When it comes to who and how we choose to represent different cultures and communities in our classroom, we need to make sure we are bringing in something from everyone’s background or potential background. We set the tone of our room, and when we are reading different books throughout the year, if our students don’t see themselves or their families represented in our classroom, they are going to feel unseen. This is something I feel so passionately about as a future teacher because I had a teacher who made sure I felt seen. When I was in fourth grade, my class was researching different Indigenous groups in BC when I went to pick a group from the list, I didn’t see my heritage on the list because I am Metis, and BC is only our chosen lands, and traditionally live more in the parries of Canada. I went to my teacher and asked if I could research Metis culture instead, because to me that was more meaningful and allowed me to feel seen. Now, for the teacher, this could mean maybe going against what she normally did and maybe even more work for her so she could find good resources for me and make sure she was informed so she could help guide me, but she chose to let me anyway because she knew the importance of allowing me to feel seen in my classroom. I have personally experienced what it is like to feel seen in my own culture by my teacher so I am so excited to give that experience to my own students one day.

This is something I have already started thinking about after hearing about the terms Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors by Rudine Sims Bishop. I was really moved and I went home o look through my own collecion of books to see who so far would feel represented in my little library I am starting to develop for my future students. I realized I have choosen books that mainly reflect me with with the main character(s) being either white or Metis. This was something I realized I wanted to change so I started looking for books that were either mirrors, windows, or sliding glass doors for other students in my room. I ended up finding some amazing books.

The first one was in class called Julián Is a Mermaid by Jessica Love. It is a great book that is a mirror for students who are a part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and are exploring their identity and are looking to feel welcomed and accepted by family.

Sulwe by Lupita Nyong’o is a great book that is a mirror for students who are of colour and are struggling with finding their beauty in it.

And Tango Makes Three by Justin Richardson & Peter Parnell is a great window for students to see the representation of a 2SLGBTQIA+ family that looks different from what kids think of as “normal”.

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi is a powerful book that gives students a window into what it can be like for BIPOC students, specifically in this story, a student with Korean ancestry in school. It shows students that even if something from your culture is hard for someone else, it doesn’t mean that you need to change it to make it easier for them.

Lastly, a book that is a great sliding glass door for students is Last Stop on Market Street by Matt de la Peña. As a boy rides the bus with his grandmother through the city, you think about things like class awareness, urban life, and gratefulness. This allows students to practice perspective-taking while we listen to the story.

All of these books are so amazing, and this is just the surface. When it comes to creating a class library, we often think that the most important part is to offer diversity in the reading levels we offer, but who is represented in the library is just as important. Not only do we support our students when we purchase these books, but we also get to support the communities they are a part of. I cannot wait to have my own class library, especially now that I am more aware of what I want to bring into it and what biases I might have when creating it. When people talk about diversity, we often call it a melting pot, but I don’t think that’s right because that would mean it all becomes one culture. I think it is a beautiful, colourful mosaic, everyone has their place, the colours complement each other, but in the end they are still their own piece that is unique and beautiful.