Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: I Wish I Were Black! As a teacher of 5th grade students, I try to make sure that my students have a good sense of all the people and cultures that make up this country. Last couple weeks, I paid special attention to the African American people who have made significant contributions to the US. We read a book written by Walter Dean Myers. We have studied scientists, writers, and political figures. Students were very engaged and interested in the content. Yesterday something happened that puzzled me. Three of my White students told me that they wished they were Black. This was not my intention when I planned all my lessons on contributions of African Americans. How should I address this issue? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) If would first ask the students why they wanted to change who they were and what exactly they became engaged and/or interested in that made them want to make this change? Hopefully, these two questions would shed some light as to their thinking process. From there, you could have the students research more about other famous African Americans or more about (or how to become) a scientist, writer, or a political figure depending on their interest.