RE_5539

Shirley,

You are so right that children idolize their parents and want to be just like them. It is their parents whom they are around the most so this makes sense. Your comment reminded me of a country song that I don't know the name of, but it is about a little boy who said a four letter word and his daddy wanted to know where he learned it from. The comment from the song goes something like this:

Daddy I've been watching you, your my buckaroo, I want the eat the things you do and grow as tall as you are.

Adults are models for our children and students, so we need to be careful about the things we say and do around them.

I agree that the teacher should not have taken his toy away, by doing so she lost him during writing. You make a good point that teachers sometimes shouldn't be so goal oriented and take time out to listen to their students to learn who they are and just what motivates them to learn.

Shirley,

I couldn't agree more. For children, their parents ideas and opinions are always correct (unless they're teenagers - hahaha). I was watching "The Tudors" on Showtime (awesome show, by the way) and Cardinal Wolsey warned someone about King Henry VIII by saying a lion should be feared only if it knew its power. Isn't parenting the same way? If a parent is aware of the power of their words on their
child(ren), they'll be mindful of the way they present thoughts and ideas. It's amazing how something can be said off-the -uff, and it can impact a child for a lifetime. Jake's dad made an off-the-cuff remark about college not being important, but that can have lasting implications that can strongly limit a child's expectations in life. Isn't it the responsibility of each generation to better the next?

shirley,

i loved your last comment...we need to be flexible and adapt not adopt a curriculum to fit their life. i believe life is about being flexible and if anything else, teaching is about being very flexible! we go in with a great plan each day...but sure as the world there will be a fire drill or a child with a stomach virus! and with these precious children like jake we must as you say be flexible to their needs.

i also agree with you about the toy car! jakes teacher had a missed opportunity! why did she not ask about the cars...ask him to bring more cars to inspire his writing...find books about cars. talk with him about all the kinds of jobs that require the understanding of the ins and outs of racing/motors.

what a loss. i agree with you shirley!

donna byrd-wyatt

Shirley,

It is so true, our educational system tries to treat all the children the same. This seems like a contradiction when it is our uniqueness and individuality that is highly valued in this country. Why is it so difficult to treat children as individuals? Wouldn’t it make more sense to provide individual goals for each child?

It is also important to provide parents with practical education to help them teach their children what will be expected of them when they enter the work force. If children only have one career expectation like that of their father’s or mother’s, they will most likely be left behind. We have seen this so much with jobs going to foreign markets. Skills need to be constantly upgraded if you are going to stay competitive in today’s world. Parents need to be aware of the difficulty their children will be facing. It is also an expectation that they may have to move away to find a good job. This is very painful for families that are use to being close and supportive of each other.

Laura Wollpert

Shirley,
I agree with you that Jake's identification with masculinity was a powerful force in how he shaped his relationship with literacy. I think that everyone who has read this book can now understand that Jake's interests were complex: they were tied directly to his identity. Take away the interests, and identity is threatened.
Alecia

Shirley,
I like the way you stated that Jake was empowered by his father and his sense of masculinity. Let me make this comment and not sound sexist.... I have found that often times the father figure who may assume the role as head of household holds the family's viewpoint on reading/school as the dominant voice when it comes to making decisions about their child in school. Example: if a child is performing well in school there may not be much said, but if a child is falling behind the father may suddenly decide to step in and express opinions and give input. Mothers may be more visibile in a child's school life as a whole, but the father or father figure seems to show up when there is controversy. Just my observations...

Shirley,
I was concerned about the toy car as well. But, i have been in that teacher's position a million times and have taken things away too, that seemed to be distractions. I wonder how many of those times the kids were genuinely using those toys? If only we as teachers would take the time to find out what's going through our students heads before reacting. Jake was inspired by that car, and it's a shame the teacher didn't read his story before taking away the car, and realize that his story was ABOUT the car. It's actually a good writing activity....having a prop in front of you before writing. I guess teachers get so bogged down that we forget to really think about our kids at times.

Hi Shirley!
I liked your comment about teachers needing to adapt sometimes to the situation at hand and be flexible. Don't we have to roll with the flow all the time anyway? Usually it has do to with jumping through the political and paperwork hoops, but shouldn't our students be our first priority? Those teachable moments (like Jake's car)are what we need to be on the lookout for at all times although sometimes we just get so bogged down in our own agenda don't we? Your comment was very motivating!

I completely agree that children need to find something to connect with in order to really get into the learning process. How can we expect these kids to do something they are not interested in? I mean would you like to be forced to read a book about something you were not interested in or would you rather chose it? That is the simple part. And even if you are forced to read about a certain subject why couldn't you be able to try to find something about that subject that interests you. Like if a professional football player had to learn to knit, maybe we could find a way to benifit him in some way. He could knit something for a loved on, he could do it as a hobby to help relax him, or he could do it to help with hand-eye coordination I don't know but I guess what I'm saying is why can't we try to make a connection with all our students and what they read? Because teachers are too focused on teaching the test and not teaching the individual student. Especially at the high school level this is a considerable thing to try to overcome because we have certain lists of books that we have to read for each grade level. I'm sure that other grade levels are like this too. But my point is, we still need to try to find the connection with the students even if it is a book they are forced to read. This is where I love to come in at school with my opinions on the subject when they are coming up with lesson plans and new books for the book lists. I really enjoy trying to help connect the stories we read with the students themselves.
~Kristen

Shirley,

I got the feeling while reading this chapter that Jake's father was king of the house, mom was a servant instead of queen, but Jake was the king's prince. Afterall, we learn in the chapter that Jake had been named the vice president of the family company while mom was just the office manager and secretary. Also, when mom was discussing the need for Jake's reading to improve and expressed dreams of Jake going to college, Jake disrespectfully contradicted his mom telling her he wasn't going to college and his father backed him up when he said Jake would take over the family business. These incidents give me the impression that Jake's mom doesn't have very much say in her home and receives less respect than Jake's father. It seems like Jake is learning from his father to not only belittle his mother and her dreams for him, but also his female teachers and their "stupid" activities.

Vickie Howell

Shirley,

You are correct in saying that most children idolize their parents and want to be like them. We also get a lot of our personality and characteristics from our parents that we do not realize. Being that our literacy experience begins at home and we are surrounded by our families for a great amount of time they do shape our literacy experience whether positive or negative. I never thought about how much our home environment plays a large part in our literacy learning.

I also feel that Jake’s literacy experience at home did not translate into his practices at school because of his father’s influence. If his father was more verbal about his learning I think Jake would have had a different perspective about school and in turn behaved differently.