My hope as an early childhood educator is to help nurture and support the healthy development of young children from diverse backgrounds. One goal I would like to set for the early childhood field related to issues of diversity, equity and social justice is to remain committed to social activist work I began last semester working with Professor Aref Abu Rabia and the Bedouin community. Since last semester we are still working on moving forward with the grant proposal for a Bedouin Ecology Center located in Southern Israel. He asked me to build the website, here it is: http://firdawsalhikma.wix.com/ecologycenter Lastly I would like to thank my colleagues for their positive support throughout this course. I feel very close to you all, especially since we have been delving deep into our social identity and childhood, it has been a very rewarding experience. I would also like to thank Professor Anthony Morgan for his helpful insights in this challenging and rewarding course.

Welcoming Families From Around the World

New Student's Country of Origin noun: Kazakhstani(s) adjective: Kazakhstani Ethnic groups: Kazakh (Qazaq) 63.1%, Russian 23.7%, Uzbek 2.8%, Ukrainian 2.1%, Uighur 1.4%, Tatar 1.3%, German 1.1%, other 4.5% (1999 census) Languages: Kazakh (Qazaq, state language) 64.4%, Russian (official, used in everyday business, designated the "language of interethnic communication") 95% (2001 est.)

* At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family 1. Study about the child's country, culture and food. 2. Encourage other students to be welcoming, assign a buddy for the new student. 3. Learn a few key phrases in their native language. 4. Prepare some openers which will allow the child to feel part of the classroom. 5. Post up some pictures of the child's home country and show the class where it is located on the globe. * A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family I hope through these preparations that I will be able to make the new student feel comfortable and a part of the group.

The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice, and Oppression

I love to shop at my local drugstore. I must have shopped there multiple times a week for over a year. The store manager “Dale” always struck me as a bit strange, but I always was friendly to him. One time during Halloween I needed helium balloons for the class party, and nowhere in town had helium. I brought my deflated balloons to Dale and asked if he had helium, “Sure, you’re one of our best customers!” He filled up my balloons for free and a woman saw and asked if he could fill some balloons for her and he said no. He was always friendly and would even give me the clearance price on some items that probably weren’t on sale. Then one day, I went to shopping a few days before Christmas. He asked, “Oh, do you need Christmas ornaments, they just got marked down, check isle 5.” And I replied, “No actually, I’m Jewish.” Suddenly, it was a very awkward moment. He replied, “What!” I said in a friendly voice, “Well I do need some holiday wrapping and cards for the teachers, but we actually celebrate Hanukkah.” At that moment, Dale looked at me with this almost look of disgust. And I will admit it, it hurt me. I couldn’t understand how he could be so shocked when he discovered I was Jewish.I felt almost betrayed that a year and half of friendly interactions could all go out the window in a split second. I learned from that incident, that it is better for me to stay quiet. In some ways, it silenced me. I learned that it’s better to fly under the radar and not share the details of my life with random strangers. After that incident, I stopped shopping there for a month or so, but finally I went back. I still see Dale, and we are still cordial, but he has never treated me the same even though he is still nice, he looks at me differently.