Maya Angelou- Chapter 1 and 2

For this blog I will discuss the video we saw in class featuring Maya Angelou and Chapters 1 and 2. As always when I see Maya Angelou speak I always feel such admiration for her. After class I came home and re watched the video we saw in class as well as the rest of the videos. I loved that she has such a passion for poetry. During on of the many videos she says that College students should not go through school without learning about great American Literature. She says everybody should read everything. She has such great recommendations about poets. She quoted some of her favorite poems by memory.
Ms. Angelou makes such a connection with poems and really encourages people to read investigate great poems. I love when she quotes Terance saying "I am a human nothing human can be alien to me." Her discussion of this quote puts emphasis on the need for acceptance of humanity. She is ever so encouraging and recommends setting standards high.
Overall I truly love this interview and feel that Maya Angelou is one of the great poets.

Chapter 1- Believing in Living Literature

One key topic for this chapter is living literature. The textbook stresses that good instructors have a environment full of literature. I feel that it is important to not only offer the literature but to also grasp the interest of the students. During our discussion I found that it is very important to stay current and well read on various books and new books that are released. As a future teacher it is important to begin collecting books from all genres. The environment we offer in the classroom should consist of a comfortable inviting environment for all students.


Chapter 2- Culturally responsive classrooms

Teaching in American’s melting pot of culture puts an added responsibility on teachers today. This is a subject that is very important to me. I feel that one of the best ways to expose students to the multiple cultures of the students in the classroom is to have the students share their customs, value and beliefs of their home life. Funds of Knowledge (Moll,1994) expresses the belief that we must know our students better to value the knowledge and abilities that they bring with them to school. Teaching with this belief in mind will ensure that every student feels valued and equal.