Redo of Cultural Artifacts

Today's culture would suggest that it is impossible to get around without a smartphone. In some areas, they are a sign of wealth and can even be used to determine who is popular in schools. Anywhere you find people, you will most likely find someone actively using a smartphone.
If someone were not from a culture where smartphones are present, this would be a confusing concept to them. They might not understand how a phone can be smart. They would not know that this phone can connect them to the internet, to people thousands of miles away, to ideas and news that are happening across the world.
This is also an important part of culture today because more and more often students are starting to bring smartphones to class. They can be extremely useful, allowing students to find information relevant to a lesson and access resources that they would not have, allowing them to better understand the content of the lesson. However, they can also prove to be a distraction in the classroom as students have access to various apps, social media, and games that might take their focus away from the lesson.

Books are a big part of my family's culture. We are a reading family. We are expected to read and all have developed a love for it as entertainment. It is highly encouraged and is not unlikely to see someone with a book out in my house sometime during the day. Harry Potter was one that my parents read to us when we were younger before we would go to bed. Because of the large audience of this series, in my family and at school in the younger grades, there were a lot of references to these books. People who have not read the books or seen the movies are not likely to understand what a Patronus is or why it might be funny that we are saying my mother needs to cast one to ward off the weird people from our home. My roommate recently came to our house and had never experienced the Harry Potter culture, and was confused because of all the references to Dumbledore and Dobby, the calling of people mudbloods, etc. because they were terms that are really only used within the community that knows about Harry Potter.
This will affect a classroom because language that we learn in books is what will be used in the classroom. We will have references from books or relate things to stories so that it is easier for the students to have context for something that we are learning about.

Family is a large part of Utah culture. People are expected to spend time with their family and have a happy, good family life where everyone gets along. Families consist of a mother, father, and their children. People not from this culture might be confused as to why I, and many others, like to spend a lot of time with family rather than going out with friends all the time. We plan family activities nearly every week. This would be a foreign concept to someone who is not very close with their family or who is unable to spend a lot of time with them due to work or other time commitments. It might be hard for them to understand why someone might choose to spend time with their family rather than going to see a movie or going to a party with friends.
This would be important to a classroom environment because many students will have different kinds of families. Some families will not be as close and may hardly see each other. Some students may have a harder family life because of this and it is something that we as teachers need to be more aware of.


Family dinners are encouraged. Families sit around a dinner table with a homemade meal and eat as they discuss the work or school day. Children eat with good manners (mouths closed when chewing, proper use of utensils) and participate in the discussion when called upon. This may be foreign to other cultures because today many people eat whatever they can find in the house for dinner, and everyone serves themselves. Many families sit on the couch, watching tv as they eat, so the idea of talking about their day might be a foreign concept. Many may not understand how to talk around the dinner table, while being polite and using the correct manners.
This might be important in the classroom because it might show how much of role parents have in the lives of their students. It would give children the opportunity to tell their parents what they learned about in class or tell about what happened on the playground at recess and learn to talk through problems, whereas students who do not have this same support might think it strange that families do this. They may not know what it means to have good manners and it may be something that we have to teach some students.



Music is a large part of people's day. Almost every where you go, you can hear someone's car radio, a speaker, or some building playing music over the loudspeaker. It is nearly impossible to find quiet when out in the city. There is always some form of music. It is entertainment, as well as therapeutic, or even a filler for lack of noise.
Those who do not understand rap culture might find it difficult to understand what is being said in the music. They may not even know what rap music is. Those who do not know what country music is or have an appreciation for that type of culture might have difficulty finding a reason to like the music.
Music culture can affect our classrooms. If we understand the kinds of music students are listening to, we can create parodies and other memory enhancing techniques using lyrics and songs to help students better remember the things that they are learning about. However, we will not be able to reach the students through music if we are using musical genres or styles that are foreign to them.




The LDS temples are a large part of LDS culture. When on the grounds of this temple, quiet is expected and reverence within. It is a place of worship as well as a symbol of peace and hope.
People who are foreign to such a culture or have never seen such a temple or walked on the grounds may be confused if someone were to give them a dirty look if they were talking loudly on the grounds. They might not understand the significance or why the building's grounds are so well kept. They may even try to enter the building and be confused as they are turned away for not having a temple recommend. There is a very specific jargon associated with LDS temples, such as this temple recommend. The recommend is a piece of paper signed by two local church leaders, as well as the recommend holder, stating that the person who it is signed for is authorized and worthy to enter in the building.
This may affect the classroom because there might be students who have visited these places and talk about it with their peers or bring it up in class and teachers need to understand what it is that they are talking about as well as how to address the situation when it is brought up so that the students are not offended or confused.




The little name tag there is a large part of LDS culture as well. When wearing this name tag, missionaries have a duty to represent their family, church, and God. There are expectations to the way that a missionary will act when wearing this tag. For example, they are to exercise the highest form of charity and love, serving others and seeking to build up the kingdom of God.
Many people are probably familiar with the term missionary. However, there is a very specific language associated with being a missionary. Things like "investigator," "tracting," and "the discussions" are terms that are very specific to missionary work, and that someone may hear when two missionaries are talking together, but may not understand.

Christmas is a large event in American culture. Celebrated with decorated trees, exchange of presents, colored lights hung in trees and on rooftops, etc. It is a time when everyone is happier and people are willing to give a little more. 

Personally, we celebrated by watching a different Christmas movie every night, or as often as we could with popcorn and in our pajamas to get ourselves more excited for Christmas day.

Christmas in the classroom may be a foreign concept for some students because some of them do not celebrate Christmas at home and may not know what is expected of them or what they need to do to better participate in activities revolving around this holiday. A teacher needs to be prepared to explain Christmas and help students who may be confused about all the things their peers are talking about involving Christmas if they do not celebrate and do not understand the culture in America around Christmas.

Social media is constantly in use. It is the main means for communication. It is normal for people at least 13 years old to have one or multiple social media accounts to keep up with friends, watch cat videos, look at pictures, or send quick 10 second videos to others. It is normal for several people to be in a room together, but not say hardly anything to one another and instead be looking at or communicating through social media.

People who have not used a specific social media will feel lost when they are trying to navigate it. They may not understand the purpose of having a Facebook or Snapchat. There are words such as "snap," "post," "tweet," and "like" that will not make sense to people who are not familiar with these social media sites and apps.
It is our job as teachers to educate students in a way that they can use social media to benefit their community and use it as a tool, rather than having students who waste hours on social media because they have nothing better to do with their time. Social media can be used in the classroom with things such as blogs that will help the students to know how to better access information on the internet that will benefit their learning and help them find true facts rather than basing everything they think they know on other people's opinions. 

Education is the norm. If you do not have a bachelor's degree, or possibly an associate's, it is difficult to get a good, well-paying job. It is normal for people to now go to college and earn a bachelor's and spend thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars to get a good education.
Those who are foreign to our culture of education might not understand what the difference between private, charter, and public schools are. They probably will not have heard the term "Ivy League schools" and will be unfamiliar with the importance that these colleges have in the community or on a resume. 

Clothing varies from dresses to jeans and a tee-shirt, to short shorts and a tank top, to leggings and an oversized sweater. Everything is the norm in clothing. Right now some of the big cultural movements are flower print on clothing and combining mismatched prints as well as velvet shirts or pants.

People who are foreign to the culture of clothing may question why velvet pants are in style. They may feel strange in an environment where it seems like they are the only one who is dressed differently. 

This is important to a classroom because schools have dress codes. Students need to understand appropriate ways to dress. However, they will also dress in a way that will make them fit in with their peers.

There is also a cultural movement to be more active. Triathlons, marathons, hiking, etc. have all become more common as the hegemonic culture begs for people to slim down and be more physically fit. This includes outdoor activities such as running and biking. 

People who are not familiar with this culture may feel strange going to a gym because they will not know how to use the machines. They may not understand the meaning of triathlon or marathon, which are both long races. They may not understand why there is such a big push on 

being active.
This is important in the classroom because we need to help students to develop a healthy lifestyle. We need students to have physical education so that they can develop skills to remain active and be healthy throughout their lives. 

BYU football is huge in my family culture. When the game is on TV, silence is expected unless you are cheering because of a good play or touchdown. There is always food and it is normal for it to be extremely loud and for there to be quite a bit of jumping up and down.

For someone who doesn't understand calls and plays and signals the referees use, football can be a very confusing game. It is very easy to get lost in what is going on when watching a football game if you are unable to follow where the ball is at and what all the fans are screaming has happened. It is something that you would probably need to research or have some else explain to you before you attend a game.
Many students may have a love of sports and want to play them at recess or during P.E. Knowing the sports that students like and are familiar with can help us to make concepts more relevant to their lives. We can create many analogies and story problems using sports as a topic because they are so well-known in our community.

Playing soccer at a young age is a part of the hegemonic culture. Children are expected to participate with their team and do their best to score a goal. Families and sometimes even grandparents attend Saturday morning games. Parents all hope that their child will love the sport and be good enough so that they can continue to play.
Again, like football it is important to know the rules and official terminology associated with soccer in order to really understand the games. Things like goal, defense, and forward are all terms that are necessary to understand in order to fully comprehend what is happening during any given moment in the game.
Like football, soccer can also be used to connect concepts in the classroom to real life situations, like geometry and the angle needed to kick the ball to reach a certain player, or talking about the importance of teamwork, etc. 

Grandparents are a large part of my family culture. Living close was important and behaving while at a grandparent's house was necessary. There was no running around them, and manners like "please" and "thank you" were required, as well as telling them you loved them and giving them a hug hello and goodbye.

In many cultures, grandparents are highly respected individuals because they are the elderly and are believed to be wise. However, for those who live far from their grandparents, discussing memories of the smell of grandma's hand soap or the taste of grandpa's pocket mints would be foreign and would not make sense to them. They might not have the same respect for elderly people as someone who regularly visits a grandparent.
This might be important in the classroom, when talking about the different types of families. Those who never knew their grandparents may not think of them as part of their family, while those who visited grandparents frequently might have a close relationship and even consider them as part of their immediate family.

Online shopping is the norm. People expect things to get to them quickly and rarely do they go to try on clothing in a store any more. They click a few times online because it is more convenient and then wait for a package to arrive on their doorstep a few days later.
This is hard if you do not understand things like shoe or pants sizes in the US because they are different than some other countries. It is also difficult because there, again, is a specific jargon associated with online shopping, such as "Add to cart" and the process through which it is done may be completely unfamiliar to someone who has never experienced that culture.
This is important because there are sites where you can create a wish list of things you would like purchased for the classroom and send it out to parents. There are also sites you can refer students to for them to find supplies or textbooks they may need for classes.




People also expect food to be ready and available to them very quickly. There are many fast food restaurants, which are a common place to eat at for a quick meal. Customers stand in line, order their food, sit at a table and eat it quickly and then leave.
If you do not understand what a drive thru is or what a dollar menu is, this place will seem rather foreign. This is different than a normal restaurant because you wait in a line to order your food and then pick it up usually at that same counter. Practices here are different than a more formal, sit-down restaurant.
This is important in the classroom because most students will be familiar with such restaurants. Many will eat at these restaurants quite frequently, but there are movies that show that there are better alternatives to eating and what fast food restaurants do to your body, which could be shown in a health or physical education class. One such movie is Super Size Me.

Grocery stores are the place to go for food. Once inside, customers grab a cart, and put items in until they have all that they need. Hardly a word is exchanged between customers who did not enter the store together.
People may end up lost in a grocery store if they have never been there before. There are generally signs above the aisles or different areas of the store that show what kinds of different things are available in that part of the store. However, not every item is listed, so if you are unfamiliar with what items are similar to one another, it may be more difficult to figure out where a small, infrequently purchased item may be located in the grocery store.




Movie theaters are a common form of entertainment. It is normal to buy a large popcorn with extra butter and a large fountain drink, sit in your assigned chair in the the theater and not talk to anyone. During the film silence is expected as people sit, enjoying their snacks.
If a person were unfamiliar with the movie theater culture, they may not know where to go to buy a ticket, how to find their assigned seat in the theater, why there are butter machines located in the food area, or how to get to the theater where their movie is being played.
Similar to sports, movies are a popular and well-known part of culture today. Students will often know about what movies are coming out and discuss movies or shows during free time. Again, we can use these movies to create story problems as well as make analogies to the content that they are learning about.




Traffic signs, such as this are on nearly every corner in the country. Culture teaches us that we should bring our vehicle to a complete stop in line with the sign. Pedestrians cross the street before the car continues on.
This may be foreign to people who have lived in other countries, where other languages are more popular or where different signs or signals are used to mean different things along the roadway. They may not know what a pedestrian (someone on foot) is, or know what Xing means.
It is important for students to know some of these signs, such as school zone, and pedestrian crossing signs, so that they can be safe near busy roads that are close to the school and get to their homes safely, or play safely around the school.


I have realized that my culture is a very rule-based environment. Things are expected of society, and if someone does not meet that expectation they receive strange looks from other people, and some times even more serious consequences such as a fine or ticket. My culture defines my actions because I generally do not be the one person acting outside of the norm. My culture is very Internet based, as well as pleasure based. It is also a culture in which people greatly lack patience if things are not provided to them quickly.

For the most part I think that this culture helps students in a school setting. Students have a cultural expectation to attend college, and thus generally have a desire to do well in school. Culture dictates that technology be used often, and so technology has been introduced into the classroom and is being used to teach children, for the most part in a very effective way. Culture teaches children what they ought to be doing and they do it so that they feel a sense of belonging. However, sometimes this can be a hindrance to the classroom. For example, social media plays a huge role in today's society. Yet, within the school it mostly serves as a distraction. It really depends on a teacher's classroom culture what will hinder or help a child's education.