Hello!

Hi there!

My name is Melanie Bendick and I'm currently a senior at Michigan State University, studying Child Development. I'm specializing in Language Arts, and working towards becoming an elementary teacher. I love working with younger children, primarily grades kindergarten to 3rd grade. I'm very interested in diverse literature because in my classroom one day, I'm going to have many different students with diverse backgrounds. I believe it's important as a teacher to understand diverse literature, as well as have it within their classrooms. This way, many different students can relate to, as well as learn about different cultures. I know when I was younger, I found books that I could relate to and I found stories that I fell in love with. I want other children to have the same positive experience that I did; and by having a diverse, unbiased library collection, I can help many students to open their eyes to the society around them and to have a better understanding of people who they meet.

Some questions I would like to explore within this course is how exactly to pick books which portray cultures accurately, as well as enjoyable for students. I also hope to be able to have more of a critical eye when it comes to looking at diverse literature, and making sure stereotypes aren't seen and cultures are not misrepresented. I'm looking very forward to TE448, and can't wait to learn more!