Group Differences Forum

Write a brief reflection (1-2 paragraphs) on the group differences forum that you just participated in. Use the following questions to guide your reflection but you do not have to answer them.

• o What did you learn during our forum that you didn’t know before?
• o What would you have liked to learn more about?
• o How do you think the information presented in the forum will help you in your classroom?
• o What could have been done to help you learn more?
• o What suggestions do you have about the forum (changes I should make, articles to pitch or to keep, topics that should be discussed that we did not cover?)

I really liked the group differences forum. There were a lot of points and perspectives that opened my eyes to different sides I have never thought about before. I really enjoyed listening to other individuals perspectives on religion in schools and the classroom because I know my experiences with it are very different from my peers experiences. Also, I didn't know about the 100 Black Men of America group. I really found that discussion to be interesting. I am at Mooreland Heights Elementary right now for my rotation and I have witnessed African American students (Kindergarteners) say they don't like school because their siblings, parents, or other friends do not like school and thus it becomes "trendy" to hate school. I think I would have liked to learned more about poverty and school, and even more on the topic Disablities which was the group that I was in. Even just reading the article for my group I learned so much. I have nevr thought about individuals with disabilities being considered oppressed people, but in certain ways they really are. This forum made me want to know more, and do more research on specific topics. I think we decide we want to be teachers with out thinking about these hard parts of it. Diversity can be a huge hurdle in some schools or states, and learning about ways to create a positive environment will really help me in the future. I learned that we need to reject all stereotypes and assumptions and leave them at the door. To me this seemed obvious, but the group forum opened up my eyes to different types of stereotypes and assumptions that may not be so blatant. I think it was great how there were different groups, and how we got to pick the group that we wanted to be in. I chose disablities because it is something that I am interested in learning about that I haven't had a lot of experience with. I think this group forum was a great way to wrap up the semester as well. A lot of us have so many different experiences that we bring to the table and to use our experiences and knowledge from the course and combine it all in this group differences forum was very interesting. I really like that groups that are there, but I wish we could have covered gender as well. I think next time gender needs to be included, and students are asked if they would mind switching into that group I think it would be ok. All in all I really enjoyed the group differences forum. It is one of my favorite parts of the class because we really get to express how we feel about certain ideas, or what we have experienced through the eyes of a teacher or a student. I think we all learned a lot from eachother today!