I must admit, after reading Chapters 1 and 2, I was a little skeptical about the quality of knowledge I would glean from this text because I found it so difficult to read. However, chapter 3 was a pleasant breath of fresh air! I really enjoyed hearing the author's own experiences with literacy as a child, as well as her accounts regarding her time with Laurie, one of the subjects of her research. As I read this chapter, I found myself thinking back to my very first blog for this class, in which I had to introduce myself and my own experiences with literacy growing up. After having read the first text and now being half way through this one, I can honestly say that if I were given that assignment again, my response would probably be quite different!
There is so much more to literacy and its development than first comes to mind. I really loved what Hicks quoted when she said, “Miller argues that readers and practices of reading are situated within histories of locality, gender, race, and class. Literacy learning is part of these histories, not something that children do as a cognitive task divorced from their lives.” In one of my other online posts here, I mentioned how impossible a task it is to tease apart a child’s literacy acquisition and real life. I don’t even know why you would attempt to do so! How can a child truly, effectively acquire literacy without having real life experiences to connect to it? Is this even possible?? Everything I do in my classroom, I try to find examples from real life to connect to the curriculum. I wouldn’t expect my students to be motivated to learn such things without seeing the obvious benefits and applications for every day life. I guess the key issue here is knowing your students well enough that you can find illustrations like this that actually do fit into their schema of life outside the classroom. You cannot possibly expect to find examples for your students to connect to the curriculum, if you do not take the time and energy to discover what is meaningful to your students outside of school. Part of what makes this such a difficult task sometimes is the fact that, “all identities are hybrid”, as Hicks states. Every child can connect with a myriad of experiences and places and peoples.
Therefore, it is part of our job as educators to determine what our students’ identities are, so that we can effectively relate the curriculum to them. I think this is part of the problem with the education system as a whole in the United States. We try too hard to force every child to relate to a particular curriculum which may or may not mean anything to them. Instead, we should be much more flexible and find ways to fit our curriculum and our goals and our standards into the lives that these children live every day. I don’t think education and teaching can work the other way, which may account for the high dropout rates and low test scores and the insane numbers of retentions every school across America experiences every single year. Instead, we should be finding creative ways to meaningfully express concepts to our students. This is exactly what Carter Forshay, the teacher we read about in our first text who created a unit based on a jazz song, implemented in his classroom. It is this example we should be striving for. I love what Hicks ended this chapter with, “Teaching, like research, involves situated readings of students. We read students’ lives in ways that draw on our own histories as learners.” ~Allison Reese
Comments (7)
Hi Allison,
You are exactly right when you talked about the fact that we as teachers should find ways to connect our students’ literary experiences with real life experiences. One of the huge problems I have had at my particular school is the fact that many of my students do not have a lot of life experiences. (Outside of the particular town they live in.) Many of my students have not been to the zoo, the beach, the fair, etc. I feel that my job as an educator is to use literary experiences to connect these students to places that they have never been. By using literature, music, food, I can make these places “real” to my students. I feel that we can connect a child to any experience as long as we are willing to take the time to make it worthwhile and valuable.
Kelly Mabe
Posted by Kelly Mabe | June 9, 2007 1:36 PM
Posted on June 9, 2007 13:36
In my response I too referred back to that first posting, we had to do. I know see why were asked to write about our literacy experience when we were younger. Mine also would be different know if I went back and rewritten it. These last couples of weeks have given me a new perspective on what literacy. I thought literacy only had to do with what we learn in a classroom with a teacher, but it is so much more to it than that and some many childhood experiences relate to literacy. You are correct in relating what you teach to students’ lives. It is a way to help them understand what you are teaching and it motivates them because they are now a part of what you are teaching. We do try to teach students things they are not meaningful to them or the world in which they live in. I am not just talking about the United States, but what takes place in their community, culture, and everyday lives.
Posted by Danielle Griffin | June 10, 2007 5:17 PM
Posted on June 10, 2007 17:17
I agree with you that my initial idea about literacy experience is changing as we read. I too have difficulty relating lessons to my students prior knowledge because so many of them have so few experiences to draw from however, I see the need for creating those experiences for my students as often as possible. The reading from this class is making me reflect quite a bit on my methods and techniques for helping making those connections for them.
Posted by Sara Joyce | June 10, 2007 9:52 PM
Posted on June 10, 2007 21:52
Allison,
I totally agree with you that we need to learn how to read each of our students in order to do a better job teaching them in ways that connect with their interests and maximize their learning. I think the beginning of the school year is a good time to take the time to get to know my students. However in past years, I did not realize the value of the time spent getting to know my kids. Of course the first week was spent doing actiities to help me get to know their names and a little bit about them, and help them get to know each other. One activity I like to assign is an "All About Me" book. However, I never thought of using the information gained from these books as a tool to gain ideas that could help me manage and instruct students in ways that make learning interesting and meaningful to them. Now instead of sending the valuable information in these books home when we're done sharing them with the class, I plan to keep them until the end of the school year and use them as references to help me do a better job attuning my teaching to the needs of my students.
Vickie Howell
Posted by Vickie Howell | June 10, 2007 10:38 PM
Posted on June 10, 2007 22:38
allison,
this weekend i rented the movie "freedom writers" with hillary swank. she plays a teacher in a multi-cultural high school in la. it was an amazing movie to watch as this young first year teacher found out who her students were. their home lives were beyond horrendous...their lives were frightening. they were gang menmber from various cultures. she found a way to bring these children together and she believed in them when even the school system would not let these children hve quality books because they were not worth the money. it reminded me of this class and so did your entry. it is hard to get the respect of our children if we dont understand who they are. in this movie the children did not respect themslves or each other...let alone this little white teacher who shows up the first day in pearls. amazing movie...amazing movie for teachers that desire to understand their students.
donna byrd-wyatt
Posted by donna byrd-wyatt | June 11, 2007 10:56 AM
Posted on June 11, 2007 10:56
I love the connections that you pull from the text to write a very smart critique of how literacy is "done" and "undone" in schools. I think one thing Hicks is trying to get us to realize is that literacy is essentially autobiographical. Once teachers can hone in on that idea, then there are all kinds of places they can go.
I am glad that you have such a strong perspective on this and seem to be willing to move toward some reform if not only in your classroom then in your school!
Posted by Prof. Alecia Jackson | June 11, 2007 10:08 PM
Posted on June 11, 2007 22:08
Allison,
I enjoyed reading your blog and how teachers should be flexible and find ways to fit the curriculum into the lives that these children live every day. I have been trying to this ever since I have taken "Understanding Cultural Diversity," taught by Sarah Borders. She told us to find books and find out what our students are interested in and place those books in our classrooms so that our students will be able to relate too and will find school as comfortable as they find their home. It is then, we will be able to reach our students and they will become interested and motivated that will encompass literacy learning.
Posted by Shirley Mathis | June 11, 2007 10:42 PM
Posted on June 11, 2007 22:42