How To Write An Ice Burg Book Summary

Improved Essays
Looking through the book, there were multiple chapters that caught my attention. Each topic discussed in the book is important for all teachers to learn, understand, and implement into their education careers. The first chapter that I felt stuck out to me was chapter 3, Cross- Cultural Understanding in Academic Settings. I chose this chapter because a typical classroom is full of diversity. There can be a mix of 1 to 10 plus different cultures in a single class. Therefore, teachers need to understand how to teach and interact with students with different cultural backgrounds. After reading, I have come to fully understand the ice-burg metaphor used to describe culture. Each culture around the globe has customs that are known by most people. This is the surface of the ice burg where 1/10 a culture is visible to all. Going beneath the surface is where the deep values and beliefs are imbedded into the individual/ culture. As an educator, we learn about different cultures and their practices, but do not see the student life behind closed doors. Based off the example from the book, a simple “ok” gesture was interpreted three different ways in a single classroom. As a teacher, we need to make sure we learn about each student and their values and cultural beliefs. We need to dig deeper to gather more information than the 1/10th displayed by a culture. In doing so, we can limit student offenses and ensure a positive learning environment for all. I learned from this chapter to watch how I teach a lesson/ class via academic language, body gestures, and non-verbal communications. All these aspects differ from culture to culture. It is my job to ensure my students feel safe and respected at all times. This is why I have chosen this chapter. Reflecting on what I have read in this section, I made multiple connections to previous knowledge and experiences I have witnessed at my internship this semester. In my fourth grade class, I was surrounded by diverse students. I have never seen such a diverse group like this one in any other internship I’ve had thus far. In reading this chapter, my teaching strategies …show more content…
As an educator you need to be aware of student cultures and home life. In learning about the multiple cultures in your classroom, beyond the tip of the ice burg, you can create lessons that are more fun and engaging to all students. In incorporating cultures and lesson, you are creating a positive environment, expanding student knowledge, and allowing those students from said culture to be the star in assisting the lesson. Living in American and only knowing the American school system, I was not aware of how different schools were around the world. I knew that there were specific differences based on location, economic status, and student populations, but I believed teaching was about the same across the board. The book use the term “Americanized” and I believe teachers should broaden their teaching styles beyond our social norm. America is known as the melting pot for being a mixture of cultures, so why not teach using multiple culture strategies. I would like to venture out beyond the “American” style teaching. Each classroom is full of diversity and so should my lessons. This is how I plan on using and incorporating this information from the book into my future educational

Related Documents

  • Decent Essays

    This book did not really hit home for me until I went to Cesar Chaves Elementary School. I saw first hand how evident these ideas of “playing school” and holding students back from expressing their cultural identity. This belittles the student in the classroom, telling them that their culture is not as important as “white culture” creating a bigger divide between students and the administration team of schools. To help bridge that gap, students should have a safe place to practice their first learned language in some way in the classroom.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A. As an educator it is important that we encourage all the children to explore and value different cultures. The aim is to create an environment where their beliefs and values are respected as this helps children and families feel welcomed in a safe and supported environment. It’s important to discuss differences rather than pretending they do not exist. Educators need to role model the appropriate attitude when it comes to children with different cultural backgrounds as this can nurture a sense of belonging in all children.…

    • 366 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Zhao summarizes the chapters with a somewhat simple solution, “In order for America to compete in a global society American needs to be more American”. He again references the fact that this a mindset changes away from centralized policies that include sameness among all educational institutions. Because of this Zhao states we are seeing more teachers teach to the test because of the high stakes involved with standardized testing. To expand our diversity, we have to step away from emphasizing the importance of success in the areas of math and reading. The shift to a more personalized learning educational plan is what Dr. Zhao supports.…

    • 1902 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    However, this class and readings and videos such as, Bell Hook’s Engaged Pedagogy, The Windows and Mirrors of your Child’s Bookshelf by Grace Lin, Geneva Gay’s Culturally Responsive Teaching, changed the way I thought about teaching, opened up my mind to new teaching techniques and have allowed me to constantly reflect on myself…

    • 628 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to the Journal of Teacher Preparing for Culturally Responsive Teaching by Geneva Gay, it states, . Culturally responsive teaching is important because when teaching students literacy who have a different culture other than the dominant American culture, because a teacher has to be able to teach them new things based on their knowledge of what they know about their own cultureEffective culturally responsive teaching for literacy is different from ESL or ELL instruction because ESL instruction focuses on teaching children English because the country that they lived in did not speak it. ELL instruction focuses on helping children to properly pronounce words in English because it is not their native language, that way they will be able…

    • 643 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Another way of teaching that I found very interesting was how Anita Moultrie would teach her student of their own culture and she would tell them she loved them all and that she had faith in them. This could fulfill the student of hope and motivate them to try their best in school and pursue…

    • 1605 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The situation in difference countries are different, and so are the environments for education. Some schools in the U.S., London, and Canada have nice classrooms, desks, chairs, and black/white boards for teachers and students; other schools in other countries do not have most of the learning material listed above. The big difference in the looks of difference schools allows the audience to compare the learning environment of the students, provide help, and appreciate the materials provided for students. Education is very important, and the ones who have access to it should appreciate it because there are more people who want the opportunity to learn than the ones who have the…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Annotated Bibliography

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages

    ADMPS 2106-1020(Wed) Ekaterina Kovaleva Annotated Bibliography Garton B (2000) Recruitment of Teachers for International Education. In: Hayden M and Thompson J (eds) International Schools and International Education: Improving Teaching, Management and Quality.…

    • 497 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If students of different nations are taught the same knowledge, they might lack different cultural knowledge. For my personal experience, one time my friend, who came from North part of China, asked me a geographical problem about the South part of China where I was born and educated. I didn’t know what is the answer about this question. Because of my school education, we learned the same knowledge from the book, but our teacher didn’t teach the special knowledge about the place where we live. Thus, depending on different regions and nations; different students’ cognitive abilities is different, so that teachers need to follow the textbook for create particular knowledge for each…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Diversity In Schools

    • 1832 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Ladson-Billings writes that culturally relevant teaching is much more in depth than just adapting school culture to the culture of the students. In reality, it can also be used to help the students understand their own culture and to help them interpret and conceptualize knowledge (Ladson-Billings, 1992). For this to work and be effective, minority cultures must be acknowledged as a vital strength and asset instead of just adapting the white Caucasian to fit the needs of all minorities (Ladson-Billings, 1992). Teachers must also recognize that culturally relevant teaching addresses the needs of minorities as a whole instead of individual empowerment (Ladson-Billings,…

    • 1832 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    At some point, students will be faced with different cultures and the more exposure to the unknown the more acceptance that will be created. However, a culturally responsive classroom is created through a school and teachers who want to make a difference in their students’…

    • 960 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cultural Autobiography

    • 1277 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Also since I come from a family that is so close and rely on each other, I could instill that in to my classroom. Having everyone working as a unit and not just my classroom, but the teachers that I might work with. I believe that my culture could help better reach my students, because my culture would be similar to the students that I teach. I hope that the students can see or I can tell them that I come from a background of Cherokee Indians and this could be an ice breaker to get them to research their culture and heritage. I hope to utilize my culture to better reach my students by being able to form close bonds with my students, like my family and also being able to make games be competitive and make learning…

    • 1277 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    One complaint I have heard from numerous teachers in my school is that they must teach a simplified version of the subject matter to make the course passable for the largest number of students. Based on what I have read in the article, Asian teachers present information that is slightly too difficult so that their students have something to work for. This may seem like an insignificant detail, but I believe it highlights a huge cultural difference. Sometimes in the US we focus so much on wanting everyone to succeed that we make it too easy for them to do so. Everyone should have the opportunity to succeed, but that does not mean spoon-feeding people throughout their…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Introduction My two weeks of practicum experience were, frankly, not what I anticipated, and what I would even describe as a culture shock. However, my participation was overwhelmingly positive. For, I had many presumptions about what teaching looked like pragmatically in the classroom, but I was blown away by the many facets that I have learned about during my first stint as a student teacher. There are two overarching themes that were prominent during my practicum observations: diversity and inclusion and school culture. I will be referring to my placements as School A, an elementary school, and School B, a junior high, throughout my paper.…

    • 1407 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today’s society culture and the lifestyle of one’s self varies among each individual. Across the world there are different types of cultures, each identifying a person in a unique way. This culture diversity is defined as a way to differentiate among many other existing cultures based off many factors. Culture diversity in America is defined as a great contribution to society. Diversity itself enriches the world with many multinational cultures and customs that each individual contributes to society.…

    • 792 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays

Related Topics