Diversity in the Classroom-Melanie

I would learn about the diversity in the classroom and get to know my students from multiple perspectives by encouraging my students to bring their individuality and unique culture into the classroom. I particularly like Wheeler & Swords article, as it discusses the incorporation of varied dialects into the classroom. Language is a strong representation of culture, and I want my students to take pride in their cultural ties/beliefs. I'll encourage them to share and elaborate upon their individuality through culture-based activities, a diverse book collection, and by sharing my own roots as well. I think including a great range of books is especially important to obtain diversity in the classroom. I want to read books that cause students to recognize or question other's culture. These books will certainly include different dialects, and to enhance the language of certain groups, I think it'd be great to have a guest speaker (who partakes in a certain dialect) to share this book with the students.  I also don't want students to believe that there is a such thing as "standard english," because in my opinion, that term is offensive (it makes other dialects sound like sub-categories/inferior). I want my students to take pride in who they are, where they're from, and what they value. I plan to create an accepting classroom environment as the first step in establishing this notion.