1. Book List on Positive Personal and Cultural Identity for Kindergarten Students, EDLL 3100

For EDLL last semester, I compiled a list of books for kindergarten that focused on positive personal and cultural identity, since that is an area of great interest to me and fits my teaching philosophy quite well. As a future teacher of colour that is constantly influenced by culture and tradition, I ended up picking books that reflected similar experiences to mine. Almost on purpose, my list ended up being all about kids of colour or minority students that struggled with their identity but eventually came to love and be proud of who they are, which is something I can definitely relate to.

Booklist-EDLL

One of my goals as a future teacher is to provide students with books and stories that represent their culture and identity, as well as makes them feel accepted and included in my class.

In the picture, I can be seen holding my little sibling and wearing the traditional dress of Panama with a smile on my face. I like to believe I was feeling happy and proud of my culture when the picture was taken, which are emotions that I hope to always convey to my students in my future classroom.

2. Critical Personal Biography of Schooling, EDEF 3100

The Critical Personal Biography of Schooling assignment got me to reflect on my educational journey and how certain aspects of my identity have influenced me to do the career I am doing today. It was interesting to see that some of my educational philosophies and goals came as a result of my ethnicity, which had shaped me into a person that is academically-driven and passionate about representation, education, and inclusion.

Music has always been a big influence in my life, so I made a playlist to accompany my paper with songs that express how I feel about my culture and home, as well as added one song for each paragraph of my critical personal biography of schooling.

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3. EDCO Daily Reflections, EDCO 3100

When we had EDCO last semester, we were asked to write down things we learned or appreciated about EDCO and the topics discussed there. Through that assignment, I got the opportunity to introduce myself, reflect on my educational influences, learn lots about Indigenizing a classroom and my educational goals. Looking back at it, it is interesting to see how some of my beliefs on education have grown and changed but still hold the same focus on socio-emotional wellbeing and positive personal identity.

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