I think it is very important what the father said about the teacher. The teacher does have a lot of power in the classroom to set the stage for learning expecially for student of different cultures. The father says what the teacher says and does not say makes a difference. I believe this and want to make my classroom a place where all my students feel comfortable in being themselves. I know that teasing will still go on but I can set the tone of acceptance in my classroom.

i completly agree with you there Sherry. A teacher should realize that accepting everyone is something the children in her classroom should learn and that she should promote. i personally find other cultures extraodinarily interesting. i'm planning on teaching high school spanish, so if i do have kids in my class with different cultural backgrounds, more than likely i will be completly fascinated by it all. i would hope that these kids would be proud of their heritage and promote it, instead of being ashamed of it and hiding behind it. my family is irish and my father is very very proud of it. we still have family over there (my grandmother was born overseas and then moved to the states as a child). st. patricks day has always been a big deal in my family due to its irishness. i recall every year my father would make a big deal out of it. my grandparents would come over and wed all have dinner together (trad. corned beef and cabbage). we weren't allowed to do anything else that night because we had to be with the family. there were definately certain years that i would try to leave after dinner to go hang out with friends and my father would be so offended and wouldnt dare let me go. then when i was 14 i stopped eating all meats except chicken and fish ... that year he had a fit because i refused to eat the corned beef. i used to laugh at it all and was a tad emabarrased that he made such a big deal out of it. though, now i'm damn proud of my heritage. i think its awesome that i still have family in ireland and that my father is so into being irish. today i got a care package from my parents for st. patricks day. it was so cheesily filled with irish style stuff, but it made me so happy that they were my parents. happy st. pattys day guys. don't forget to drink a guiness or harp tonight!