After reading Chapter 3, many things stuck out in my mind. The first that stuck out was the quote from Maya Angelou on page 35. She brings out an excellent point. Are we telling young people that because you have your own language you do not need to learn another? As an educator, I certainly hope not! But is that what some are being told at home? It just made me wonder. Something else that stood out in my mind was the media attacks on Ebonics. Of course I had never heard of it until the Oakland issue. At that time I was quite young. But I was relying on what my mother thought. She thought it was ridiculous. And she should have, because that was what the media was telling her. As I mentioned in the previous critique, I really like the idea of students being able to switch back and forth between languages, and noted that some of my students can do it now. I think this really needs to be encouraged. I hope to do it more in my classroom. And I hope I help them see the value in knowing how to code switch (and maybe they won't listen to their parents telling them that they don't need to learn a new language!).
I could really relate to the author, Judith Baker in Chapter 4. She seems to be doing the same things that I am doing in my classroom by comparing the home language to Standard English. Of course, she is going about it at a much higher level. As I was walking around my room today, I paid attention to what and how students were saying things. It really made me realize that some of them (not all) are speaking very differently. I think I am going to start making a list of things that students say that are not correct English, and have another whole group discussion about it. Especially after reading all the comments and blogs this week, I want to approach it again. When I had the discussion with them the first time, I said, “school talk” and “home talk” are different. But I like how Baker breaks it down into three categories: home, formal, and professional. I would like to try that with my students. On page 58 she says, “Learning a formal grammar is a choice a student makes-not a choice a teacher makes for a student.” And my question is: are teachers making the grammar interesting and approachable for the students?
This article (chapter 7) nailed it right on the head for me! I am always trying to come up with lessons that are REAL to the students. Working at a Title I school makes it that much more difficult. The students that I have this year are musical and physical learners. I am always trying to find a way to add a song here, or make a movement there. And I know that if I give them a worksheet on contractions, some of them are going to fail. But if I can get them to learn the poem, Puddin Tang, and then recite it by translating the contractions, they will learn contractions. And if we give it a little urban edge, they will really get into it! I feel that every teacher in every school needs to demand success. And just saying it doesn’t cut it.
I like how Purcell-Gates points out that the lack of experience with literacy in the home is not a deficit but a cultural difference. It’s taking me a while to agree with her. In fact, I might be on the fence. The teacher part of me is screaming though. I do understand what she is saying. I believe that everyone should be reading to their children at night. I think it is so incredibly important. Of course I do! I am a teacher! But when I put myself in a parent’s shoes, I can also see how literacy is not a top priority for their child. But as a teacher, I want to show this child that literacy should be a top priority for themselves. I think that is truly the hardest part of my job. Teaching poor minority children that literacy is power is very difficult.
Sarah Feinman
Comments (5)
Sarah, I can relate to what you said at the end about the challenge of teaching families that literacy is important. Sometimes I feel like I care more than they do. One of the things that I've found frustrating with our new "Response To Intervention" model, is that the parents have to sign that they agree to the process. I've been surprised by the resistance I've encountered from parents who won't acknowledge that their child needs help and therefore don't allow any further assessment of their child. Maybe it's pride getting in the way? Maybe I need to approach the subject more gently? I'm not sure how to make them care as much as I do.
Posted by Jayne Thompson | January 31, 2009 12:33 PM
Posted on January 31, 2009 12:33
I agree with you 110% on the idea that our lessons should be "real" (or even better "relevant"). If I think back to my years in elementary and middle school, the things that I remember the most are the days when we did hands-on activities and projects. I vividly remember learning about my various taste buds by doing a blind taste-testing experiment with my science partner. I understood the concept of a bazaar by participating in one with my 7th grade social studies class. Unless we can make information relevant to kids, they will have a hard time accepting (and, therefore, learning) it.
Posted by Heather Coe | January 31, 2009 9:39 PM
Posted on January 31, 2009 21:39
Sarah,
I thought about your post from last week when I read Judith Baker's chapter. In essence you were already promoting "trilingualism" in your classroom. I made that connection because of having a glimpse of your classroom through your blog for our technology class. It is so obvious you are committed to your students and you know their needs. If it is true that we cannot make the choice to learn Standard English for our students, then I think we have an even greater responsibility to make learning this other language so attractive that our students will want to add this "tool" to their boxes. I cannot help but think your students respect you and value your input in their lives because you demonstrate your respect for them by incorporating the things that matter most to them in your instruction.
Posted by Lisa Rasey | February 1, 2009 3:40 PM
Posted on February 1, 2009 15:40
Wouldn't it be wonderful if all of our students were read to each night before being personally tucked into bed by both parents and kissed on the forehead? This is the ideal situation and family life. However, it is so far from the truth for most of my students. I like the way you showed the difference in what a teacher wants and what a parent can do.
Teachers want all children to be loved and taught at home in supplement to the teaching we do at school. However, there are parents who have their own set of problems. Perhaps, they work two or three jobs or are single parents. In these cases, reading to their child will not be as high of a priority as feeding them. As a young teacher, dealing with the sad cases that children and families must live through has been the most discouraging part of the job. I would love to personally go to each child's house each night and read them a book; however, the idea is only idea and could not be reality. As stated, all I can do is encourage reading and show parents and children that literacy is important.
Posted by Brittany Guy | February 2, 2009 3:44 PM
Posted on February 2, 2009 15:44
Sarah,
Thank you for the examples from your teaching -- and how you are constantly thinking about your teaching through the readings.
I think it is important what you had to say at the end of your post about home-based literacy. You are right in that some parents just don't see the value of it, and that is a very difficult cultural difference to overcome. I always felt the same way, too. But I grew to understand that it wasn't my job to change families, but, as you put it, to make literacy important in the life of the child. This doesn't mean you can't try with "Raise a Reader" programs and such, and hope that it will have lasting effects after they leave your classroom. I agree -- it's so very hard!
Posted by Alecia Jackson | February 8, 2009 2:55 PM
Posted on February 8, 2009 14:55