School "Diversity" Celebration?

Culture Fair.  Multicultural Night.  Diversity Celebration.  Every school has one, I'm sure.  It's a night that is put together by the PTA, when the community gets together, everyone brings food from their own ethnicity, and kids sing songs of peace or sing songs in other languages.  Kumbaya, right?  Hmmm....

This year, our school's "Diversity Celebration" was cancelled due to the snow.  As we are looking to reschedule, one of my colleagues sent an email out to the staff addressing this celebration.  This colleague is also Filipino, and she asked the question, "What is a Diversity Celebration?" I'm usually not one to chime in on race/ethnic/cultural sensitivity talk, but just that single question really got me thinking.  And throughout my thought process, I've realized that 1) it's actually more important to me than I thought, and 2) it's a much deeper issue than we make it out to be.

At surface level, some sort of cultural celebration seems great.  We all think that a diversity celebration is a great way to get to know the different cultures in our community.  We all think the kids are learning about how important it is to accept each other's differences.  We all think we are learning about each other.  But are we really?  Let's get past the surface.  Here's what I find as I dig a little deeper.

These days, diversity and inclusion in a school is an expectation, just like homework and attendance are expectations.  Just like how at home, keeping the dishes clean is an expectation.  Are you going to invite people over and have a couple of drinks because somebody at home washed the dishes?  Everyone else who lives at home acknowledges and appreciates that the dishes are clean, but a whole celebration is unnecessary.  Now, say you didn't wash the dishes for a whole year, and finally you washed the dishes, so you had a big celebration for it.  What would your friends and family think?  Weird, right?  Why?  Because common knowledge assumes that washing dishes is expected and to have a celebration for it is just kind of bizarre. So, let's apply that same concept to diversity as an expectation.  If we are teaching each other about the value of diversity in little ways each day, the children and community can acknowledge and appreciate it, and having a whole night dedicated to celebrating it is unnecessary.  If we don't teach about diversity every day and then finally have some sort of celebration, we are doing ourselves a huge disservice and giving ourselves a false sense of celebration.

Furthermore, what message does a diversity celebration send?  Is it like a "Yay!  We have people of color at our school!"?  or "Let's try this food.  It's different."  As a person of color myself, these messages feel more isolating than inclusive.  It's sending an "us vs. them" message.  Frankly, we cannot learn about each other as people through food and song.  It's just too superficial.  Also, past attendance has shown that during the night celebrations, there is less diversity as many families cannot attend.  So, these lead to my essential questions:

1.  What is diversity?
2.  What are we celebrating?  Why?
3.  Who is it for?

Question 3 is interesting.  As I was having this diversity conversation with another colleague, a white man, he said, "Well, Cat... Have you ever read Sh*t That White People Like?  It's just a list of what white people like, and diversity is one of them.  It makes us feel good."  This is a guy who keeps it real.  He has lived in different parts of the world, married a Japanese-American, and I feel good about going to him about this stuff because he keeps it real.  I approached another colleague, a black man who also keeps it real, married to a bi-racial woman, and he shared that he has always felt kind of uneasy about a diversity night.  "Notice how I've never gone?" he asked.  He went on to say, "I'm not going to tell them to not have it."  Alright, fair.

So, is the idea of a diversity night backfiring?  Assuming that diversity night is to celebrate the diverse group of people in our community, but is not reaching out to everyone, is it truly diverse?

Really, I could continue on, but don't want to be overbearing.  Like I said, I didn't realize it was this important to me.  Maybe it's because I'm meeting the expectation everyday, so a celebration seems unnecessary.  Maybe it's time to look at our curriculum and classroom structures and ask ourselves "How am I reaching the diversity expectation every day?"

Vote for Ardon and Give to Charity

Ardon just entered a remix contest.  He revamped a song called All Around the World by Theophilus London.  The remix that gets the most votes wins $1500, and if Ardon wins the grand prize he wants to give 100% of the proceeds to a Charity: Water.  To learn more about Charity: Water, go to http://www.charitywater.org/, and don't forget to check out Ardon's remix and vote for him.  Visit his blog and get more details at http://waystyles.tumblr.com/.

I'm Not Not Frugal

A few months ago, I posted about whether eating in or out is more econoic for me.  The debate has been running through my head for years, yet I continue to eat out meal after meal.  I'll cook a meal at home every now and again, but for the most part my meals have been prepared by somebody else and served warm right to my table, ready for me to dig in.  I haven't been sure how it works out for my wallet.

Surfing the web, I came across this piece.  This makes me (and my wallet) feel a bit better.

Eating IN v. Eating OUT

Antique Bathroom Update

As the city thaws out, the cabin fever is slowly going away.  But all the home ideas that have been spinning through my head all snowy week long still linger.  My bathroom in particular has been haunting me since I've moved into my condo 3, almost 4, years ago.  After spending so much time snowed in and looking for inspiration, I finally found my bathroom style.  Well, after spending so much time researching home decor, I realized how much little accessories can add up.  Even little prints and picture frames can get so expensive.  So in order to get my bathroom decor fix, I had to get off the computer and actually start digging.  I hit up the antique store across the street on Westlake and Republican and just started looking around for whatever art they had.  I knew that whatever I found would be authentic and unique.  It took two trips.  I went yesterday by myself, found some good stuff and slept on it.  I went again today with Tin and G to get a second and third opinion, because I didn't want my bathroom to continue haunting me.  After playing around with a couple of pieces, I cashed out.  Lucky me, all the pieces I purchased were 50% off, so not only were they beautiful, authentic, and unique, they were super inexpensive!  I'm always down for a good deal, but this was really a steal.  Now the bathroom that has haunted me has turned into my little urban oasis.

Before:  "Let there be Peace."  Blah.  Yeah, great message, but I have no idea why I bought this.  Well, actually it was $9, so I thought I'd go for it. When I put it in my bathroom, it wasn't what I expected it to be, but I kept it anyway.  It was better than having an empty wall.

During:  I used my paper grocery bags to outline the frames so I could manipulate them on the wall.  Heavens knows how many holes I would have made in that poor wall had I not done this.  You should see my other walls.  Yikes.

After:  Voila!  So glad to have an antique shop across the street, where I bought the 4 larger frames.  I wanted to play off the blue wall color.  After putting the 4 frames together,  I felt like I needed a 5th one. I just so happened to have an extra black frame and a picture I had taken in Hawaii, with the clear blue water.  That became my 5th frame, which seems to go pretty well with the other four.  Best of all, it was free! 

Here's what it looks like as a whole bathroom.  Quite honestly, sometimes I feel like I don't know what I'm doing when it comes to style.  I just know what I like, and sometimes it takes a while for an idea to transfer and come to life.  This wasn't exactly my vision, but I'm really pleased with the way it all turned out.  I'm especially excited that I was able to find these particular pieces, and that I didn't have to spend big at a big box store.  I like that each piece has unique charm and character, and they all look like there's a real story behind them.  And it was all very budget friendly.  Big impact for little cost.  What's better than that?  There's still quite a bit of wall left, so I may just add on if anything else catches my eye.

2012 Deep Freeze Day 2

The snow angel I made in the parking lot across the street.

Cabin Fever symptoms Day 2:

• Flipped and rotated my couch cushions.
• Re-arranged my closet.
• Organized my mail.
• Organized the refrigerator.  (That was when I realized I REALLY hit rock bottom.)
• Shopped online for new home decor and made a few purchases.  
• Ardon came back, and I was so excited!
• Scraped the layers of ice and snow off my poor car that hadn't been driven in 2 days.
• Ardon and I drove around the block.
• Ardon and I took a long walk around the city.
• Made grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Out of the entire week, I'd gone to work for 2 hours.  I'm so glad the worst is over.  Now the news is warning us of urban flooding.  The snow is melting and the rain is coming down.  Yikes.

2012 Deep Freeze

9th and Harrison, South Lake Union, Seattle

School was out today "due to inclement weather conditions."  Stuff has been coming down from the sky all day long--snow, rain, big flakes, small flakes, snow/rain mix, or freezing rain.  On top of that, we have been in freezing temps all day long, so it's sticking and turning to ice (which also means that school is out tomorrow as well.  I'm certainly not complaining.).

Ardon stayed the night at the hospital last night, and is stuck there again tonight, so I've been home alone all day long.  Actually, G, Devan, and Jasmine picked me up earlier this morning in G's Subaru and we muscled the car through the snow to have brunch at CJ's.  We were determined.  After that, we all went home again since it was really starting to come down, and we didn't want to get stuck anywhere.  I've been home by myself ever since. It's kind of funny how I suddenly become much more domestic when I'm stuck at home.  I have been quite busy today just doing things around the house.  I am feeling major cabin fever, and here are my symptoms:

1.  Hung up new picture frames on the wall.
2.  Re-arranged some home decor.
3.  6 loads of laundry washed, dried, and folded.
4.  Hand washed the dishes.  (I know, right?)
5.  Started packing for the Philippines trip, which is in a month.
6.  Dusted off my snow boots, bundled up, and walked 4 snowy blocks to the grocery store.
7.  Cooked chicken adobo.

Ironic how on a day with nothing to do, I get everything done!  By tomorrow, I'm sure the symptoms will be much worse.

Ch-ch-ch-CHIA!

In preparation for my first half-marathon (it's not until June, but you know. . . ), I've been reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall.  It's about the author's quest to find the secrets to eternal running.  He is fascinated by the Tarahumara people of the Copper Canyon of Mexico because of their endless ability to run far and long distances.  He sets out to find the Tarahumara to learn more about their culture and what it takes to be such amazing runners.  One day, while in the Copper Canyon, McDougall begins to tire from a long day of foot travel in the heat, even with more trekking to go.  A native notices his exhaustion and offers him a drink that they call iskiate to boost his energy.  McDougall describes this drink as "home-brewed Red Bull."  He later learns that it's also known as chia fresca, or "chilly chia."  It's a drink made of chia seeds, water, sugar, and lime.  And after downing the iskiate, he felt completely rejuvenated with enough energy to go much further.  Sounds like a magic potion, right? I was inspired to go on my own little quest to finding these chia seeds.

Apparently chia seeds are packed with lots of nutrients to help energize the body.  McDougall writes that "a tablespoon of chia is like a smoothie made from salmon, spinach, and human growth hormone."  He goes on to describe all the different nutrients that are in chia seeds.  As I continued to read, I just kept thinking, "I gotta get a hold of these chia seeds!" Now this is all new to me, but of course these little seeds have been around forever.  They sell them by the package on Amazon, you can buy packs at certain grocery stores, and, yes, they're also used to grow "pets."

I was at the Thriftway down the street from my school in West Seattle, and I walked over to the refrigerated shelf to grab a Perrier, and I caught a glimpse of these bottles labeled Mamma Chia.  I looked closer and I could see little seeds floating in the bottle.  I thought, "No way!  Did I just find the magic potion?!  Can I, too, be a Tarahumara?!"  I forgot about the Perrier, and reached for the Mamma Chia instead.  I turned the bottle around and read the label.  Eureka! I cashed out, brought it home, and saved it for the next day.  Morning came, and rather than stopping at Starbucks on the way to work, I popped open the Mamma Chia bottle.  I drank half the bottle during breakfast, and saved the last half for lunch.  I must admit, I was feeling good!  My energy level was up, my mind was clear, I wasn't shaky, and I didn't crash.  Nor did I get a caffeine withdrawal headache, which I was really afraid of, so I was really glad to not get one.  Did I mention that they taste great?!  Before taking a sip, I didn't really know what to expect.  Was it going to taste like medicine, or have more of an earthy taste?  Will they be crunchy, or hard to swallow, or what?  It turns out that the drink is totally delicious (especially the raspberry passion flavor) and the seeds go down really easily, kind of like strawberry seeds when eating strawberries.  They just add a little bit of texture.

I've been drinking Mamma Chia for the last 2 days and have felt really good both days.  As a matter of fact, I've got a bottle right next to me right now.  I'm fueling up before I go to the gym (22 weeks before the big run!).  For any runners out there, be a Tarahumara and get a hold of the iskiate.  It's all about the Mamma Chia.

Talagang Pinoy!

 Got these little Tagalog tees for the kiddos.  I couldn't help myself.  There were so many others that I wanted to get them, but I didn't want to go crazy.  These were my top 4. 

Isaac:  Kuya means big brother

Mia:  Maganda means beautiful

Xavier:  Pogi means handsome

Roman:  Bunso means last born.

Here they are!  Goodness, aren't they just so stinkin' cute?  Ay sus!

Writing About Reading

The great thing about having a whole bunch of smart family members in the education field is the abundance of resources that we have amongst each other.  My sister Tin and I have had many many conversations about teaching literacy.  Over the summer, I shared with her that one of my goals for this school year was to get the kiddos better at writing about their reading.  She recommended this book Notebook Connections by Aimee Buckner.  It's all about getting children to think critically about the books they read, and writing down their thoughts.  After reading it by the pool in Vegas in July, I was really inspired to go into my classroom and teach them these different strategies right from the start of the school year, so we could build good notebook habits.  Unfortunately, my school didn't have the kind of spiral bound notebooks I preferred (I know, I'm picky!), so we had to put an order in, and it took until November for them to arrive.  

Now that I've started to implement these strategies into their reading time, the quality of their journal writing has shown good progress, and it's only been a little more than a month!  Reading is such an abstract skill.  It's not like writing and math where we can see exactly all that we know.  Having the children journal about their reading has helped turn reading from abstract to concrete.  The strategies that I've learned from the book and used in the classroom have allowed the children and I to actually SEE what the children know about their books, and how we can challenge them to dig deeper.   In addition, they really ENJOY taking time to journal about their reading. 

For any reading teacher out there, I highly recommend this book.  It's an easy read, with high leverage strategies.  Get the kiddos writing about their reading and watch them take off!