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!) I would sit them down and try to understand why they wish they were black. As the teacher you don't want to spend all of your time paying too much attention to one race. It is a very difficult thing to do. Some may feel you are spending too much time and others may feel that there is not enough time spent on their race. A good solution could be to dedicate a specific time each day or week to discuss and study a particular race, and rotate different races and cultures each time. This would then allow you to give attention to all and not make students wish they were another race.