What I learned, or rather refreshed my memory of, after reading this chapter, was what diversity really means. When one first hears or reads the word "diversity" we often think about culture. This IS a major aspect of diversity, but there are so many other components to this idea. Diversity is a difference in culture, race, gender, socioeconomics, etc., but it also includes our background knowledge, our social interaction ability, and much more. As teachers, we have to be aware of these differences and try to understand them as best we can, so that we can teach to the individual student, rather than a class as one unit.
When reading about assimilation vs. acculturation, I tried to create a connection to myself. When I think of the idea of assimilating, to me it means to give up, or abandon, what you have always known and then create a "new you". Acculturation is keeping who and what you were and trying to find a place in the new environment. When I think about connecting to this, I consider what happens when one accepts a new job, or joins a new group. That person who is new to the group has to make a decision, "Do I change my ways so that I fit in?" or "Do I stay who I am and try to find my role?" Maybe that is a stretch for an adult to consider. I know for a fact though, that students, especially middle school students struggle with this thought A LOT. They ask themselves if they want to follow the crowd and 'fit in' or forge their own path and stay true to who they are while trying to find their role in school/society.
Out of all of the statistics shared within the first chapter, the demographics within each school I found most interesting. Not that the location of numbers were unpredictable, but because of the numbers themselves. I understand that the more populous states would have more students, but the difference between those states and the smaller populous states was intriguing. With that being said...
Ch. 1 Question: How do teachers prepare and teach larger class sizes? Not only the size, but the amount of diversity within those classrooms.
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