Explore your own Cultural Background

To complete this assignment successfully, you should:

1. Read the assignment carefully
2. Complete the activity as outlined below
3. Open and study the links
4. Complete the search as outlined

This web activity will provide you with an approach to explore your own students' cultural background which will help you to understand your students' perspectives and to create a more culturally responsive educational environment. As you explore your own culture, begin to reflect on your personal cultural history…what you did as a child….what you did with your grandparents….your first day at school….how you saw the world…family.

1. Explore your own ethnicity, your cultural background. Conduct a search on the World Wide Web to learn more about your own culture. All of us not native to the Americas immigrated to these continents. Since the United States of America is a multicultural society there is not one ethnic group that can represent this nation. If you are American-born, please do not refer to yourself culturally as an "American" for this web activity; instead search for the cultures of your family that immigrated to the USA from other countries (e.g., Irish, Armenian, Apache, African, Mexican). If you are of German descent, for example, then you might want to visit German culture websites not only in Germany but also in this country! If you are indigenous to the Americas, then visit websites using your specific culture in the search, e.g., Navajo, Aztec, Seneca.

The following are some suggested sites I have reviewed. But there are many others. Some are very political and some are very historical.

Chicano Culture

African American Culture

Italian American Culture

Navajo Culture

English Culture

Mexican Culture

Go into the VCC "My Cultural Background" and post at least four sites that you have visited on the web, and then write a very short commentary on the new things that you learned about your own culture.

After posting your comments, return to the VCC later (wait two to three days) and read and comment on the responses posted by your classmates for this activity. Please write comments to the responses of at least two of your classmates.

Go on to Tell the kids your Story
or
Go back to What is Culture - Part 2