Diversity rocks the classroom!

It really warms my heart to see teachers and librarians participating in the Diversity Rocks challenge. It's so important for kids to see people in books who look like them--and, for white folks, to see people who don't look like them. Those books may as well not exist if they're not readily available. And by readily available, I don't mean tucked into the shelf among dozens of other books. I mean, the beautiful cover, calling to them when they walk into the classroom. I mean, the teacher reading it aloud with joy. I mean, the librarian holding it up and saying, "Have you seen this one? I read it and it's excellent."

I've been behind on adding new blogs to the sidebar, and so it was just today that I made my way over to CWojtera's blog for her first graders. What I found there just about brought tears to my eyes. You see, Mrs. Wojtera isn't doing the Diversity Rocks challenge by herself. Her whole class is doing it! The first graders are choosing books to read and writing reviews, which you can read on her blog. I've watched her Diversity Rocks poster slide show about a dozen times now. You made my day, Mrs. Wojtera's class!

Check out these other teachers' blogs, too (who did I miss? Let me know and I'll edit to add you):

• Mrs. V. teaches 6th grade. She's got her students started on book clubs already!

• Stella teaches English as a Second Language. She started a cultural festival at her school three years ago and it's become a treasured part of school tradition.

• Cassy is a bilingual teacher who had a great time planning a week-long celebration of the Chinese New Year with her students, and followed it up with a review of China Boy.

• Then we have youth/children's librarians Mary Ann Scheuer and Susan, who are also seeking out great diverse books to share with the kids they see every day.

It's been a tough time for my teacher friends--budget cuts are coming down the pike and that's so disheartening when the kids need every single person and resource available to them and more. Their work should be valued so much more than it is in our culture. So, thank you, teachers and librarians, for all you do to make the world a better place!