I was born in Long Island, New York but grew up in North Carolina. I spent my early childhood in Camp Lejeune (a Marine Corps base on the coast) until my family moved to Monroe, North Carolina which is about 30 minutes outside of Charlotte. I moved to Raleigh for school and fell in love with the Triangle area.
I currently teach middle school social studies at the Al-Iman school here in Raleigh. Al-Iman is a private Islamic school and I am the first non-Muslim teacher to be employed at the school in over a decade. I love working at Al-Iman and adore my students. Although I teach social studies, literature has always been a passion of mine and I regularly weave it into my social studies teaching.
One of my favorite books from my childhood was Kevin Henkes' Chrysanthemum. I was an incredibly anxious child who had a tough time connecting with my fellow classmates. I read Chrysanthemum over and over again. At the time, I just thought I liked the cute mice pictures but looking back I see that I could connect to Chrysanthemum. She was having a tough time in school just like I was. That's what makes literature so special. It can helps people in ways they never intended it to.
Kaitlin, I love sharing Chrysanthemum with kids--it does connect to so many issues for children and communicate an important theme. I hope you will share with the class this summer both how you integrate literature in the social studies classroom and literature that reflects your students' Muslim identity.
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