STereOtyPes

I went to a workshop yesterday and thought it was stupid.. and a waste of my time. I was sitting there doing the exercises thinking.. what is the point of this? Why is she still talking? Goodness I wish she (the facilitator) would hush! I've been to a lot of workshops and generally love the idea of activities and a group of people coming together to accomplish something... BUT this workshop, which was supposed to be all about combating stereotypes.. really was just about "We all have more in common than we have different" (which I think is a large generalization, which shouldn't be trusted at face value,) AND "Your first impressions aren't correct, you should wait to get to know someone first because"... revisit point number 1.

I know that. I still judge people. I know that just because someone is from another place, or race or religion or whatever than me.. doesn't mean anything really... We could still be best friends.. but I mean it still remains that I look for the black girl to sit next too..I yearn for friends from the North and I'd be hard pressed to go to a school that is not in the top tier. I was looking for the workshop to help me sort through those prejudices or really challenge my innate assertions, because I think that is one of the most important things that educators must do. It's very easy to judge students and parents based on tiny bits of information, but it's important to constantly work past that and to be able to uncover those hidden biases that we don't know we have until we are challenged by someone else with a different point of view.

By the end of the session, i was on my BB checking e-mail and tweeting and being completely rude... but she was droning on and on.. I was underwhelmed and having done some diversity training in the past left a lot of comments on my feedback form.

Sooooo later that day... I was telling my mom about it and kinda whining and complaining and she says in response to something... "that's cause you're arrogant." and I was thinking.. eh she's probably right... but how do I get over that? How do I not roll my eyes internally at people who cant put together a sentence, but are public speakers, or who are educators, but tell incorrect information? How should I feel when my time is being wasted? Or should I change my perspective so that I can find some value in time spent with others??

im ready for your feedback.. my 2 commenters. Thanks! LOL and other lurkers, you know who you are, you can comment too.