RE_5539

In chapter four Hicks researches the affects that the social status of working-class girlhoods has on the development of a child's literacy learning experiences. She follows her research subject, Laurie, from Kindergarten through second grade. Hicks observations come from both Laurie's home and school environment. Hicks uses her research to make sense of how relationships affect a child's strengths as well as vulnerabilities in school.

I was sad to read about how Laurie's diagnosis changed her social relations of power in school to a more withdrawn "in a funk" person. It really made me think about how a student diagnosed with a disability is affected. As I was reading about Laurie who became violent in her struggles to get the emotional attention she wanted and needed, it reminded me of the many students in our classrooms that have had to act out to get attention. Maybe some of you know more about a ADD diagnosis than I do, because I guess I used to think it was more medical and didn't realize that material stresses and emotional strain went with it. If this is the case then it makes sense why there are so many ADD and ADHD diagnosis at low income poverity schools. At the same time, I question ADD and ADHD diagnosis and wonder how many students could possibly be out their that were diagnosed incorrectly and how this affected their well-being throughout their schooling.

This book has really opened my eyes as to how much our social experiences play such a huge role in writing and literacy experiences. Laurie's love For Nicholas had her writing stories where he was a fictional character. As writers, we do use life expereinces to help us write. In poverty stricken schools, especially, we need to be aware as educators to be certain we are incorporating life experiences such as field trips or mini-fieldtrips to give students concrete pictures in their minds to write about.

The fact that Laurie was showing great signs of becoming an emergent reader and writer in Kindergarten, but having problems in first grade partly due to the reading series that the shool had adopted, saddens me. I am sure that this is happening in many different school districts. Book companies are out to make money so they make changes even when reading programs are working. I admit that I do still go back to some of the old basals because I feel they do a better job of sticking with and building upon the vocaublary words the students have already learned.

My life was like Hicks in that anger outbursts were not the norm in my household. So it is good to read about her research since it helps me to identify with why working-class children sometimes read and write the way they do. I can definately relate to her comment that acting "bad" can be a means of gaining power for children. I had a little girl this year who acted out and wanted to be in control. After meeting mom, I understood why she was so vocal since mom was just like her.

In second grade, Laurie decided to be a good girl in school after seeing others rewarded for their good behavior. Positive incentives do persuade some students to conform to do the right things. Laurie's goal to be good so that she could get kudos from the teacher, is what many students do. Just by saying to one student in line that you like the way he/she lined up, helps the other students to conform. Reading about how she was a good girl in school , but not at home made me think about the children I have had in my room that are good in school but when you tell the parents how good they are, they can't believe it and say they are not like that at home. I have often wondered why this is. How developmentaly appropriate are the books that they are reading at home ? Are the parents expectations in line with the child's reading and writing abilitiy level?

As I was reading about how Mrs. Rhodes continued to use the reading materials presented that did not match the needs of struggling readers such as Laurie, it broke my heart. I'm sure there are many teachers out there that fall under this category. This year I began using our new reading series that our school district adopted. Only one out of three of my groups were experiencing success with these books, so I went back to my old faithful, Yellow Fish Blue Fish series. My students became more successful with with this series since the vocabulary continues to be repeatative whereas the new texts don't reinforce old vocabulary words as well. If we are not careful to select books that are on a child's level and even interest, they become distressed and unsuccessful readers and writers. I like Hicks believe that students need to read in books that match their reading abilities and build their confidence and motivation in reading. Laurie's second grade teacher resembles my classroom where my students are in groups geared toward their reading levels. I truely believe that individualized reading instruction is important to building fluent readers and writers.

I was fortunate to have a daddy figure in my life and did not have to dream about it as Laurie did. But I have taught many children in this type of scenario. There are cases that I have witnessed a child shutting down when dad or mom doesn't show up at school as they had promised. Some become violent and others disoriented and saddened by tears. I struggle in these situations to find the best solution to comforting the child who has been let down and yes it does affect the academic performance as it did Lauries'. It is amazing how much parent relationships empower a child's identity.

Reading about how Laurie's second grade stories were influenced from her social world, really has helped me to understand in more depth, why some children are able to elaborate more than others and where their writing ideas stem from. Truthfully, I feel that their needs to be a good balance in our writing program which includes both writers workshop for confidence building and explicit instruction to help students with writing hurdles. It is true that children such as Laurie will often embark in narrative writing mostly, therefore, instuction that brings about other types of writing genres such as letters, factual stories, discriptive stories, poetry, ect., is also a reason for teachers to occasional choose a writing prompt. Many of Laurie's stories expressed feeling of friendship, her likes, and emotions. I really see more than ever the importance of journal writing so that teachers can identify with their students. I wonder how many students are more fantasy oriented when they come from a disfunctional social life. In cases like this, I agree with Hicks that "maybe reading practices could have been brought into that more critical teaching agenda."

I really enjoyed reading this chapter and do wonder what beame of Laurie. Did she continue to struggle throughout her school life? Was retention ever an answer for her? Changing a school system to meet the needs of challenging students such as Laurie, is something I am not sure how to do, but I do believe that teachers will think differently about their practices with students if they read research about the affects of histories on a child as we have in this class. When we as teachers reach out to understand our children and hear the words "I love you", as Hicks did, then we know we have had a huge impact on the students well-being in school.

Linda Younts