Abby White
Education Department 
Celebrating Diversity Workshop
Celebrating Diversity Workshop Reflection
	Before I attended the Diversity Workshop I always thought of diversity as just being race. It was quite the eye opener when we were going over all of the differences within diversity. I found that there is diversity all around me including myself. I feel that this will better help me in my classroom with dealing with the differences that my students may have from each other. 
	This workshop was a very hands on workshop. We participated in many different activities that showed us how diversity was all around us and how to deal with diversity. There was on activity that really stood out in my head. In this activity we had to pick a stereo about ourselves and get into the group of people that had these same stereo types. I picked to go into the teaching group. We discussed all of the different things that people had said to us about being a teacher and how it was stupid. Then as a group we got back together and each little group told the large workshop group the things that people said that upset us and why it upset us. For me I thought that it was good because not only did I see that other people felt the way I did about what people said, but I also got to see how people felt about some things I may have said at some point in my life.  
	During the workshop they told us many different facts of what the United States will look like in the future. One of those facts were “By 2050, over 50% of the people in the U.S. will trace their descent from Africa, Asia, or Latin America.” This seemed to be amazing to me. I think this is because in today’s time I hardly even know that many African, Asian, or Latin American people. To say that this number is going to change to over 50% seems kind of unlikely. I am sure that it is true though. This also showed me how much different it is going to be while teaching these students. This is going to make teachers know more methods of teaching than before. A lot of diversities learn differently than each other. Some do not look their superiors in the eye, others will have no respect for teachers. This will make larger hurdles for teachers to jump over. Another factor with this is that we are going to have more students and parents who do not speak English. We are going to have to have more people in the school building to help with this fact. 
The overall point of this workshop was to have a better understanding of different cultures and their people. I believe that this is so important to know as a teacher so I know how to handle the different cultures of my classroom. I have taken so much from this workshop, whether it is to forget those recordings that we have learned of different cultures or the ice breakers I used that I can do with my students on the first day of school. I have also learned more about my own identity. The workshop has helped me learn more about myself than what I had previously known. I also feel that the workshop helped me learn about the way to deal with people when they are prejudice to me. This I have to say is something great to take with me. I feel after this workshop I will be a much better rounded teacher.