College of Education School of Teacher Education EDF 2085: Teaching Diverse Populations ASSIGNMENT CRITERIA FOR GRADING Reflective

Essay (100 points each reflection paper) Students will write a self-reflective essay using the following outline: (1) racial/cultural background, (2) gender, (3) stereotypes, and (4) socioeconomic status, and gender. The reflection papers are to be cited using the American Psychological Association (6th edition) format, doubled-spaced, typewritten 12 pt. font with 1 margins, Students are expected to submit written assignments that demonstrate mastery of basic rules of grammar, spelling, punctuation and each should be limited to no more than 1000-1100 words in length. Reflection does not require a separate title page, but do require proper labeling in the top left corner which includes student name, name of course, date, title of assignment, and word count. In the development of your paper, students will use the following format in paragraph organization without subtitles: Racial/Cultural background Please describe your racial/cultural background. (African, Asian, Black, Caribbean, European, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, White). Where did you grow up in the United States (if applicable) or in what country were you raised? Did you have many other people of the same background around you in your neighborhoods and schools? How did this experience affect you and why? What did you learn about the people of your heritage in school, on TV, in the movies, and from your parents? What beliefs do you hold about how society works in relation to your race/culture? Please list in rank order the various races/ethnicities, as you believe they are reflected in current American society. Where do you believe that people of your race/culture rank in the social pecking order of American society? How has this ranking affected your life? Gender What sex are you? Discuss how you are typical or atypical of your gender. What were you taught about both genders when you were growing up by parents, teachers, classmates, and other influential people in your life? What stereotypes are attributed to your gender? Do you agree with, feel neutral, or disagree with them? How do the media portray each gender? Give examples. What strengths have you obtained due to being in your gender? Why? What challenges did you face because of your gender? Why?

 How will these beliefs impact your treatment of girls and boys in your classroom? Stereotypes Did you ever hold any stereotypical or negative beliefs about different racial/cultural groups when you were growing up? Where did you learn these beliefs? Give personal examples. If not, discuss someone who is close to you that hold stereotypical beliefs and the impact it had on you. How have these beliefs affected your relationships with people of these backgrounds (or the person who you wrote about in the previous question)? What challenges have these beliefs presented in relating to people of these backgrounds? If these beliefs have changed, what caused the change? How will your beliefs effect how you treat students of these and other racial/cultural groups in your classroom? Socioeconomic Status In what socioeconomic status (SES) were you raised? Did your SES change during the course of your life due to family prosperity or crisis? How? What are the expectations held by those in your SES? (for example, should you live an a mobile home, apartment, duplex, or single family dwelling; should parents buy their child a car at age 16; if so, what kind of car might it be; what kind of clothes are worn; do parents of this SES generally attend or graduate from college; do they attend graduate school; do children attend public or private school; they attend group or private music, voice, or dance lessons). What strengths have you obtained due to being in your SES? What challenges did you face because of your SES? What beliefs do you hold about people who are in both higher SESs and lower SES than yours? How will these beliefs impact your treatment of students in various socioeconomic statuses? In constructing your self reflection paper; think about how your personal history shapes your teaching "self" and, in turn, how this "self" will influences your interaction with students or others how are fundamentally different than you. As you think carefully about the list for each topic, you will undoubtedly develop additional insights into your background and beliefs that are not listed. Be sure to include these, too. For each of the items, write ways that each item might influence your own learning in this course. Remember that this is your personal expressive essay. There are no right or wrong answers; just your experiences and the connections you can see with those experiences and what you will do as a teacher or professional working with individuals with diverse and multicultural backgrounds. As you develop reflective paper, consider events that were most salient in shaping your beliefs about teaching in general and about teaching and/or working with others who are fundamentally different than you, in particular. As you include your present-day experiences, discuss any changes in your thinking and why. These changes may include information that you are learning in this course and/or your interaction with other students in this course or another education/non-

education courses. What direction would you like to see your professional teaching/experience take and why? Examine your own thinking about current practices in relation to what you are learning in this course and your professional readings. How might these translate into applications at the grade levels and content areas that you will be teaching or the professional area you will be working in? If you are not an education major consider, how the information obtained in this course affect your belief systems and why? Grading: 1. Summary discussion of all points listed for each topic 2. Examines links to shaping of teaching "self" 3. Discusses changes in thinking with current practices 4. Able to make appropriate applications and implications 5. Reference outside materials used at the end of the reflection using APA style reference format. 6. Free of errors in grammar, spelling, and mechanics of writing 7. Typed, double spaced, typewritten 12 pt. font with 1 margins, and 1000-1100 words in length Points Scale: 100-95 points Meets and exceeds all stated criteria in an effective manner 94-90 points Meets most stated criteria in an effective manner 89-85 points Meets some stated criteria in an effective manner 84 and below Meets few stated criteria in an effective manner.