What is Diversity in 2011?

     I recently had an assignment where I had to read an article titled "Rethinking Diversity". There were questions that we had to answer to go along with the article as well. However, after skimming over the 1st couple of questions I realized I didn't need to read the article to answer the questions from my personal point of view. As a future teacher & present mom, I feel that diversity is very important for our society to understand, talk about, and dissect. I believe that individually we need to ask ourselves, "what does the word diversity mean to me? We may be shocked by our own answer(s) or lack thereof.  I had to share this awakening on my Facebook page and get the thoughts of others, which was interesting to say the least.  I feel that most people associate "diversity" with race or ethnicity automatically.  I disagree with this idea, solely because the word diverse has a connotation that means so much more.  Diversity includes a sea of differences in the human race from cultural to educational barriers. It is much more than an odd face or language in a crowd. As a future teacher,  I am looking forward to having many diverse students so that I can find ways to make them feel appreciated and included, without feeling like an outcast or make them accommodate to the 'norm' just because others are uncomfortable with their differences.  I look forward to the learning challenges of the diversity within my very own classroom.