There is a plethora of information on Nikki Grimes; this includes biographical, information, and reviews on her published books to name a few.

• http://www.nikkigrimes.com/

I personally believe that blogging is going great! This provides us with the opportunity to view others thought's and opinions regarding the subject material as well as expressing our own. Also, I am EXTREMELY organized and this is a way for me to keep track of progression through the course. 

The frustrations that come along with blogging are very limited in my case! The biggest one would be remembering to complete assigned post. In the future I can see myself blogging back and forth with parents, students, coworkers, supervisors and family.

Some blogging ideas that I think would enhance our experience is a mini-session on how to spice our blogs up! (ie. pictures, fonts, colors) 

Insider/Outsider Debate

Just like Harris and Sims Bishop, in the article "I Am The Canon: Finding Ourselves In Multiculturalism," I believe that 'insiders' or members of a specific culture/classification should be the ones' to produce this multicultural literature. I do however believe that this literature can be further developed or enhanced with the consent of the author by "outsiders." In class, we discussed the value in presenting our students with accurate information; the question's were posed, "is it better to provide ANY form of  information (just so the group can be represented or accurate information?" It is my opinion that accurate information is the only option. This also leads me to  think about how messed up a story gets when it is told on someone else's behalf. Often time's when a story is passed along, key parts are left out and misstated. Finally, just as in these four articles, author's have different beliefs about what multiculturalism is, what it should represent and who the audience is. Therefore, I personally believe that literature would more reliable if it was written by the population it is  addressing.

My Summer

Hello Class!!!!

I am excited for this semester of coursework. Over the summer I was privileged to work in Charles Wright Academy of Arts and Sciences through the Broad Program. It was through this program that I had the privilege of working in an Autistic classroom. This was by far one of the best things I have done in college. I worked closely with a model teacher and I truly value the art of teaching and I KNOW this is the profession for me. I would encourage EVERYONE to take advantage of this program offered right here at MSU. I also took a few leisure vacations to California, and Florida.