TE448 Final Class Posting

Looking back over what I have read and critiqued this semester, I am surprised to see how I am now able to question diverse literature thoroughly. Before I took this class, I was apprehensive to discuss most of the diverse literature topics that we have covered in this class. I was afraid of issues of stereotypes and other "difficult" topics to arise in my classes in the future as a teacher. Now, I feel much more prepared on how to handle diverse literature in my class and I am much more confident to have them in my classroom library as compared to how I initially (and guiltily) was kind of hoping to push these important issues to the back burner. This class has really opened my eyes to a new world of literature and has shown me the importance of the teaching of these topics. The more that these topics are underrepresented, the more children are apt to believing stereotypes. I hope to alleviate and battle issues of stereotypes and prejudice head on as a teacher, and the texts that I have read/discussed in class this semester offer young readers (and even older readers) an inside look at what it's like to be underrepresented in culture.