RE_5539

Betsy,
As I read the comment by Ladson-Billings, I had to think about my own school and students. I feel teachers sometimes get overwhelmed, give in to mediocrity, or allow children to give up including myself. I hope I have not done it, but unconsciously I cannot say I have not. After reading this chapter this weekend and writing my response yesterday, this afternoon I encountered a teacher in the hallway and she just finished reteaching with a group of her 3rd graders who did not pass the EOG the first time. She was frustrated with two students, and one happened to be a Special Ed student who was exited a few months ago. She told me how they played during tutoring and how she made the comment, “if you want to fail then go ahead, but don’t sit here and cause everyone else to miss out”. When she said this, I did not know what to say to her, but I went and spoke with the child. My mind went back to that chapter in the book that spoke about teachers allowing students to fail.
I think children can acquire slang, rap, etc easier because it is interesting to them and they can relate to their peers. I too like how Baker interacted with her children and the way she made the learning environment relevant for all her students. The three forms of English is something I think teachers could probably introduce into their classrooms and have some success with especially with older students. I think that it is good to provide students with many models of what you what them to do. The way you integrated the poets into your poetry lessons with your students seem to have been very interesting to them. Sometimes children need a poet or author’s work to model in order to get their own language flowing just as Forshay did.

Betsey,

I too had the same reaction from reading Chapter 7. At first I was almost defensive, but then I began to see what Gladson-Billings said in a different light. I have 100 7th graders. Some of them simply will not do work. All year I have struggled to find something, anything that will motivate them. I have had some successes with music, sports, movies, but I will be honest, it is tough to motivate someone who feels they have already failed. I will continue to try to make sure they are not given permission to fail.

I too saw many of my students this year as "disadvanted" due to poverty rather than ethnicity. As we have told students many times this year, you may not have the power over what happens to you, but you do have the power to choose how you react to it. I often wonder, as you, do my students see themselves disadvanted because they are a minority in our community. Our African American population is bused out of East Winston Salem to Kernersville. They know it, and often refer to the "black kid" bus or the "white kid" bus. Yesterday in fact, a bus was late that happened to be a bus that takes home a lot of african american students. I heard one of the students laugh saying, man this is the bus with all the black kids, laughing. I wonder how do they see themselves? Those kids have embraced their bus, their language and their community. They take ownership of their bus driver. I often wonder how do these kids truly feel about being at our school, and how does that affect their motivation to learn and participate in class, in a community that may seem so foreign to them?

Guilty. That's immediately how I felt when I read this chapter. I am guilty of releasing a child from his responsibility to learn and I feel terrible about it. For this entire school year I've struggled with a child I'll call John. John comes from an erratic home life that is filled with uncertainty. His mother moves from job to job almost on a monthly basis. His father is a terrible role model. John often brags about things his father does, like cursing at neighbors (with John at his side) and kicking the family dog. John laughs at his dad's behavior and looks up to him like he's the most wonderful thing in the world. Of course he does because that is his dad. John thinks this is normal behavior. I try to take his home life into consideration when dealing with John in the classroom. He refuses to participate, even in one-on-one lessons. John, who is LD in reading, writing, and math, doesn't want to come to school. He alternates between defiance and apathy in his behavior and academics. John won't do the work I know he is capable of doing and doesn't respond to the seemingly hundreds of motivators I've tried with him throughout the course of this school year. I have to be honest, in my mind I've given up. John doesn't know that I feel this way, nor will he. I am aware, however, that I'm counting the days until the end of the school year. (There are five in my county, in case you're wondering.) I don't feel equipped to deal with a child who has problems like John. I am frustrated and angry. I'm frustrated because education is not a priority for this family. I'm frustrated because this child has repeated kindergarten and is now leaving first grade knowing only 15 letters, 12 sounds, and reads on the SAME level he did when he entered my classroom. (This is after the hours and hours spent EACH day my my PRT and myself with this child! I've never encountered such a situation. I've spoken with numerous colleagues who have said the same thing. The extreme nature of this child has left me throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation!) I'm angry for my other 20 students who have had their time with me stolen from them because of the behavior of one child. I'm angry because these children deserved so much more of my time and effort that I dedicated to John. It's impossible to be completely fair to all children in the classroom, unfortunately. I try to be a good teacher and, as a good teacher, I feel guilty for mentally "giving up" on a child.

You have remarked very interesting details ! ps decent site.

Very interesting topic , regards for putting up.

I am glad to be a visitor of this everlasting web blog ! , appreciate it for this rare info ! .

I'm extremely impressed with your writing skills as well as with the layout on your weblog. Is this a paid theme or did you modify it yourself? Anyway keep up the excellent quality writing, it’s rare to see a nice blog like this one today..

You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be actually something that I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I'm looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I think that you could do with some pics to drive the message home a bit, but instead of that, this is great blog. A great read. I will certainly be back.

Hey there, You have done a fantastic job. I will certainly digg it and personally suggest to my friends. I am sure they'll be benefited from this website.

My brother recommended I might like this web site. He was entirely right. This post truly made my day. You can not imagine just how much time I had spent for this information! Thanks!

You really make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this matter to be really something which I think I would never understand. It seems too complicated and extremely broad for me. I am looking forward for your next post, I’ll try to get the hang of it!

I like the helpful information you provide in your articles. I’ll bookmark your weblog and check again here frequently. I'm quite certain I’ll learn lots of new stuff right here! Best of luck for the next!

Thanks so much pertaining to giving me personally an update on this issue on your web page. Please understand that if a completely new post appears or in the event that any modifications occur about the current post, I would want to consider reading a lot more and focusing on how to make good use of those methods you discuss. Thanks for your time and consideration of other people by making this website available.

I had to read it twice because my mind wondered off for some reason. I think it is because of lack of sleep. I do thank you for taking the time to post this.

You actually make it seem so easy with your presentation but I find this topic to be actually something which I think I would never understand.

The following tips have proven to be extremely powerful guides for organizing, thinking, studying, and learning in college.

I completely agree with you. I really enjoyed this article. It contains a lot of useful information. I can set up my new site using information from this post. Thanks so much.

I want to to tell you that I love such postings that help us in daily routine and make us comfortable through various options.

What is the criteria to contact you?I mean I like your offer and still on need to have it.

Data base finding is very good option to get blunders off and do things right and perfect.

Surly this way forward may also make a wish, and they can be modified to suit our needs and, most importantly, they are free.