looking, and "cool." From the artifacts I gathered, I felt that the single story we try to portray is of high expectations- highly intelligent, driven to succeed, calm and cool, fighting masters, and impeccably neat looking.

Now, high expectations can be a good thing--it shows we believe in someone. However, our students should also know that they are good people just the way they are. An Asian American student is just as likely to struggle in school, have bad hair days, prefer football to karate, or act as dorky as any other student. It can be frustrating for them if we constantly expect more of our Asian students than anyone else, when they have to work just as hard as the others. We need to be mindful of a student's individual preferences and abilities. If we choose to hold a student to a higher standard, it should be because we know that as an individual, they are capable of meeting those expectations, and have a desire to do so. We should never make our students feel like failures because they don't meet our cultural expectations.

It is important to see how cultural groups are represented in society so that we can see where we have been influenced toward a bias. Sometimes we are so much a part of our own culture that we don't see how it has changed the way we view others. Stepping back and understanding how we are trained to view other people also requires us to ask if we are correct, and to rely on our own observations more. Our students should never be viewed as part of a group, but as an individual with individual needs, circumstances, and desires.

Imagined Classroom

You are preparing to be a teacher. Imagine a typical lesson that you might teach in the future. Below, create a sketch or a description of a typical lesson in your future classroom:
My class would probably begin with a warmup based on homework. For instance, if the day's lesson was on Shakespeare, I might have had the students do some research and find words that Shakespeare had coined, or their favorite Shakespearean insult. I would begin by having them write what they found on the board, and then discuss it as a class. Afterwards, we would dive in to the true lesson. Hopefully we would read some of the sections and talk about them together. We might discuss Hamlet's choices after seeing the ghost. I would probably have them discuss it with a partner, or small group first, and then hold a full class discussion in order to get them more comfortable discussing their ideas. I would conclude the lesson by having each student return to their notebooks and write down their own conclusions they came to in their discussions.

Imagine the students in the classroom and describe them in more detail. Who are the typical students? What are their backgrounds? What are their interests? Where are they during the lesson?
I imagine that very few of the students have a deep interest in Shakespeare. I was not imagining an honors class, but a class of sophomores, who can be a bit rowdy and many love to poke holes in lessons. There are students of varying ethnicities, mostly White or Hispanic, and there might be a few rich students, a handful of poor students, and a huge range that fall in between. Some may have a common interest in sports or music, but they will all have unique interests and talents. Those students that are confident and relate the Hamlet the most will probably have the most to say in a discussion. Shy students might fall the the corners of the classroom, and everyone will try to sit by their friends who have similar interests. Some will get excited about the discussion, while others may only endure it. In essence, my students will be all over the board, and it will be challenging to engage all of them.

Imagine the surroundings in the classroom and describe them in more detail. What does the room look like? What resources are available to the students? How are those resources used during this lesson?

I hope to fill the shelves of my classroom with books--not just dictionaries and old anthologies, but the kind of books that my students enjoy reading as well. Some potted plants may sit by the windows, and reference charts may cover the back wall. A schedule of due dates will probably be posted on one whiteboard to help the students keep on track. My desk will be organized but not perfect. The classroom should feel like a calm but comfortable learning environment, not a place of tension or chaos. Hopefully my students will feel comfortable referring to other books they have read, or looking up definitions to prove their point. I want them to feel like they are exploring for themselves, not being told what to think.

Imagine the lesson and describe the topic in more detail. What are you teaching? What is the main thing you would want students to learn during this lesson? Why are you teaching this lesson?

I hope I am teaching my students to love Shakespeare, to formulate ideas, and to be able to explain them to others using evidence. The main things I want my students to learn are communication and love of learning. Most of my students will not read Shakespeare after high school, but they will learn how to communicate clearly, which is always a valuable skill. I hope they will also enjoy getting to explore ideas for themselves and see that learning can be fun. Even if they don't choose to explore literature, they might come to love learning other things.

Imagine your work as a teacher during this lesson and describe it in more detail. What are you doing during the lesson? Where are you in during the lesson? 

At the beginning, I will be directing the class as they settle in and do the warm-up together. After they split into discussion groups I will wander around, encouraging them to share their ideas and asking them questions to get them going if they are stuck. I will facilitate the classroom discussion, and ask questions, but hopefully will leave the actual discussion to the students. During the writing time, I will again walk around, helping students who are still stuck with beginning their writing, and encouraging and complementing the work of others.

Imagine the various lesson activities and describe them in more detail. What are the students doing during the lesson? Why have you chosen these activities?

The first activity, the warm up with their research, is to introduce the students to the topics for the day, and have more leeway on what they want to learn. Reading together should make sure that the students comprehend the basics, since Shakespeare can be frustrating to grasp. Talking in small groups will allow them to share their ideas at a less frightening level and formulate them further. The class discussion will facilitate a learning community where we bring all the different ideas together and allow them to hear more of what their peers think. From what they learned from their peers and their own ideas, hopefully they will feel confident enough to then put pen to paper, which can be intimidating if you don't know what you are going to write about.