Blog 18, Week 5

Sapna you are correct that teachers must show students that being different is ok. It is a travesty that disability awareness is not taught just as sexual ed is taught. It's not the old days where a student may not ever be in contact with a disable person, so by not informing students correctly a great disservice is done. It is wrong that I had to take special classes (Intro. to the Exceptional Learning and American Sign Language) to learn more information about disabilities. Since disability awareness is yet to materialize it is important, like you say, to teach students about disabilities ourselves. Every educational subject has famous people who deal lived with disabilities (i.e., Steve Nash (math)- Schizophrenia and Edgar Allen Poe (English)- alcoholism among other things). It may be difficult to incorporate this teaching into already full curriculum; however, highlighting these type of individuals can go a long way in helping students learn about different disabilities.

Blog 16, Week 4

Sapna you bring up a good point in relation to race and cultures. It is extremely important to teach student about different cultures because American is a heterogeneous country. Since the founding of this country the progress that was achieved was due to the sweat and hard work of immigrants. Native Americans, Africans, Europeans and Asian have been used at one time or another to build this country. Whatever group is working the menial and hazardous jobs is usually despised and stereotyped. Although this is the dark side of America, it can bind us as well. Everyone, except most African-Americans, came to this country to seek a better life. Through hardship and hard work most cultures are able to integrate into the fabric of society. Americans may be originally from different parts of world; however, we are the same when it come to wanting a happy, fulfilled life. Culture is important in the formation of one's self, so we as educators must teach our students to respect and enjoy the various cultures with in American. When we do, American becomes a much more interesting and enjoyable place to live.