Jeffrey's Book Report

Beacon Hill Boys by Ken Mochizuki 

The book is about a Asian boy in Seattle named Dan trying to find his identity in the world. He is trying to not be like his perfect brother in life and does not want to be known as the Asian in class. Dan and his friends are all trying to be their own person and not be invisible in school. They all are trying to find themselves in different ways. When Dan is looking into the past and the internment camps that his parents were in, his parents will not talk about the camps at all. Dan's dad's motto is "The nail that sticks out the highest will get hit the hardest." Dan does not want to sit back and take it from everyone. He wants to go out and become his own person.

Sarah's Book Report

Ten Things I Hate About Me by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Jamie or Jamilah is a high school girl living in Australia with her father, brother and sister. At school, she is Jamie the blonde haired, blue-eyed girl in the “almost popular” group and the girl the most popular guy in school has a crush on. Once she leaves school though, she is Jamilah a Lebanese-Muslim girl who has dyed her brown locks out of rebellion, wears blue contacts to look cool and must abide by her father’s strict Curfew Charter that is hanging on the fridge that includes never hanging out with guys outside of school or family supervision. Jamie cannot talk to anyone about her double-life until she meets a boy named John on the internet who is leading a double life elsewhere in Australia. Jamie tells John all about her struggles to balance her Lebanese culture and her identity at school. John also becomes the person she turns to as her double lives become more and more complicated to keep separate and seem to be heading for a collision!

Heather's Book Report

An Ocean Apart, a World Away by Lensey Namioka

An Ocean Apart, a World Away by Lensey Namioka follows the story of a Chinese girl named Xueyan, better known as Yanyan. Yanyan has been taught in an American missionary school, and she longs to learn more about Western and traditional Chinese medicine. One day, she dreams of becoming a doctor. Yanyan has no interest in marrying until she meets Liang Baoshu, a friend of her eldest brother. However, Baoshu turns out to be involved in a plot to overthrow the Chinese government. He asks Yanyan to run away with him, but she chooses to pursue her plans to become a doctor instead. She enrolls in an American university and struggles to adapt to the various culture changes. In the end, Baoshu comes to America in an attempt to change her mind, but Yanyan is unrelenting and chooses to remain in the United States.

Suggested Teaching Strategies

Teaching Strategy #1: Rethink the Asian American's Silence

Silence can mean numerous things from a student. It could mean: resistance to teachers, lack of understanding of concepts, thoughtful engagement, concept consideration, insecurity in speaking English, insecurity in their grasp of understanding content and many others. A teacher must decipher the reason behind the silence by interacting with the students individually.

Teaching Strategy #2: Highlight ways Asian American's challenge racism and stereotypes

A teacher must stand against the Asian stereotypes of them being convenience store owners, terrorists, kung fu fighting mobsters, super-nerds, and having submissive women. To do this a teacher can introduce the entire class to examples of organizations and people who defy the stereotypes. By giving these examples, a teacher will show all students how they can be proactive in challenging the issues that are affecting their communities and demonstrates to them that they do not need to be silent as the stereotype specifies.

Teaching Strategy #3: Do Not Automatically Assume Asian Americans are "Good" Students

A teacher must personally get to know all of her students and should not accept stereotypes. By researching, visiting their communities, or many other things, a teacher can get to know their students on a deeper level and therefore better understand them. Another way to better get to know Asian American students is to ask them to reflect and write about their home lives and experiences and how that intersects with their school lives. By not automatically assuming all Asian Americans are "good" students, you will also help students get over their feelings of pressure to do well in school. By getting rid of the pressure students will be able to reach a higher and deeper potential than possible before.


Strategies taken from Rethinking Multicultural Education in the chapter "You're Asian. How Could You Fail Math?" on pages 213- 215.

Artwork #2

This is a brush painting by Chinese artist Qi Baishi. This work was done in 1950, and is entitled "Tallow Trees and Mynas." The tree painted here is the Chinese tallow tree, which is found all over in the villages of South China. The two myna birds are an expression of the artist's longing for the home of his youth. We chose this piece because it is a well-know form of Chinese art, and it illustrates life in southern China.

Description of Learners

Asian learners are diverse within themselves.

• There are over 4 billion Asian Americans.
• They come from many different countries.
• There are over 50 ways to qualify as an Asian American according to the U.S. government.

Asian American learners are diverse in their economic class.

• Working Class - They have longer hours, lower pay, and lower education. These students generally perform below average.
• Middle Class - Mothers have more time, resources, and education to help their children do well in school.

Asians make more income per household than the average American. However, the per person income is lower, making them poorer in general and more at risk.

• Asian Americans also tend to live in more expensive places, so their money gets spent quickly.

Asian Americans often have to struggle with the racist expectations put on them to do well.
Some of them follow the "white" educational pathway, while others follow a "black" or "latino" pathway.
Some will learn English and "go places," while others grow up in English, but later drop out.

Example of Music #2

This is a song entitle Arirang, that is is traditional Korean folk song.  There are many versions of this song, but they are all very similar.  The song tells the story of a sad young woman who hopes that her departing lover will get sore feet and return to her.  We chose this song because it is the most popular of all Korean songs, and is sometimes even considered the unofficial national anthem.