I must admit I was completely turned off by chapter 9. Maybe I misread the chapter or didn’t understand it completely. So, I reread the chapter looking for a different message. Upon the second reading I did receive another message. We teachers must be aware of what we say and what it appears that we say. Children truly can tell when you are being fake with them. They can read in your body language and tone, they know what you truly mean. This reminded me that as our school year comes to an end, when things are hurried and rushed, that I do owe it to my students to stop and smell the flowers with them, if you will. As a kindergarten teacher, I often play the maternal away from home role for my kids. I try to make sure that my kids know I care about them and want the very best for them, but I expect them to do their best whether it is in work or behavior. I think I have done a fairly good job with this over the past several years. I think this because my students are generally well behaved, understand when they may need to be a little more behaved (such as walking down the hall during EOG testing) and they give me all they have in their work. I think this balance is something that new teacher’s struggle with in beginning their career. They have to look to veteran teacher’s who are a positive role model as well as just gain some experience teaching to achieve this balance. If they don’t, it’s been my experience that most will leave the teaching field.
Once again while reading this book I came back to the thoughts that we must meet our student’s halfway language wise. Part of what makes us unique is all the different ways we speak. I think about our state as just one example. I am from the mountains of NC. I can speak the Appalachia dialect, which I refer to as my country dialect. However, when I married I moved to the northeastern corner of the state. That area of the state has it’s own dialect. I truly did not understand a word my father-in-law said to me the first time I met him. I remember vividly one of the waitresses at the local greasy spoon mentioned to someone else that a customer had spilled their drink on the flow next to the doe (on the floor next to the door) and then something else about the brine kie (brown cow). I quickly discovered people carry things everywhere in the northeastern corner of the state, including the need to carry their car uptown to be serviced. Needless to say, after living there for four years I certainly learned how to understand this dialect. And yes, I now carry things places instead of taking them, it rubbed off on me, what can I say? While living in that area of the state, it was a short ride to the outer banks. I quickly learned that this area of the state also has it’s own dialect that includes words such as hoi toyders (high tiders). Our state has such rich wonderful dialects in it, how could we not be accepting of other dialects or versions of English. Many of my students are ESL; I continue to think that we have to be accepting of their dialect of English, if you will, as we would anyone else. They bring such a wonderful flow and sound to English just as many dialects do. We are truly missing out if don’t become more accepting of dialects, versions of English, translated English, etc.
The story in Chapter 12 concerning the journalism students saddened me. How terrible they must have felt to be sitting there waiting to receive an award and be afraid to talk because of their dialect. We have to be accepting of different dialects, but I can definitely see the need to present Standard English so this would not happen to anyone else. However, the flip side of this to me is why the children felt inferior in the first place. Why is it perceived that speaking one way is so much better than the other? How did Standard English take such a front seat and why is it still driving the car? Yes, I see the need so that we can all communicate on the same level without additional misunderstandings, but when do we stop and grasp the richness and beauty in our own unique dialects? I think that while we have to teach Standard English so our students can survive in the business world, we need to continue to find new ways to incorporate their dialects into our everyday classroom situations.
Comments (7)
It is so interesting how our reading and discussions have changed my perspective on language.
I agree with you that we as teachers must continue to find ways to incorporate dialect and heritage into our classroom. Perhaps if we do this we can affect a change that will make our students more accepting of others and their language. We can become a small movement toward change.
I enjoyed reading about your experience when moving to a different part of the state. Sometimes it takes a move to open up our world a bit.
Posted by Sara Joyce | June 1, 2007 11:32 AM
Posted on June 1, 2007 11:32
Lisa,
I agree that students need to be appreciated and loved at this time of year especially. I work hard to give all my children an opportunity to feel connected with me. I like to attend functions for them that they invite me to and also talk to them about their home life. They should not always have to see me in the role of their teacher. I like to get to know them as much as they enjoy learning about my life outside of school.
beth rigsbee
Posted by Beth Rigsbee | June 3, 2007 2:19 PM
Posted on June 3, 2007 14:19
Lisa,
What wonderful examples of the language richness in our very own state! It made me also think about how ELL have to sift through these dialects -- what a whirlwind!
Your enthusiasm and positive attitude toward language difference is a real plus. Your students are lucky.
Alecia Jackson
Posted by Prof. Alecia Jackson | June 3, 2007 8:01 PM
Posted on June 3, 2007 20:01
Lisa,
I enjoyed reading about your experiences in other parts of North Carolina. I can relate somewhat. When I moved to South Boston, Virginia with my husband, they definitely spoke a different dialect than I did. There would be times I couldn't understand what my mother-in-law was saying and I would have to ask her to repeat herself. We can miss out, as you said, if we are not accepting of these different dialects. We do need to find ways to incorporate them in the classroom.
Posted by Dawn Thomas | June 3, 2007 10:32 PM
Posted on June 3, 2007 22:32
Lisa,
I believe the reason Standard English has become so dominate is because it is the language of power. It is the language of the rich. Look at who runs our government. For the most part it is all rich white men. Last night during the democratic debates an important question was raised. The question was referring to making English the official language of the United States. There were only two candidates that spoke against this. Hillary Clinton explained that English was already the national language, and if we change it to make it official there would be many legal implications. I believe many people do not know the difference between "national" and "official". If English becomes official there will be no more translation of legal documents into other languages. There will be no more interpreters available to translate in hospitals. I am also certain that foreign language teaching will be less of a priority. We must educate people of the difference between “national” and “official”. On the other hand, “national” means that to become a U.S. citizen you must be able to speak English, and that English is the language of the business world in this country.
Laura Wollpert
Posted by Laura Wollpert | June 4, 2007 10:04 AM
Posted on June 4, 2007 10:04
Lisa,
I agree with you, children can tell when you are fake with them. Honesty is always the best policy. Children do a better job in the classroom when they have a good relationship with the teacher. Teachers must build a trusting relationship with their students in order to create a classroom that generates learning. I too had to look to the Veteran teachers when I first began teaching and remember it awkward that I didn't connect as naturally and as easily with them as I do now with my students. It's the little things that you don't learn in college that helps to build a bond with your students. Little things that help teachers connect with their students, can be something as simple as understanding their bathroom needs or providing them food when they are hungry.
Your story about your father-in-laws northeastern dialect was very interesting. It is true that the people we are around tend to rub off on us. Even our dialect begins to alter after being around people from different cultures after a while.
I too was saddened by the Journalism students fear to speak out. What is even sadder is to think about how many students out in our world feel the same way. We are a judging society, therefore unfortunately we will always encounter someone deciding which dialect is better than the other.
Linda Younts
Posted by Linda Younts | June 4, 2007 10:21 PM
Posted on June 4, 2007 22:21
The journalism story broke my heart as well. I was trying to put myself into their shoes and I pictured myself trying to speak Spanish in front of many people. And even though I think they would applaud the attempt I was making, I just can’t consider that the same thing. This may sound odd but I think that we are a nation that many other nations look up to, if that is possible. I wouldn’t worry about how I sounded as much in front of a group of people in a different country as I think someone else would here. I am not sure what has caused me to think this, probably the fact that I have not traveled outside of this country very much, but it makes me feel a little ashamed of myself for some reason. Why shouldn’t I feel as uncomfortable as those students did if I were in their situation? This is most definitely something I am going to have to study further about myself. ~Kristen Billings
Posted by Kristen Billings | June 4, 2007 10:50 PM
Posted on June 4, 2007 22:50