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

Perhaps I have missed the entire point of this article. Please correct me if I have. I commend Elizabeth Noll for her insight into the lives of Daniel and Zonnie. I would love for their teachers to read this research article to see the potential that occupied their classrooms, but was left untapped. I was sad at the tone of dismissal in the teachers' comments towards Daniel and Zonnie. Daniel was referred to as "capable" but "totally disorganized". Zonnie had a penchant for writing poetry, but was pretty much left alone by her teachers. Her reading teacher, who Zonnie had a fondness for, didn't even know what her Zonnie liked to read. REALLY??? Is something wrong with this picture? If I notice a student struggling in an area, I try to assist them. They may not get it after the initial assistance, I may need to attune my instruction to meet their needs. Isn't that what teachers do? If Daniel struggled so mightily with disorganization, shouldn't there be some persistence on the teacher's end attempting new strategies for organization? Zonnie was walking around with a book of poetry waiting to be published and a hard life waiting to be shared, yet no one really took the time to know her.
Aren't our classrooms full of children similar to these two who simply desire to be known? Isn't that a central piece to building classroom community? In the Native American communities, Daniel and Zonnie were known. Their love of their culture, their dancing, their music was all well reported by their families. They knew what their children had a passion for. What about the teachers? Sadly, they were pretty much in the dark about their students. Daniel's teacher even commented how she saw him participate at the pow wows, yet made no attempt to connect that with his schooling.
Education at its best cannot be separated from all the other aspects of life. Instead, education thrives when it is intertwined, integrated,and woven into all the various aspects and details of a student's life. To keep school separate from life at home is a grievous error. Haven't we learned scaffolding information is a strong method for retention. The same is true with scaffolding a student's interests outside of school with what is occurring inside of the school. A bunch of adages are flooding my mind..."You can catch more flies with honey....", "They don't care how much you know until they know how much you care".....
In order to provide meaningful instruction, a teacher must analyze as much about her students as she can. Otherwise her voice will sound like an echo bouncing around unable to be absorbed by her students.
May I never fall into the trap of putting curriculum over personal relationship. May I commit every year to fulfilling the hope of each student to be made known while they are in my class. May my instruction and general atmosphere of my classroom be inclusive and geared towards success for each individual. May my eyes see beautiful uniqueness as I welcome each child each day. May my words convey familiarity and interest.
May I allow myself and my students room to grow and adapt to varying situations.
May I continue to be stretched and pulled at what the role of a teacher is.
Stefoni Shaw