RES 5530: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (Spring 2009)

Hi Stefoni. This is not my actual response to you but notice how both our titles are almost the same!! I promise it wasn't until I posted that I notice yours! How interesting - we were thinking on the same wavelength. I'll be reading adn writing back to you soon!
Amie Snow

Stefoni,
That was beautifully written and inspiring. You have a gift for language! I think there is a book in you waiting to be written.

I've found myself trying to give a little more thought and attention to my lessons this week too. I had fun planning a short unit for Black History Month. I'm using poems and songs from a Hip-Hop Rap poem book with a CD. I've chosen a poem/song to go along with each of several books on famous African Americans. I was excited that the poems/songs showcased some of the "non-standard" English that we've been discussing. I'm hopeful that it will be a way to validate/honor the African American culture and liven-up my lessons!
Jayne Thompson

You crack me up Stefoni! I’ll bring some marshmallows to roast for dessert! I enjoyed reading your piece because you were able to think about how these chapters affect your classroom. You were honest that many of your children aren’t struggling with language barriers in their speech but they have barriers in other areas that encourage you to find a way to fill them. Just like little kinders coming to school for the first time unsure of the world of print, some of your children have come to you unsure how to create on their own. Maybe they haven’t realized that the beautiful stories you read to them and with them can actually be created by them too. I wonder if some of your children missed learning that their reading and writing can and should have meaning and purpose – that their words can be shared with others and appreciated in the same ways that you teach them to appreciate other literature. I think I used to forget that part – I remember teaching fifth grade for the first time and I was given a huge binder that was meant to be my writing curriculum. It was boring and formulaic – I hated it and my kids hated it even more. They wrote because I made them write not because they were inspired to write. I’m easily drawn in by movies of inspiring teachers even when the acting isn’t too great. There is a part in Freedom Writers, where Hilary Swank opens the doors of her closet and there before her are the journals of all of her students, just waiting for her to read them. Can you say chills?? I cry through all of those movies and my husband just chuckles at me but those teachers are giving their students purpose for learning to read and write. They are showing them that their writing can and does communicate to others just as the authors of the books we read are trying to communicate with us. I think that the first step in helping students write creatively is helping them see that others will want to get lost in their Narnia forest because then they just may pull out all the stops.

Stefoni,

With both of your posts I have been taken back to my childhood. I attended private school all thirteen years and can relate to your classroom environment. Have you considered the notion that some of your children may be struggling with creative writing because they have never really been allowed to be themselves? Even as an elementary student, I remember the tremendous pressure placed upon me to have a life plan and be serious about accomplishing it. The amazing thing was that all of my classmates' life plans were the same as mine--we were to be professionals. It was not socially acceptable to aspire to be a mechanic, a cosmotologist, or a roofer. So in an odd kind of way, I did not feel I ever had a real choice to explore much. We were taught to stick with the script! I think much was lost in the race to the top. While your challenges may be different than those faced by some public school teachers, you must still meet the needs of your students. And they need to have their fires lit too. They need to know it is acceptable to be passionate about their own interests and not just the interests of their parents. Go for it! Kick out that pail, and be sure to send me an invitation to the roast.

I could not agree with you more about the power there is in sharing our ideas with each other and working together to reach all of our children. Reading that statement made me think back to my first year teaching. I was on a team with veteran teachers and I did not fit in the box. Our team did not really work well together. It was almost of it they were all trying to out do each other. When I would ask for ideas or suggestions about certain children or lessons I was often told "I don't know I just teach". My team looked down on the fact that my class was noisy and had a lot going on at once. They did not feel that my kids should be in all different stages of the writing process, have different spelling list based on their level or that I should have literacy centers during my guided reading time. They really frowned on the idea of me having a chef for my sub (Which by the way he was awesome, he taught the kids so much when he was there. They would buy the items they needed to cook, really cook the food and then serve it to that staff that that was willing to come and eat.) I was even told once(by a veteran PT teacher) at a SIT team meeting that if the child had a real teacher that maybe he would do better. At the time I thought maybe she was right and maybe I needed to teach in a more traditional way of following the textbooks. If it wasn't for my mentor, my mother, and my principal who believed that I was making a difference I would have probably done so. The next year I moved to a different school and was thankful to be on team that was nothing like my first. Although we taught in many different ways we worked well together and we thrived on sharing ideas with one another. Some of my best lessons have been generated off of another teachers ideas or lessons. In order for us to be able to reach all of our students and light fires for them we have to remember to work together
and that what works for one group or one child may not work for the next.
Amy Spade

This is personal favorite quote. In my graduation ceremony this past December, I had the privilege of speaking on behalf of my class. This quote was the first and last line of that speech. So long ago, a teacher lit this fire I have spoken about within me. I will never forget the great teachers who first engaged me in reading and in my education.

I often think of this quote and the idea behind it when I teach. There are some children who have so many problems that they have very little energy left to put towards caring about their education. I desire to be that educator who lights the fire within them to pursue a great education and life.

As for the teacher who suggested a "real teacher" might reach the child, this is the type of negative energy and idealogy that plagues our schools today. There are times when teaching by the textbook and lecturing are necessary. However, I have found that the days I simply encourage my students to learn with hands-on activities, they really do learn the most. It would be difficult for the type of "real teacher" this educator was talking about to light a fire in an student.

What an amazing post, Stefoni! I love that you are exploring what "thoughtful" and "attentive" means to your daily practice.
When I first read the essay about Forshay's teaching, I lamented that I had never had that experience in public school. I did in college, though, and I've never forgotten that class.
You know, I've been thinking about your comment about "creativity" and how it may not be valued at home. I would venture that previous educational experiences may not have valued creativity, either. I have encountered students who have come to believe that school is a place of drudgery and busy work -- not creativity. What a paradigm shift you are creating in your classroom!