What is Scratch

This chapter is about a multicultural GATE teacher, Jennifer Waldron, and her circuitous journey on becoming the educator that she is today. Having lived on three continents by the age of 13, she struggled with cultural identity exacerbated by the inevitable awkwardness that accompanies key developmental junctures. Central to this piece are acculturation, assimilation, self-determination and self-efficacy, and learning to manage the awareness of belonging nowhere, yet everywhere at once. This is an educational journey of finding, appreciating, and using one's strengths and growth mindset in the pursuit of re-educating oneself to become a more empowered person and educator. This chapter underscores the relevance of cultural competency and the need for tolerance of difference at all levels of education. Jennifer Waldron embraces research based and innovative approaches to thinking and learning. She strives to break down barriers through design and creative thinking so as to find relevant connections between seemingly disparate subjects.