Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (Summer 2011)

WOW! I thought I was reading about myself as I was reading about Hick's childhood. The rural North Carolina town in God's country and summers spent at Bible School...learning to be a "good girl". I agree as I look back those were the moments that were critical in learning, in the sense of socalization. Those important memories and engagements are part of my unique life story. I never thought about those moments in my life history having such an impact on my beginning literacy. "Reading is part of children's situated histories." Our race, gender, class and locality all influence the practices of reading. As I read these two chapters and tried understand the people in them I found that the best way to understand them was to look at my history and try to really piece together what made me who I am today. Taking into consideration all the concepts we have been talking about in this course; race, gender, class and the locality of where I was raised. Once I understand this about myself the better I will be at understanding the discourses that make my students who they are and their literacy development.
Laurie's early years was an eye opening experience for me. It is amazing at the power of the events in our lives create who are, and how we relate to others shaped our beliefs and literacy experiences. Laurie's home life experieces had such an impact on her learning experience at school. I need to be more sensitive to my students and understand that their young lives are being influenced either positively or negatively before they come to me each day. And those influences do have an affect on their learning on a day-to-day basis. The success and/or the struggles that our students face sometimes flow from their home situations. My question is how can I, as a classroom teacher, help my students overcome such difficulties? My job is to immerse my students in literacy experices that will be life changing, therefore I need to know how to modify my daily instruction to meet the needs of all the children.

Karin Scott

After reading chapters three and four, I concluded that an individual’s identity is created from choices and backgrounds. As a person develops identity, often confusion and conflict coexist with this growth because of gender roles taught in a person’s family setting. These conditioned roles then have to be reconditioned to fit in an academic setting. What I found intriguing in these chapters was how reading and writing literacies were used to help Laurie in her academic world as she made sense of the world she was also bringing from home. Though her imaginative stories were methods at giving her a voice, I felt that they actually gave more insight to the researcher, teachers, and reader in why she was experiencing conflict in her “good girl” role at school when her good behavior achievements were not lining up to her academic abilities, especially when reading and writing improvement became evident for a brief moment at the time her single mother was dating a man that she desired to become her “daddy.” This exemplifies that even as a young girl, she already was able to distinguish the roles between male and female. My heart broke for Laurie as she tried to maintain the roles of caregiver and child simultaneously, and I sympathized for her when she struggled with this behavior during the school hours. It seemed that her situation only worsened when her kindergarten “boyfriend” relocated schools and she was diagnosed with ADD. I questioned whether she misdiagnosed for ADD and really needed to be medicated. A part of me felt that she was trying to define her gender role and cope with her reading and writing struggles. I also couldn’t help think that some of her so-called ADD issues were a direct results of the working class family she was in where her mother and grandmother were working all the time in order to provide for her and her two other siblings. Perhaps Laurie, like many children in such low-income single-parenting families, was attempting to gain adult attention and recognition from her mother and grandmother for her attempts of being a “good girl” at school and a “good daughter” at home by caring for her younger siblings.

Despite her situation, I can’t agree more with the text written on page 42 that states Laurie created “adventures” connected to reading and writing. She discovered that she could reinvent everyday, mundane experiences and create new ones. Like the Carey video, Laurie realized the importance of literacy and how it could lead to power. The power of literacy was enabling her to create hope for her in a discouraging situation. In my opinion, I felt Laurie could relate more to the woman’s role not only because she was female but because she only had female authority figures – both at home and school. Her perception and distinction of girl stuff from boy stuff was heavily influenced by the fact that she lacked a constant adult male role model. The only male influence was her brother and “boyfriends” in school, which both relationships involved Laurie taking the role of a caregiver. Even though her reading and writing skills were limited, Laurie had cultural literacy that was shaped by her working class family and female role within her family. For example, she was able to create drama when playing with her Barbie dolls. She used her experiences and understandings of the world around her to create a life for her lifeless dolls. As a child, I also did the same, where I would create situations for my dolls based on books, television shows, or social interactions that I had dealt with through the lens of my childhood. I envisioned Laurie creating the romantic, yet innocent, relationships between Barbie and Ken where Barbie stayed home taking care of the kids and cleaning while Ken worked and was the breadwinner of the family. This reenactment came to mind since Laurie so longed for something that was somewhat unfamiliar to her – a home with an active dad who provided for her family. I wonder how things would have been different for Laurie if she would have had such a being involved in her life from birth on. Perhaps the identity roles she had so much struggled with when defining herself as a female child aiming to achieve academic success as a “good student” and “good daughter” would have turned out differently.

Melissa Riley

Reading about Laurie being placed on ADD medication was disheartening. Her outbursts were probably a cry for attention, attention she needed to remain her vibrant self. Instead, her "voice" was subdued. I have seen many students' personalities changed by ADD medications, as well as feeling sick and looking more like a zombie than themselves. If a dose is missed once their bodies are used to the medications, then they truly act drugged with opposite effects like moving constantly, eyes glazed and appearing "high". I'd venture to say there are far more children on ADD medication that do not need to be. My daughter's 3rd grade teacher mentioned that medication might help her focus in class, because she seemed to daydream. In talking with her about the importance of paying attention to her teacher, comments were made that led us to believe she may have been bored. We chose not to go the medication route, and my daughter has performed at or above average in school ever since. She has just recently finished 8th grade. The drug overuse is a vitally important reason to learn more about our students' background, their "history".

It was disappointing to hear that Laurie's 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Rhodes, taught reading with a basal in a whole-class approach. Hopefully most teachers pair students with books on their instructional reading level and have small groups of students for guided reading lessons, as opposed to teaching reading to the entire class from a basal. A basal would not meet the needs of readers in a 1st grade classroom which could range from kindergarten level to 2nd grade or even higher. First grade alone has so many reading levels (DRA 4,6,8,10,12,14,16,18 - that's "8" levels!). Things might have turned out differently for Laurie had she been reading in appropriately leveled text all year.

It sounded like Mrs. Rhodes used several worksheets in her daily teaching. Using lots of worksheets is unengaging, busy work and is frowned upon at my school. If you were the student, wouldn't you rather be engaged in small group activities, working with a partner, using manipulatives, enjoying centers, or working independently on something besides worksheets? Worksheets are boring!

It's interesting to think about empowerment through academic success and how a loving, secure homelife can benefit children in school. While reading of Laurie's struggles at home, I thought of the students who confided in me their sadness of missing their dad as well as their excitement in telling me that they were going to see their dad this weekend. Emotions about homelife for students plays an integral part in their success at school.

As troubling as life was for Laurie at home and in school, she seemed to regain her voice through writing. Incorporating writing centers in the classroom seem to be a good way to learn the histories of students. The more teachers can learn about students' histories, the better teachers can meet their needs.

Carol Holt

A reader is a person in history, a person with a history. -Jane Miller

This is a powerful quote that we, as educators, need to keep fresh in our minds. Each student we teach will have a different history, values, and beliefs. We can not control what happens to these students before they enter our classroom, and we can not control what happens outside of our classroom. As educators, we need to understand that their history has an influence on everything they do from the way they speak, behave, and act to the way that they learn and what they learn. Whether a teacher has been in the classroom one year or thirty years, it is obvious to us that a child’s history and home life has a direct effect on their overall achievement in the classroom.

As I was reading these two chapters, it was obvious that Laurie is an excellent example to prove that a child’s history has an effect on achievement in the classroom. The text mentions that Laurie’s mother was seeking romance, and thought it important to have a man in her life. Laurie also values romantic relationships because she refers to it several times in her writing and talks about her relationships with Nicholas and Steven when talking with Deborah. The text also mentions that Laurie’s mother and grandmother loved her very much, and they had to make sacrifices in hopes of bettering the family. Laurie’s mother attended college (which is a great example of educational importance of Laurie) and her grandmother had to work two jobs to fulfill the financial obligations of the family. In the hustle and bustle of work, school, and tending to all three children, her mother and grandmother could not provide Laurie with the emotional attention she needed. In order to get the attention, Laurie would act out. As educators, I believe we see this situation too often in our own classrooms. Many parents work odd shifts or multiple jobs, so the children can not receive that necessary attention that a child needs. Students then resort to acting out or misbehaving because they want attention, positive or negative.

Laurie realized that she had not been a ‘good girl’ in first grade, and as she entered second grade she decided that she was going to work harder to be a good girl (or a teacher pleaser). She was working to have better behavior and she was also working diligently to improve academically. Although she still struggled in reading, Laurie enjoyed math. She was so proud of herself when she walked into the classroom during a lesson and found that taking ten away from eighteen would leave eight. She proudly told the teacher the answer, who in return praised Laurie. I believe it is very important to praise students for their accomplishments. Not only does it boost their confidence and self-esteem, but it offers that emotional attention that some students so desperately desire. I was guilty of being a teacher pleaser in school, and I loved to get praise from my teachers. I was a student who after being praised for an accomplishment, I would work very hard so that I might be praised again. Maybe some of our students are the same way and it would motivate them to work harder on academics or other aspects of their lives.

Lisa Beach

Chapter 3 described discourses very similar to those of my childhood. My parents made sure that I learned the traits of a Southern lady early on. On Sundays, I would be adorned with black patent leather shoes and dresses of ruffles and lace. I would sit quietly on the second pew while my mother played the piano. Many nights I recalled my mother lying in bed reading her Bible. I knew what was expected of me, and I always did my best in an effort to make my parents proud. It’s amazing how one’s childhood discourses influence his/her literacy.

I do believe that my eagerness to be a “good” student was influenced by my parents’ clear expectations. My mother was always very meticulous with any task she undertook, whether it were cooking, sewing, playing the piano, or planning Vacation Bible School. She was always my role model so I guess my attempts at doing well were a means of mimicking her. In class, I was the quiet student who answered questions only when called upon. Achievement was very important to me, but attention of any kind made me a little uncomfortable. In hindsight, I guess this aversion to attention stemmed from my parents’ avoidance of outwardly praising their children. It’s really interesting how this chapter has made me reflect upon my own personal discourses and how they influenced me as a reader and a student in general. With regards to becoming “hybrid”, I have noticed a personal trait that differs greatly when I am assuming the role of teacher. Although I was raised in a home where the Southern drawl was very pronounced, I make a conscious effort to enunciate my words clearly when teaching- for example, adding the –ing and pronouncing the short e as an e instead of as a short i.

As I read chapter 4, my heart became very heavy as I thought about all the Lauries I have encountered over the years. It is not that these children cannot learn; it’s more of an issue of cultural influence and expectations. Every day we encounter students who are affected by their parents’ value of education, financial struggles, domestic strife, etc. Self-efficacy too often becomes a negative driving force as opposed to a positive one. Laurie wanted to be viewed as a “good” student. When she could no longer keep up academically, she focused on getting attention for good behavior. (Hicks 79)

Not all children have the optimum preschool years. They want to fit their culture’s definition of normal. When they are set apart, they seek ways to gain acceptance. Laurie was being raised by her mother and grandmother so, for her, the concept of a “new daddy” made her feel acceptable. At this point, she knew she was academically behind her classmates. I believe the possibility of having a “new daddy” made her feel the security for which she longed.

One of the most troubling factors in Laurie’s story was the system’s expectations that all students read the same series at the same rate. Children are not made from cookie cutters, and we cannot expect them to consistently perform on the same level as their peers. I am thankful for Hicks’ intervention. Laurie’s teachers were expected to continue instruction for the average kindergarten, first, or second grade students. In any classroom, it is crucial that students have the opportunity to read at their own independent level and perform tasks for which they are developmentally ready. Unfortunately, state and federal demands put even more pressure on at-risk students. While striving to meet state and local demands, we also must be prepared to meet each child where he/she is and plan accordingly. With this mindset, I do believe that each child will grow and feel successful. I would rather a child work at his/her own pace and slowly grow than simply quit and ultimately “fall between the cracks”. We just need to equip them with the tools they need for success. If we do not give up on them, maybe they will not give up on themselves.

Holly Lawson

I really liked the quotation from Hicks’ 3rd chapter, last paragraph: “Teaching, like research, involves situated readings of students. We read students’ lives in ways that draw on our own histories as learners.” I hadn’t really thought of it in that way, but, as I read and considered Laurie’s story, I can see the validity of this statement. My childhood was safe and secure, centered in activities at our Southern Baptist Church. My earliest memories are of Vacation Bible School, similar to the memories of Deborah Hicks, and of listening to the music at Sunday services. Although we moved several times as I was growing up, my parents provided a loving and a literate home, and I always felt secure in my “place”. I was a good student, probably motivated as much by the fact that my parents expected me to be one as by my own intrinsic expectations. I could not conceive of anyone NOT wanting to be able to read – it was my favorite thing to do!

As I have mentioned before, teaching in the small, working-class town where I taught for many years was an eye-opening experience for me. For the first time I “ran up against” the Lauries of the world – students who lived with Grandma because Daddy was in jail, students whose fathers were not even in the picture at all, students who lived in a hotel (WHICH hotel was determined by which street-corner Mom worked the night before), and students who spoke little or no English. On several occasions I helped a fellow teacher pack a child’s bookbag with snacks before sending him home, knowing that he and his siblings might or might not have dinner that night. I worked with a student who had severe emotional problems because he had witnessed his father being brutally – and wrongfully – arrested. When I began working there, I had no idea how to relate to those family situations. I only know that my middle-class background was light years away from that of the children with whom I was working...and, knowing that their situations were not going to change, I had to develop some understanding of their lives and learn how to work with these children. I remember thinking to myself “It is no wonder these kids cannot focus on learning their ABC’s – they don’t even know if they will get to eat tonight!” Surviving had to be their priority. They, like Laurie, wanted that safety and security for their own lives, and, again like Laurie, they created those worlds for themselves in center time, particularly housekeeping, and in their writing. Often their writing, particularly around holiday times, did not reflect at all the realities of their actual holiday situations. Some of my students were open to building relationships with adults in our school. Those students were usually more successful, academically. Others were angry and/or resentful. It was difficult to help those students succeed with the academic requirements imposed by the state. I would like to think that my instructional leadership had a positive impact on my students, but as I have grown as a teacher, I know there were times when I could have done so much more.

Hicks states “The paths to creating negotiated movements between cultures and classes are, however, never simple – never reducible to a single method of teaching or theory of learning.” (p. 96) We, as teachers, need to learn to look past our own backgrounds, or discourses, and to respond to the needs of our students as those needs manifest themselves. Easier said than done, right? As Hicks also notes, “With classes that are too large to manage and increasingly stiff curriculum mandates, it has become difficult for teachers to come to know children with the kind of depth that engenders successful change.” (p. 96) However, if we are to become master teachers – “highly qualified” in truth, as well as in name – we must make it happen.

Marlee Wright

Seems like Hicks must have been a fly on the wall as she described her rural upbringing. Her story parallels mine in so many respects. I too was taught to be a "good girl" and did color pictures of Jesus as a young child on Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Bible School and so on. I was taught to sit and listen to the preacher intently with my knees together and legs not crossed. I wore white anklets and black patent shoes and a little frilly dresses with tights if the weather was cold. We had many gatherings at the church and many dinners under the trees with ice cream socials being planned. Easter, Memorial Day and Christmas meant new clothes and a nice hairdo. I was taught to say "yes Mam" and "yes sir", never ask why and to be quiet until spoken to. I memorized the names of the books of the Bible in order and many verses. I knew every song in our hymnal and could sing up to 5 verses without looking at the words. As I grew I managed to collect 17 years of perfect attendance pens to church and taught Sunday School Class to young girls. They colored pictures of Jesus and sang Jesus Loves Me. That cycle continues to this day.
I feared going to hell even after I was saved and was baptized in a creek down the road from the church. We swam their too and had our own family of leeches attached to our skin when finished. I felt like my family and church family were without reproach and knew as I got older that I needed to be in at a respectable hour or people would look out their windows and see me. At that point I would be a bad girl.
This is the only world I knew until later in my teens years. I had never had a pizza until I was fifteen. This type of environment was safe, very safe. This was so safe that it hurt me in many ways in that I had that small town girl attitude and was at the point of thinking all others lived in dysfunctional families. It took me years to grow out of the close minded discourse I was used to and I spent many years wanting experiences and diverse friends, however, the lack of exposure left me unable to follow my yearnings. I became defiant in many ways to my mother. I can really relate now to my students that haven't broken out of their circle of upbringing. Many of these students come from dysfunctional families in my opinion, however, this is all they know.
They lack experiences and are shunned by others. They struggle in their grades and bring no diverse experiences to the literacy table. They comprehend little because they absolutely cannot relate to the text.
As for Laura, I wonder if she had grown up in a different environment if she would have been a totally different girl. Was it the motherly role at home and the strong emotional outbursts that infected her natural emotional well being? Was it the bossy attitude and the anger that created her ADHD and ability to learn? Did the teachers do all they could to help? I fear not. She needed intense one-on-one instruction in Kindergarten for the entire year? Instead she found herself sitting in the first grade and behind. She would now be behind forever. I felt her anger and frustration as I read. She could not do the work. Outburst and misbehavior was the only thing that rewarded her with attention. She shut down on academics. I have been there in algebra in highschool. Individualized attention and tutoring would have helped. Being behind and frustrated is no joke. It became impossible to do the homework and classwork. I was angry and miserable. My teacher told me in front of the class that I had a mental block. Did Laura feel hopeless and angry? I'm sure she did. Eventually she found attention through being a good girl even though she was still very far behind. She found her attention and reward in this tactic now.
I again wonder if with an environment change early in her life if she would have been more academically and emotionally sound?

I can certainly identify with the “good girl” mentality. I also grew up in the Bible belt listening to and learning from southern women and Baptist preachers. My earliest memories of literature were in Sunday school. I had two retired teachers as my pre-school and 1st grade teachers and we would look at the literature and do activities in the little books every Sunday. As we advanced in grades we would read round robin style in Sunday school. I always dreaded this because I was so worried about what I was going to read I couldn’t keep up with the story. I became a people pleaser in church and outside of church because I received positive attention when I helped out. I still have that desire to help others still which I think is a good thing.

Back to literacy, I don’t remember seeing my parents read when I lived at home. I was not encouraged to read at home. I was encouraged to play outside with my 2 siblings and the neighborhood children. I heard lots of Bible stories but not a lot of storytelling about my family or my heritage.

We would have been considered working-class but most of the people I knew were working-class as well. Our neighborhood was home to ten other children within three years of my age and I was a tomboy who played football with the boys rather than talk about them with the girls until I went to junior high school. My interest in sports very much overshadowed my desire to read. I did well academically, however, and still love my first grade teacher Mrs. Holland. I’m not sure if I was academically adept or the fact that I wanted to please my teachers was the result of all A’s on my report card. My junior high and high school years I remained involved in sports and still maintained good grades throughout. Those years I do remember experiencing the feeling that I was not good enough or did not have enough money to go to college.

I was interested in Laurie’s story because I think it is one that happens often. Her ups and downs in the early grades seemed to be linked to the happiness of her mother. It appears as if she slowly fell behind in reading, just enough to lag behind but not drastic enough to notice until 3rd grade when all the sudden she is two grades level behind. I also connected with the fact that Chapter One was portrayed as a safe haven for Laurie. It is my opinion that Response to Intervention has helped our school identify these students that slowly slip away earlier than we have in the past. With all the education about differentiation and individualized plans are working to ensure that students are having their needs met earlier than before. Maybe too late for Laurie but just in time for so many of our students.
Karen Gold

While reading these chapters my heart broke for Laurie and the struggles she faced. Reading of her difficulty with reading made me think about if I’ve had students in similar situations that faced similar problems without my recognition. I especially felt this way when Hicks described Laurie’s experiences in first grade. Her teacher, Mrs. Rhodes seemed unable to find a good balance between the standardized textbook teaching and differentiating lessons to meet the needs of all of her students. This is something I have continually struggled with. School districts pay thousands of dollars on textbooks and trainings, and they expect to see those dollars at work when visiting our classrooms. Principals often vary school to school on how much they regulate use of the standardized texts, but I think many teachers struggle with finding a balance. I do wish Mrs. Rhodes had found a better way to use her textbooks in the classroom. “Supplementing it with worksheets and whole-class lessons that she devised herself” is not differentiation. Laurie needed individual attention and assistance in order to succeed in the classroom. Mrs. Rhodes could have used the standardized textbook for some students in her class, but it should have been supplemented with additional reading materials at various levels. Worksheets do not cut it. It was hard to read about how she decided to focus on being a “Good Girl” to mask the academic difficulties she was facing. I’ve heard many times of students’ poor performance going unnoticed because they were flying under the radar with their wonderful behavior. As with pretty much everything we’ve read in this course, this reading has called on me to think back on my own teaching and reflect on what more I could be doing to assist my students.

As for Chapter 3, I found myself easily identifying with both Frame and Hicks in their love for reading. Like Frame, I thought that books were a wonderful way to travel to different locations on various adventures. Like Hicks, books offered me an escape when I felt life getting too boring. I wish I knew the secret to developing this love for reading in all children. I know that constantly reading as a child is what allowed me to develop a stronger vocabulary and understanding of the world around me. Even today as an adult, I find that I am never bored as long as I have a book with me (which I usually do)!

Andrea Schlobohm

Every child knows where they are academically. No matter how well a teacher does at providing text at his/her level or differentiating group’s students always know where they are. Like Laurie I have taught many students who feel the frustration of not performing on grade level. Laurie chose to use the “good girl” approach and mask her inabilities in school with the ability to be good. Many students follow this same path in the classroom. “Flying under the raider” with being good and passed on, while others choose to act out to compensate for their struggles within the classroom.

Laurie had many challenges to face not only at school, but also the ones at home. “She took events with some grounding in her lived experiences and rewrote them, casting herself and others in scenarios that were partly fictional.” (p.90) Even though Laurie struggled much of her first and second grade school years in writing, she learned to write about what she wanted in life. She had a defense to write about the fantasies that she wished to live.

“While Laurie wrote fantasies in which she was a valued and accepted friend, threaded into these were also reflections on the complexity of school relations for academically vulnerable girl.” (p. 87) She was a low emergent writer using repetitive sentences, but her writing of a fantasy world Laurie wished to lived made me think about Ch. 3 when Hicks wrote about how books can make you travel to new places. For Laurie she was able to use this strategy in her writing. She wrote about what she wished to have within her home life.

Laurie was fortunate to eventually find a teacher who worked outside the box. She had different strategies to use with Laurie. This is an important lesson for all teachers to look outside of our own discourses and help children with any strategy possible. There is no one carbon copy model to teach. Sometimes we just need to get out of our own comfort zone to reach children.

Kara S

Hicks described her experience as a young girl, practicing the fundamentalist discourses of the rural southeast. As I read her descriptions, I could relate well to several of her experiences. I agree with Hicks when she pointed out that Vacation Bible School provided literary experiences, “ones that forecast the life of a young reader”. Thinking back to my own experiences with Vacation Bible School, I remember creating illustrations for various Bible stories. This makes me think of current teaching practices, teachers ask their students to create mental images as they read.

As I read about hooks’ difficulty understanding gender roles I could relate to her struggle. From an early age I had strong feelings about gender roles. It made me angry that my “role” had been assigned without my permission. I had my own strong thoughts and opinions from an early age. Hicks stated, “If angry emotions were voiced in strong ways, they would not have been voiced, in my girlhood experiences, by women.” I found this to be true in my own upbringing, with the exception of my mother. She played a large part in making me feel confident at expressing myself, regardless of my gender. My grandparents had a dairy farm and as I child I spent my summers there, along with my brother and male cousin. I did not understand why the boys could drive the tractors and I could not. My grandfather encouraged me to stay inside with my grandmother and help prepare lunch. I had no desire to do such boring things inside. Growing up, I remember no one ever questioned my grandfather, except for me. My earliest memory of this was when I told him that I was not going to stay inside; I wanted to be on the tractor. Everyday after that I rode on the tractor with him, he even bought Barbie tapes and played them in the tractor. Thanksgiving also prompted questions and eventually resentment about gender roles. I wanted to know where was I when we voted that women had to cook and clean, while men ate and slept. This was (and still is) unacceptable for me. I am proud to be a southern female but this is one part of my southern and feminine discourses that I could happily do without. As a teenager, I remember blasting No Doubt’s song, “I’m Just a Girl” and having a strong and frustrating connection to each lyric.

Hicks described how Laurie’s embracement of feminine identity somewhat hindered her academically. “The feminine identity that Laurie readily appropriated also sometimes limited her engagements in academic activities.” Although Laurie was only a kindergartner, this makes me think adult women. The women who make a conscious decision to indefinitely terminate a desired education in order to maintain their feminine identify through a traditional gender role. Fortunately, this trend is slowly beginning to change. More females are “making time” to complete or continue their education.

Laurie’s desire to be “good” in school, made me think of students in my own classroom. Every year I have students who make poor choices, we discuss the problem, and when we talk about what needs to be done in order to prevent this behavior from happening again, I usually hear “I need to be good.” Year after year I have to tell students that they are already “good”, we just need to work on making better decisions. I do not want my students to ever feel as if I do not think they are “good” enough.

Stacy Durham

In Deborah Hicks’ Reading Lives, Chapters 3 and 4, we learn how young Laurie must negotiate between her home and school discourse while filling her needs of power and belonging in both worlds. She is obviously not fulfilled at home because of the absence of a father figure, who, in her fantasy, should be there to take care of her family both emotionally and financially. She shows signs of frustration with her position in the family, the oldest of three young children, and in the classroom where her friends’ acceptance is inconsistent. As with bell hooks’ childhood, Laurie uses fantasy in literacy practices to escape a lonely and conflicted life. Although Laurie does not have to deal with race, she is struggling with class and gender, both in her home discourse and at school. To mask her struggling academics, she resorts to being a good girl to win acceptance by her teachers and peers. While writing seems to give her an outlet for her imagination of good vs. evil and emotional needs, she finds difficulty in reading text that does not provide meaningful connections to her real life.

The first grade practices described in chapter 4 did not provide instructional material for individualized learning and provided Laurie with further setbacks as she was not able to maintain the linear path of development designed by the basal series. I have always taught using guided reading groups and find success working on a student’s instructional level rather than grade level material. We use the basal readers and Scholastic News for shared reading to expose all students to grade level material but the core of our instructional language arts block is constructed through leveled texts. I was glad to learn her second grade teacher used writing and reading workshops to meet the needs of different students. It was also a red flag when I read how Laurie’s motivation changed from just being a “good girl” that disguised her inadequacies with cooperative behavior to actually becoming a better student of literacy. When she thought she would soon have the father she dreamed of, her writing improved and she became more interested in the literacy rather than just pretending. This illustrated how important the home discourse becomes when students are functioning in another discourse. With Deborah Hicks tutoring Laurie, the small reading group she participated in, and her mother reading with her every night, I wonder what else could be put in place for Laurie to improve her literacy practice. Although her home discourse was conflicting to her actual fantasies of life on the farm or with her mom getting married, she did not appear to be abused or neglected. Could there be a learning disability that is difficult to diagnose in the K-2 years because of developmental delays in some children? Did she actually suffer from ADD or from frustration? Whatever the cause of her stagnant literacy skills, there are many students in our classrooms suffering from the same lack of confidence and success in today’s fast paced and demanding curriculums. Learning about our students' home discourse can help educators motivate those students who struggle with literacy skills in the classroom.

Michelle Carlson

Our identities as readers and writers are shaped through our relationships with others. Miller refers to these relationships as our situated histories. “Literacy learning is part of these histories, not something that children do as a cognitive task divorced from their lives” (p. 37). Laurie’s relationships with her mother and grandmother were crucial in her literacy development. She took the values and beliefs that she was learning from them and implemented them into her literacy activities at school. She took on the role of caretaker and nurturer, and this role sometimes “limited her engagements in academic activities” (p. 61). As educators, it is important for us to remember that our students’ learning is connected to their histories and their lives. We cannot expect students to come into our classroom and be autonomous learners. As children learn to read and write, they are also learning to engage in their culture and the practices that are a part of that culture (Miller, 1990, p. 158). Again, we must integrate and incorporate these cultural practices into our instruction if we hope to be successful in our quest to reach these students.

As Laurie progressed through first and second grade, she continued to experience academic difficulties in relation to reading and writing. While part of Laurie’s difficulties stemmed from the use of a basal series that was simply too difficult for her, she was also greatly affected by her relationship with her mother. Hicks writes, “…Laurie in first grade began living a dual existence as a model student who was learning how to fail” (p. 66). To mask these academic shortcomings, Laurie began to focus on “being good.” How many of our students end up taking this route, and how many educators miss the academic difficulties until it is too late because these students exhibit “exceptional” classroom behaviors? I am sure that I have made this mistake. In today’s classrooms educators are faced with so many constraints and obstacles, from strict curriculum guidelines to the pressures of standardized testing, that it is difficult to “come to know children with the kind of depth that engenders successful change” (p. 96).

However, as teachers, it is our charge to do just this. We must get to know our students and create classrooms where movement between and across histories of class, race, and gender are possible. It will require, as Hicks states, “the hard work of seeking to understand the realities of children’s lives and to respond in ways that extend from those contextualized understandings” (p. 96). This is where best practices in our classrooms should emerge. Like Laurie’s second grade teacher, we must individualize literacy instruction and create opportunities for success. I don’t want to be the teacher whose students, like Laurie, are “learning to fail.”

Leslie Rothenberger

In all honesty, I was was not looking forward to reading Chapters 3 and 4 because I had such a difficult time with the first two. I was pleasantly surprised because they were much easier to read and understand. I felt as though the author described Laurie well, in a way that I could really gain insight into her literacy development. One issue that I had was Laurie’s diagnosis of ADD and the decision to put her on medication. It is unfortunate how people in today’s world choose medication so quickly to solve problems with their kids. I feel as though Laurie’s issues were socially and emotionally related, not entirely academic. The fact that her anger issues initially drove the diagnosis, feels like an inappropriate choice. I was moved by Laurie’s creativity and motivation in Kindergarten. The medication that she was put on stunted that creativity, and made her feel uncharacteristically unsure of herself and distracted by what was going on with her body. My gut tells me that without the medication she would have progressed quicker and she wouldn’t have had such a hard time with peers.

I also found her relationship with Nicholas interesting. Having worked with directly with young kids for 10 years, kids don’t usually develop crushes in Kindergarten and First Grade. They actually usually turn up their noses with disgust at the opposite sex. I feel that Nicholas offered her the male that she was missing in her life, and the friend that she needed because her mother and grandmother were too burdened with trying to make ends meet that they weren’t paying attention to her in the way Nicholas was. I also think that due to Laurie’s home-life, she has to learn to balance her “care-taker” role and her “student” role. That can be hard to deal with so she can be wise beyond her years and a the same time, incredibly immature. She seems stuck in a lonely place and doesn’t seem to know how to remedy her loneliness. Her writings and fantasies appear to be an escape taken away from her by medication. No one teaches Laurie how to deal with her emotions and reactions. Instead, she is medicated. I think it is important for teachers to figure out how to help students without using medicine first.

-- Carrie Brown

This discussion of “complex childhood histories situated within hybrid identities and sometimes conflicted relations with others “(p. 52) is always shaped by our relationships and experiences with reading and writing.

What struck me in these chapters was the power of narratives in our situated histories. Hicks notes that in kindergarten Laurie had a strong sense of story, and her mother read with her every night. In first grade freedom to write her own narrative was replaced with a ‘once size fits all’ curriculum. This served to suffocate the brazenness and power Laurie had demonstrated in kindergarten. In trying to regain empowerment in her life she focuses on becoming the ‘good girl’.

I was interested in, yet saddened by Hick’s descriptions of Laurie’s shifting discourse and identity both at home and school. : “She was starting to live between the contradictory social spaces of unnoticed fumblings in her desk, and rewards for being good” (p. 75). The powerlessness she feels at school is transformed at home into open resistance against her mother. Hicks shrewdly observes, “ She was also clearly in need- but in need of what?” (p. 75). We have experienced this disconnect with students and asked ourselves this question many times in our classrooms. The reconnections come when there is powerful change. One student that I had was instantly more engaged as he counted down to his father’s release from prison. The change was profound to him and he literally joined the class. This would change again later in the year when his father went out of his life again. As a teacher I often feel helpless in these situations. You just have to keep trying.

Laurie’s participation in narrative practices changed dramatically during the period of time when she discussed the arrival of a new daddy. Changes at home and complexities in school have the effect of this ‘dual lens’ that Hicks discusses. Laurie’s engagement was again evident with the appearance of a new man in her mother’s life and her narratives again reflected this new hope of a happy ending. Stories, real and imagined affect our histories and vice versa. As Hicks notes Davies description: “we live them” (p. 85).

Laurie’s later interests in writing and drawing about horses, magical places, and fairies and mythical creatures demonstrate the importance of narrative to her: to recreate the life that she wanted to live. The wonderful second grade teacher is somewhat able to bring her out of her imagined spaces in the classroom. The idea of a whole child being nurtured by narrative is evident here with this teacher, the remediation she receives and the tutoring and friendship with Hicks. Writing served to transform her needs at home and school into a magical, powerful, happy ending. However as she lived out her complex life through elaborate fantasy stories it was clear that the words were still not enough. She remained disconnected.

Laurie struggled, as many of our students do with competing identities that are shaped by literary. Again the readings reinforced the necessity of a curriculum that encompasses what truly matters to the students we teach. She suggests more focus on media, literary texts, and social events may have helped Laurie as she moved between her two worlds. A differentiated literacy curriculum, with daily writer’s workshops can engage many children as they write about their experiences. Hicks reflected that deeper exploration of Laurie’s stories may have aided Laurie and further built her confidence. It is certainly not a simple process to understand the multiplicity of our students’ lives. However, I know we cannot let the demands of the curriculum day prevent us from trying because it could mean changing a narrative like Laurie’s into something entirely different for a child.

I could relate to Hicks’ description in her third chapter of the southern feminine “good girl” role. I remember going to summer “church” camp although not in the mountains, it was in the south and I too was introduced at an early age to a similar discourse. While there are many differences, I can find some parallels between Laurie’s story and that of not only several of my students but also my own.

I remember being really “into” boys and the social aspects of school even in kindergarten. Although I was never formally diagnosed with an attention problem as Laurie in chapter four, I am convinced inattentiveness and immaturity were contributing factors to my early struggles as a reader. Unlike Laurie, I grew up as an only child with a calm and stable home life. My mom and dad also read to me and played board games nightly. Despite this background and support, much like Laurie I found myself to always be behind and unable to keep up with the fast-paced reading program. I don’t remember any pull out or small groups that seemed to help and I was not retained.

Many of my former students and their families remind me of Laurie’s story- functional in a dysfunctional way. One student like Laurie, frequently spoke and wrote of the “fairy tale romance” she wished could be real life, often mimicked and role-played scenes from home, and struggled with reading and attention had a mom just like Laurie. She was supportive but overwhelmed often herself with balancing the demands of providing for her children financially, emotionally, and educationally. I can also recall other students who were diagnosed with ADHD, began medication, and had similar stories to that of Laurie.

I can only hope that in these cases I was able to provide a strong foundation of support for both my students and their parents. I tried my best to focus my small group instruction on their needs and deviated from the regular reading program when appropriate. I feel this is our duty as teachers to meet our students’ needs and help communicate with parents the vital role they can play at home as participants in their child’s educational success.

Ruth Ann Timmons

While reading chapters 3 and 4, I found that I could relate to being the “good girl” student myself when I started school as well. I always followed every rule, did what I was told, never acted out in class and I remember trying to hard to get my teachers (especially the ones I really liked when I was younger) to notice that I was “being good” so that they would give me that coveted compliment. However, my experiences differ from Laurie’s in the fact that I was very fortunate enough to be able to maintain good grades and stay on grade level in all my subjects. I never had any problems with reading, so I don’t how I might have reacted or how my behavior might have changed or been altered because of something like that.
I found I could relate to chapter 3 when I read about Frame and Hicks’ love for reading. I discovered books and the wonderful places they could take you when I was very young and it remains one of my favorite things to do. When I was in school (and even still sometimes today) I was very shy and quiet, and when free time was given, I always pulled a book out of my desk that I couldn’t wait to finish reading. To this day I still carry around the book I’m currently reading in my purse just in case I might have to wait in line somewhere and get chance to read it. This love of books was a no brainer for me because reading came naturally for me as a child. However, for so many children today it is not so easy, and they often lose sight of all the things books have to offer because of the difficulty or the frustration they encounter. It is up to us to help them discover how amazing books can be whether they are star or struggling readers.

Kim Strzelecki