RE_5539

Lisa Outland-
Wow, this book was definitely different from The Skin That We Speak. I must admit I had to do quite a bit of rereading to make sense of what I had read.
I related to the idea of following students’ progress over several years. I was able to teach one group of children in kindergarten and the next year in first grade. I thoroughly enjoyed working with that group more than any other group of children since then. I do believe it was partly due to the fact that I did get to know my children and their home lives so well. I wish I had had the forethought to visit them in their homes while we were together. I think that is the missing link for that particular group. The author was so fortunate to be able to follow Jake and Laurie through second grade and be able to get to know them and observe them in their home lives. I am sure this answered many questions the author had concerning the missing links in their schooling.
I gained insight from the dialogue in the second chapter where the author is observing Jake playing with his sister Lee Ann and some cousins. The whole incident amazed me. The family seemed to be so careful with Lee Ann and was ok with her getting justice for Jake shoving her. It was so different from how I take care of business such as that in my classroom. Something as little as this one episode does give you immense knowledge about their literacy lives as well. I would think that the family would cater more to Lee Ann and helping her and see Jake as the independent one who doesn’t need help with his schooling. I wonder how this really turned out in real life.
Heath’s information about Roadville was extremely eye opening for me. I had never thought that when I ask a child to make up something or use their imagination that I might be asking them to lie, in their eyes. How many times a day do I stop and listen to the story that starts, “one time me and my momma . . . “ I cannot imagine not allowing a child to share their experiences, or dismiss them as soon as I have heard them. You can learn many things about a child and their family if you stop and listen. It amazed me that in Roadville children’s stories were not valued at all. Only the adults were given the authority to be story tellers.
The story parts of chapter two and the dialogues just amazed me. They helped me grasp the concepts from the chapter with more ease. However, I must say I was disturbed by the dialogue from Walkerdine’s observation of two preschool boys and how their gender played such an important role in the incident that occurred. I teach in a school that is very much like an urban school and never have I had children use that sort of language or be so disrespectful to their teacher. This really does tie in with what is taught at home to some boys can tie over into their schooling lives and effect their education. They saw their teacher as worthless because she was a woman. They had been taught this. They will not receive the education they need because they think women are worthless and the majority of teachers they encounter will be women. This whole section of the chapter really frustrated me. However, it did really drive home the point that a child’s education truly is tied to their race, gender and social class.

These chapters were a real eye-opener. The insight they provide into the lives of children is a an excellent reminder that our experiences dictate who we are in all facets of life. This has been the most difficult thing I've had to learn in the process of becoming a teacher. I grapple with this understanding on a daily basis. Our schools run on middle class norms. I was raised with these ideas and expectations, so this is nothing new to me. In fact, this is my comfort zone because it was (and is) my reality. I have to remind myself to step out of my skin and into that of my students each day when I become disappointed or frustrated by a situation. My biggest learning experience came as a first year teacher. One of my students failed to return his homework assignment. This was the third time in as many days and I was annoyed that he wasn't being responsible. I spoke with him, expressed my dismay, and punished him. It was later that morning that I found out that the father was abusing the family. The night before he beat the mother, who fled with the children in the middle of the night. This poor child had little sleep and was dealing with the emotional turmoil in his home. My concern? His failure to return his spelling homework. Can you imagine how TERRIBLE I felt? Needless to say, I apologize profusely, hugged the child (and didn't want to let go), and encouraged him to talk to me about anything. Regardless of what had happened, I would be there to help. (Given the way the morning began, I'm sure he didn't feel that I was someone whom he could turn to.) WHAT A LEARNING EXPERIENCE! Now, whenever something happens with one of my students, I ask WHY. And I try to be very kind in my interactions when I'm doing it. By gaining insight into HOW our students home lives are, like in chapter one, we gain a strong understanding as to their behaviors and motivation in situations in and our of the classroom.

Chapter 2 really hit home with me. While I can't relate to the manner in which the teacher was spoken to (I can't imagine!), I can relate to feeling a lack of respect for being female. A student in my class, I'll call him John, comes from a terrible home life. His father is not a good role model, to put it politely, and John idolizes him and everything he does. John's father curses at neighbors, with John at his side, kicks the family dog, with both actions garnering laughter from John. John has even spoken of watching movies with "naked women" in them with his dad. (Upon further questioning he denies it.) When I met with John's parents, he was incredibly disrespectful to the mother and was rude with me. (He wouldn't even look at me to acknowledge I was speaking.) John's lack of respect for me and the other female teachers working with him is evident. He does, however, respond positively to the male teachers who also work with him in the school. Sadly, he won't always have male teachers in every classroom, as the school systems are dominated be females in the role of classroom teacher. Because of this, John won't wholeheartedly embrace learning and education unless there is an intervention of some sort. A child's strongest role model is the same sex parent. Unfortunately, when this parent has a lack of parenting skills, children like John and the boys in chapter two are the ones who suffer.

Children are usually ready to share their experiences, especially in the younger grades. As a first grade teacher it seems that I can't get through a lesson without one of my students wanting to share something they're excited about in their lives. When thinking about Roadville, I'm floored because part of my classroom community is my students sharing their life experiences. I want my students to know that their experiences matter just as much as mine or the other teacher (PRT) in my classroom. By validating their stories, they feel like what they have to say is important. This, in turn, builds their confidence and self-esteem as being an important part of their classroom family. I simply can't related to Roadville.

These two chapters come down to one basic of importance: Our experiences determine our thoughts and actions. We don't come from the same life experiences, so we have to reach out to our students and their families to know and understand what is happening behind closed doors. This insight and knowledge will help us, as teachers, to reach our students on their most basic level of understanding. It will also serve to support us as compassionate human beings.

Kelly Mabe – Situated Histories of Learning

As I read Chapter 1, I fully agreed with one of Hicks’ initial statements: “Sometimes missing in research discourses about literacy learning are the histories that shape connections with school and workplace literacies.” Too many times in this data driven world we are always looking for facts, figures and statistics to mold and shape our thinking about students’ learning. How refreshing it is to see that there are researchers, such as Hicks, who are willing to look beyond test scores to see the “whole” student. Her initial paragraphs drew me into the chapter because I knew from the get go that this book was going to be “student-centered” rather than “data-centered”. Immediately one could tell that Hicks cared about all aspects that effect the development of the child both at home and school.

As I read further, I immediately thought back to my own childhood growing up in a middle-class family. I have to admit that I had never thought about how my life experiences might have been different from that of a working-class child. Now that I think about it as an adult, with children from both worlds in my classroom, I can definitely see the differences. For example, even giving specific writing prompts can show difference in class. One of my favorite prompts to give my students is: Write about a trip you have taken with your family. It never fails that 4 or 5 of my students will tell me that they have never been on a family trip. For someone middle-class like me, it is almost unbelievable that these students have never been on a family trip. However, they truly haven’t. Amazingly this year, I had several children in my classroom that had never even been to the beach. For these children, it is very hard to make connections with something they have never experienced before. I even this year had a little girl in my classroom who had never been to the mall. Therefore this shows that we as teachers need to be more conscientious of the topics that we ask our children to read or write about.

Moreover, I also liked the fact that Hicks was focusing on white poor and working-class children. I agree with Hicks in that many times we do focus most heavily upon ethnicity rather than on other just as important factors. Hicks states, “I was concerned that much of the educational literature on the learning needs of working-class learners focused less on class than on ethnicity, a hidden message being that poor and working-class children are largely members of ethnic-minority families and neighborhoods.” My school is a prime example of the fact that we should be looking at class rather than race or gender. The large majority of students at my school belong to the white poor or working-class families. Therefore I definitely see the importance in this type of research. I am very interested to read about Hicks’ discoveries in the remaining chapters of this book.

In Chapter 2 the interaction between Jake and his family is very eye opening. The way in which Jake’s family deals with the situation with Lee Ann definitely shows how his family and culture could impact his future learning. In this given situation Jake goes from being the oppressor to the oppressed. His sister was taught to stand up for herself against those of the opposite sex. It is amazing how this one single instance could change how these children adapt to the social world around them. I have seen examples of this given situation within my own extended family. However, I had never thought about the impact it could have on the children until I read this chapter.

Mrs. Heath’s discussion of the children in Roadville and Trackton was very enlightening. It was amazing how these two very closely related towns could be so different. I actually felt pity for the children from Roadville. I felt sorry for them because they were it seemed expected to be “perfect”. One feels that these children have been trained to be “normal”. It almost appears that these children are not supposed to be creative free thinking individuals. As a teacher, I do not feel that the students from Roadville would be that much fun in a classroom because they would not be free thinkers ready to investigate and explore. One truly would need a mix of the children from both towns in order for the classroom to be successful.

Finally, As I read Walkerdine’s work, I truly realized the power of discourse. The interaction between the two pre-school boys and their teacher was unbelievable. THESE BOYS WERE PRESCHOOLERS!!! How scary to think that children can already use gender/sex at such a young age to intimidate and degrade others. As I read this, I began to think about the students that I have taught. Fortunately I don’t think I have ever had a child do this to me; but, you better believe that I will be more vigilant for this type of discourse in the future.

Wow, I think I know how my students feel after reading Chapter 1 and 2. I had difficulty myself with some of the language and had to reread constantly to gain meaning.
I think I get the general idea of how discourse the student has experienced at home influences their learning and perception of discourse at school. I also agree that most students need to feel loved and a sense of belonging at home as well as at school to be able to open up to learn.
In chapter 1 the author commented on how the school setting sometimes is distancing and sometimes embracing. In reading these first two chapters I found ideas that made me feel both. For example, I embrace the idea that educators hope that education will result in change of oppression. I also agree that we are limited by our pedagogical expectations especially when it comes to intervention. By the time we meet the expectations of our curriculum in as creative a way as possible, our time is running out to go back and work with those who just don't pick it up as quickly. Unfortunately it is usually those students who lack the prior knowledge or discourse that would have helped them make the connection.
At my school our students are not making good Math connections. They do not seem to begin with a good foundation about numbers. This has been a topic of debate all year as we examined how we are teaching Math. It isn't the fact that we aren't teaching it, but seems to stem from a lack of discourse about numbers, time and even money before they come to school, that sets a purpose for Math. It also seems to be most evident in our economically challenged subgroup. As I read Chapter 1 I began to think about the NCLB, middle class practices and expectations and thought again about what a social injustice this is for those subgroups although this is supposed to help those very groups to not be left behind.
The quote that begins Chapter 2 confirmed for me why we as teachers must point out and teach strategies to our students so therefore they can begin to make sense of new ideas on their own. So many of our students come to school with very little prior knowledge about the world. Many of them have a large repretoire of family experiences like we read about with Jake and Lee Ann but few experiences outside of that circle or outside their home area. I like the idea of getting to know a child's background and social circle through home visits as a means to enlighten our teaching approach. But then also working toward giving them as much experience and knowledge as we can point out, as the books says "school and teachers can transform and create new positions." This challenges us later in the Chapter as it states "construct pedagogies that our students can easily move between at school and at home."
I embrace the idea of listening to and using the experiences and stories they do bring in an unbiased manner to engage them and empower them to learn and experience more through others language and experience which is exactly the idea we read about in "The Skin That We Speak".

Overview – Chapter One
The overview brought some questions to my mind about Jake and Laurie’s educational histories. I wondered if they will be similar to my own. I was raised in a rural farming community in Michigan. Growing up, I never considered my class. Thinking back now, I do feel that my life was sheltered, and I was very shy. I do believe that my shyness did affect my educational performance.

My parents did value education and expected me and my sisters to do our best, but the expectation to go to college was not present. We were not discouraged from going to college. We just did not talk about it. When I decided to go college my parents did help me financially. My dad was very good with money and made sure he had enough set aside for me to go. It’s really odd because I never felt like were poor or working class. I am not sure how I would categorize my economic class growing up. In my elementary school, everyone was about the same. I guess we don’t categorize ourselves; other people do that for us.

While in college, I met many people from all over the country. One summer I decided I needed to take a trip and see something new. I wanted to visit my uncle in California. He drove to Michigan and I decided I was going back with him. Everything was in place except for my dad’s reaction to my desire. He would not have anything do with it. He told me if I went to California, I could pay for my own college. I said okay and I went. From then, I arranged student loans, so I would not have to ask for help. Later, I decided to go to Japan for year long academic work study program. I remember my dad saying that I would not learn anything and I just wanted to say I’d been to Japan. When it came time for me to leave he gave $600.00 in spending money, and my mom made plans to visit me while I was in Japan. Now I am wondering, did I grow-up in a working class family or middle class family? How could a working class family afford a plane ticket to Japan? I looked up the definition of working class. I definitely grew-up working class.

Chapter Two
In Chapter one, Deborah Hicks describes a situation between Lee Ann and Jake that involves them playing with a box. The play gets out-of-hand when Lee Ann gets hurt and she starts calling Jake a “chicken”. The way the mom and the “mom mom” respond is labeled as a working class response. I do not know that I think one case study or even two case studies can be extrapolated to all working class families. I know many working class families that would not have handled the situation in that way. The text further states, “The ways with words (Heath, 1983) voiced by Jake, Lee Ann, and their mom and mom-mom reflect the working-class practices and values of the community of which they lived.” I am sorry; so far I am not buying this. You can not follow one or two families and say that this is a reflection of their values based on their class and community. How can someone state that one family can reflect the values of the community? I came from a working class family and, my mother would not have handled the situation in that manner nor would my grandmother. I do not think we would have been allowed to play in that manner. Is money the determining factor of class? On page twenty-one Jake is described as engaging in a “macho discourse”. There are plenty of examples in every class where men and boys portray a “macho discourse”. On the other hand, I have met many poor families where the children and parents were very sensitive and well mannered.

As I read further I am beginning to understand, I think, that cultural literacy researchers have one school of thought and critical psychologists and critical literacy researchers have another school of thought, but I still disagree with the idea that working class children identify themselves as “failures”. It is society who does that for them. I do not understand the following, “Children and teachers together can contest and transform the relations that position children as “failures” because they voice and enact working-class identities and values, or Black identities and values.” Again I believe it is society that deems them unworthy. Is this the point the author is trying to make?

On page 33 the first paragraph is about the “smallness of power” and how it is, “lived by women, girls, Blacks, and working-class people” This is true of all non-White males. All other minority groups are struggling for power at this present time. This is a time where I believe we have to be very careful. Our rights are at risk and there is an opportunity for real change, if people have the courage to allow it to happen. I am alluding to our 2008 election year. I do not think it is out of line to talk about it as we are talking about feminist activism and the powerless. When children see people of their race, gender or even orientation in positions of power, it is going to give them new goals and opportunities to reach for. Historically, we are in interesting times. There could be great discussion in the classroom, and yes differing opinions among children could be a problem especially when students discuss these ideas with their parents, but that is no reason to not have a discussion. It is time to validate all people. When I say this I include everyone from the poor to all races and those whose sexual orientation differs from that of those in power. There should no place for intolerance. When people feel accepted, they are more open to learn. It is creating that environment that can be difficult. I guess that is where critical literacy comes into practice.

This book seemed to begin as a difficult read. The study the author is doing appears to be an interesting one. We as teachers are often unaware of what our students are dealing with at home before they enter our classrooms. Students are often expected to meet standards set that are unrealistic to their needs. Jake’s home environment seems to one in which children are taught revenge rather than coping mechanisms. There is no doubt that how we are raised feeds into our educational, personal and social lives.

As I read chapter two, I associated it with my school. It is a magnet school that goes on approximately 18 field trips per year on each grade level. These trips are directly tied to the Standard Course of Study and are used to guide lessons. I feel these trips are a way for children to be exposed to the environment and learn how to communicate with each other and the environment. It also gives children exposure to topics that may or may not be done at home and the children are somewhat on the same playing field while on the trips. There are very few times when children from all social ranges can be on the same playing field in education. The non-readers are able to be on the same level as the high readers. The EC children are not being taught by another teacher. The struggling writers are able to converse instead of write their thoughts. The discourse that takes place enhances all the students’ comprehension and brings meaning to the subject matter. In my county most elementary schools are cutting field trips. Some schools don’t go on any trips. I feel sorry for the students who would never have the opportunity to be exposed to the world around them and make connections to what they are learning.

Walkerdine’s study was an interesting one. It is amazing to me that preschool children have already formed opinions about gender and are acting on it. I believe that it does happen, but it saddens me that at such an early age, negative behavior and opinions are being formed. My biggest concern here was that the teacher gave the students no consequences for their actions. How will these students ever learn that what they are saying is wrong if they never see consequences? Don’t we have a responsibility to respond to negative discourse that occurs in our classroom?

Beth Rigsbee

I must say that this book was very difficult for me to read. Even with me going back and reviewing the text, it took me a while to grasp some of the points the author made. It was not until the end of the second chapter that I got a little more clarity. I find it interesting how the author chose to do her research by using narratives of children’s lives. Although she cites other authors, it seems the bulk of her information comes from first-hand experience and knowledge of children. When we are asked to read research or teach a new strategy based on research I feel better when I know that what the author is speaking about is based on real people in their own environment. In this way, we can relate better to what the author says. Many times when we read research it is based on a study done in a controlled environment and the context of the work is not authentic. I’m sure many of us can relate some of what Hicks talk about to students we have encountered in our teaching or our own lives in some way. Hick’s book focuses on white working class children because she felt they were misrepresented in research and books. Initially I was not sure, if this is the case, but when I think back on books and articles I have had to read for class or work I can understand the authors point. Many of the texts were focused on other ethnic groups and ESL learners. I wondered if this is because we know public schooling was created for white middle class children and we tend to group all white children into this group. After reading this and thinking about the white students I have worked with, I think poor and working class whites may be treated differently in school as compared to middle class whites. Working class is working class. I think all children in working class families are misrepresented and are often overlooked in education. Many of the experiences, values, and literacy experiences of working class children are often different from their middle-class teachers’ values. In many ways, the way we teach and think a child should act comes from how we were raised and what our values/beliefs are. We have to think about the whole child when we are educating them-where they are from, what their experiences are, how they are raised, what are their literacy practices at home, etc. I try to think about my children’s lives and their experiences, but it is sometimes easy to forget. I sometimes think that children should act a certain way or relate to something that seems common when in actuality it may not be something they are familiar with in their lives. Sometimes it is hard to remember that, but I try to. I think it is important, as Hicks did, to connect with children by learning more about their home life and literacy experiences to find out about how they learn and interact within their culture.

The chapter on situated histories was informative. The example Hicks gave on pages 18-19 about Jake and Lee Ann was interesting. The way the family handled the situation does give you a glimpse into the children’s lives and how they may handle certain situations at school. It also gives you an idea of their practice at home and how these experiences shape their learning. Think about it. If this is how these children interact everyday and they do not interact with print in their environment, it is going to affect how they interact with literary learning at school. I know many of my students’ and their families interact the same was as Jake and Lee Ann.

The things Hicks write about can be applied to other races with working class children. We can see how many children experiences outside of school can cause friction between them and school practices.

I found these two chapters quite difficult to read. It has taken me several re-readings of them to grasp what I think they are trying to say. I applaude what Hicks is trying to study, how children use language to negotiate identities and knowledge in the cultural worlds in which they come to be and know. So often we forget what all the child brings with them to school (emotional and psychological experiences and thoughts) and try to judge them one-dimensionally. I often get caught up and forget that perhaps a child is stuggling due to an unforseen circumstance at home. Or, perhaps behaviors and values of education are defined by what community and family our students are a part of. Sometimes this is hard to accept as a teacher. Many of my students don't know how to dream, and all they see is what seems like the grim reality in front of them. I sometimes feel that a student's home life is my (and the student's) opponet in an endless battle to educate them.

I also appreciate Hicks's research because often I feel we focus on race and ethnicity, and she takes interest in both gender and class. I am interested to see how Hicks answers the question she poses, "How do our attachments to others form the basis for knowledge?" It is obvious that each of us are a product of our enviornment, but it is fascinating to think how much our enviornment defines who we are and who we believe ourselves to be. Additionaly, as Hicks touches on, it is important to consider how our enviornment influences how we view, treat, and react in classroom discourse.

I love the lines in Chapter 2 which speak of "moments of living" and how they have a lot to do with how children later engage with school literacies. How true this is! Teaching becomes difficult when the "knowings" and "becomings" of students do not "mesh with school literacy practices." Chapter 2 also notes that Heath helped teachers construct "culturally hybrid" classrooms where students " could begin to move between cultural discourses without giving up the richness of their community expereinces and language practices". Isn't this the question we have been discussing and pondering how to solve? If we are examining the mother tongue languages of any culture and their values, isn't this our challenge in the classroom, to "move between cultural discourses" without losing the cultural individuality of the students? I found myself asking, okay if she did it, please tell me and the rest of us how!

Sarah McMillan

Chapter one was a difficult read but the basic idea that feelings and social awareness impact learning, particularly in young people, rings true to me. I certainly concur that children are not autonomous entities that learn within a void. The author's larger goal, to encourage "liberatory pedagogies" for the socially inhibited (poor, working class)seemed to undergird the arguments in chapter one. I particularly agree with the author's statement that "It is when theory becomes distanced from what we perceive as our lived realities that it starts to lose its power for us as readers." That thought can be applied to the literacy learning within the standardized classroom when that learning and the accompanying instructional strategies have little relevance for the students because of their orientations, languages and/or personal experiences. This year I've struggled to "make meaning" for my students (and myself) when I've been required to implement strategies that do not seem to speak to the realities that we bring to our classroom. I have experienced first hand the frustration for my students and for me when I have been required to adopt instructional methods and language (all geared to the EOG) that have little to no meaning (relevance/feeling) for my students. If I'm overstating the obvious it is simply because I fear that our overwhelming obsession with accountability (translated into testing) in this state will be the undoing of our public educational system.

In the second chapter,the author reiterates the view that students (people) can not be adequately identified as disconnected objects of inquiry. I appreciated her attempt to align the thoughts of both the critical literacy thinkers and the cultural literacy advocates. As teachers of children, I think that most all of us would agree that children do indeed bring values as well as language practices to school that impact how they perceive the classroom and instruction. The author's reading of Heath supports the idea that children do not learn in a vacuum and that the classroom can and should become a space which allows open expression, opportunity to move betwen cultures. This seems to reflect a similar hope described in our readings in THE SKIN THAT WE SPEAK, which is a hope that the classroom can become a haven for open expression and "experimentation" with language. I would love to think that we experienced critical literacy in my classroom this year when we addressed our language differences with readings, discussions and modeling of different authors from different ethnicities and cultures.
I think that my students really enjoyed the study that began with different readings, followed sometimes by heated debates and finally culminating in orginal writing. I certainly enjoyed the experience and found it far more relevant ( I think the author describes critical literacy education as "empowering") than the test-driven instruction that I was required to follow "to the letter" in the 8 weeks leading up to the EOG.

Though my students are predominately black, I do have two "working poor" white children who struggle with the standardized curriculum. I hope that I may gain greater insight into the plight of these children as I read READING LIVES.

Betsy Baldwin

I think the method the author used to conduct her research on literacy learning was interesting. Dedicating three years of her life to observe and interact with two children in both their school and home settings had to be an enormous undertaking. The connection between children's cultural and social background with how they engage in speaking, reading, and writing in school systems "modeled after middle-class values and practices" is the author's focus in this book. Her two working-class subjects feel like misfits in the school setting, which often has rules and expectations that conflict with what the children are used to at home. She described them as trying "to figure out how they belonged in school."

As I look back at my early schooling experiences, I had a hard time adjusting to the school setting. I loved the home setting that was full of love and understanding from my grandparents and the freedom to spend lots of time doing what children do best: play. I had a hard time getting used to the restrictions at school such as having to sit "Indian style" on my bottom on the floor, which restricted my movement. Since I was a "wiggle worm", sitting still in this position for long periods of time was torture for me. I never was required to sit this way at home for long periods of time. Another school restriction that was problematic for me was the one that restricted talking. As a child, I loved to talk and socialize with others. I talked a lot at home to my grandparents, mom, aunts, uncles, and cousins. It was part of who I was, but the teachers seemed to detest this characteristic in me, especially my first grade teacher. To this day, I remember her name but I don't remember her as a teacher who liked me very much. As a result, I ended up discovering a sense of belonging on the playground during the recesses I spent socializing and playing with friends who acted and talked like me. However, I dreaded when it was time to return to the classroom to engage in learning experiences that seemed foreign and didn't make sense, but instead made me feel inadequate. I am thankful that things began improving the summer after first grade when I began attending summer school.

In chapter 2, I think the author captures the enormous impact of the home environment on children when she notes that the children in her study were "being socialized into ways of being, knowing, talking, acting, and feeling." This is so true. As a child in first grade, who I was as a person, what I knew, how I talked, and how I acted and felt was a reflection of the family I had spent most of my time with. I liked being me and was proud of being me, but as the author describes on page 20, my "knowings and becomings" did "not mesh with school literacy practices". As a result, I fell behind in reading, writing, and math in first grade.

Since taking this class and reading the assigned readings, I have revisited childhood experiences that I haven't thought about in a long time. Many of the off task and talkative children I have encountered during my years of teaching are children who are a lot like I was when I was a child their age. Being reminded of this fact has aroused within me a sense of renewed patience and determination to dilligently seek ways to make these children feel connected and valued in my classroom. Perhaps making their feeling connected and valued a priority will yield the learning results that I desire from them. "For as Code has suggested, there is no moment of learning even 'simple' naming, that occurs outside of relations infused with feeling and value, and formed through attachments with others" (pg. 22).

Vickie Howell

I am finding this text much, much more difficult to read than the first we've been using. I have found it necessary to reread much of the chapters two or three times to get the general idea, especially for chapter 1. After reading the Skin that We Speak, I was not anticipating this text to be more of a research paper, written in such a formal tone.

However, I found chapter 2 to be very insightful and I am looking forward to reading more of this text to see where this research has come from and where it is headed, and also what my responsibilities as a classroom teacher are due to these research findings. I am very interested in the two students, Jake and Laurie, and found myself drawn into the retelling of the author's experience with Jake and his interactions with his family members. I was amazed at how much the author found beneath the surface of the obvious observations. I am definitely intrigued to learn more about both him and Laurie as the text continues into later chapters.

One of the biggest concepts that stuck out to me from Chapter 2 was the idea that feeling and emotion are very much a part of learning. I don't think I would have ever given this a second thought because I would have assumed that this was understood and acknowledged by all teachers. Trying to separate life and learning is an impossible task! I especially agree with Deborah Hicks when she stated, "It is the value and meaning of a touch, the look in one's eye, a shared moment of living in which an imaginative space is opened up for both teacher and student, or caretaker and child." I firmly believe that times like that are when I share the most with my students. I am able to learn so many valuable things from them, and vice versa, when we are merely sharing our lives. Trying to teach without that kind of connection is nearly impossible, at least in elementary school. As a student gets older, this kind of connection with a teacher is not as much of a necessity, which I think is due mostly because students become more intrinsically motivated. As the author said, "There is no moment of learning...that occurs outside of relations infused with feeling and value, and formed through attachments with others." I absolutely agree! ~Allison Reese

After reading the forward and the first few pages of the overview, I began to think to myself—I am going to like this book. However, the further I read into the overview, the more repetitive and drawn out it became. I know that my role, as a grad student, is not to be a reading critique, but I think the overview could have been summed up and to the point in just five pages or less. I lost interest after the fifth page of the overview. Maybe it was just me…

I am intrigued by this book’s focus of study. From personal experience, I have not read much research and/or studies concerning the white, working/blue collar class in our United States Society. This book is on target for the type of socio-economic level and working-class status of the school where I teach. For these reasons, I am eager to read further to gain a better insight into the lives of my students.

The scenarios given of Jake and his litter sister are effective in demonstrating the social responses to situations in working-class families. Deborah Hicks made a comment about the tiff that Jake and Lee Ann got into. She mentioned that in from the middle-class perspective, one would assume that this would be the perfect moment for an adult to educate the children. However, this did not occur. The adults’ responses were direct and to the point, encouraging for Lee Ann to take matters into her own hands in the form of aggression. From the middle class perspective, I would expect parents or guardians to take this opportunity to make this scenario a “learning experience” so that the children could review the preceding events and reflect on them to make an informed decision about how to respond—making the child the decision-maker. Unfortunately, these adults encouraged the more aggressive manner of handling the situation without a moment at all to reflect. The events that unfolded ended up being “reactions” instead of thought-out actions. Although I teach in a working-class setting, I am surprised by the adults’ response in this example. I have never before thought about these situations in terms of social-class differences. Reading Lives is helping me to look past my normal expectations and see beyond class divisions. I believe reactions to events at home can also shape our interactions and reactions to literary examples in the classroom.

Discovering a child’s home environment can be tough. Children are sometimes reluctant to share things about home unless they do so from a different angle. In my classroom, I have journal writing throughout the week. The children meet later at the rug and share their journal writings out loud so that others may hear about their experiences. I find that through this one activity, I gain a much greater insight in my students’ lives. Through this week’s readings, I have discovered that there is an even greater relationship between home experiences and the classroom setting. Children are a product of their environment. It is up to us, as teachers, to give them a strong foundation by creating a bridge between their learned behaviors from home to their learning at school.

Written by Heather Holland

I found it very challenging reading this text. I had to read some parts more than once.

I believe doing a research project for three years could prove to be very beneficial. As with Jake and Laurie, the author can learn so much by following them through kindergarten-2nd grade. I would love to have the opportunity to research for this time frame. I just finished a research project in Teacher as Researcher. My time spent on the project was about six weeks. I would have loved to follow these children for a year or longer to see if it made a difference.

I found the transcript with Sean, Terry and Miss Baxter very disturbing. I guess the language they were using was a learned social behavior from home. The language must have been what was spoken in their home. This reminds me of some incidents from my classrooms. The language was not directed at me by the child. Thank goodness! If I had been in a situation like this one, I do not believe I would have been very tolerant. The first situation happened several years ago with some African-American children. A boy in my class was going around saying that someone was doing the nasty. That was a first for me in the classroom. I tried not to over react but spoke with the child and told him that the language was not appropriate. After talking with mom, the child did not say this anymore. I believe that a child needs to be taught that the language is not acceptable in the classroom. A teacher can do this without making the child feel bad about himself or his home. The next situation happened last Friday with a girl in my kindergarten class. She did not exhibit this particular behavior like the preschoolers did but the language used in her environment was inappropriate in a school setting. She and I were walking down the hall and I had just called her mom to come pick her up because she had head lice. She looked up and said, "Mrs. Thomas, if you would keep this school clean my momma said that I wouldn't get lice." She went on to say, "My momma calls you name a bad name." I said, "She does?" She said, "Yes, you know that word that starts with Mmmu..." I said, "Yes." She said, "You know the other part starts like Fffuu. She says that word about you. That's bad isn't it?" I spoke with the child about the language and told her that I was sorry to hear that her mom said that word about me. I praised the child for using appropriate language at school and encouraged her to continue to use appropriate language. The child was caught between two worlds. There was the home culture and the school culture. She wanted to respect her mom yet she knew the language mom used did not belong in the school culture. I feel like this was bothering the child and she had to talk about it. The child is outgoing and speaks to everyone. If someone speaks to her, she definitely acknowledges them. Except, on that day, the principal walked by and said hello to her while she and I were engaged in a conversation about this language. She didn't acknowledge the principal because she was so concerned about discussing this language. Her home language and school language was definitely on her mind. What are we to do in situations like this? Fortunately, my student did not use the language heard from home. As stated in the chapter, "Somewhere too teachers had to confront their own racisms and classisms before they could see the richness of children's culturally saturated lives." I believe this means that we as teachers have to move beyond our biases. It could be language or anything. I could have told this child how awful the language was and made a big deal out of it. This would have made her feel bad about herself and her home life. She may have shut down and not shared any thoughts with me again. She may have shut down as far as her work in the classroom goes. Instead, I chose to talk with her about the language and how that language at school was inappropriate.

As far as the transcript with Sean, Terry and Miss Baxter, I don't believe responding with"You're being silly" is appropriate. Not only were they using this learned social behavior amongst themselves but other children could have heard it. What actions should be taken in situations like this? What do we do when our children are caught between two worlds like these incidents I have described? How do we teach them to move between cultural worlds? As Heath worked "alongside teacher ethnographers in her university courses, she helped their young students juxtapose community language practices with school literacies, as students learned to articulate language differences and move between cultural worlds." As they moved between the cultural discourses they did not give up their community experiences and language practices.

I found it very challenging reading this text. I had to read some parts more than once.

I believe doing a research project for three years could prove to be very beneficial. As with Jake and Laurie, the author can learn so much by following them through kindergarten-2nd grade. I would love to have the opportunity to research for this time frame. I just finished a research project in Teacher as Researcher. My time spent on the project was about six weeks. I would have loved to follow these children for a year or longer to see if it made a difference.

I found the transcript with Sean, Terry and Miss Baxter very disturbing. I guess the language they were using was a learned social behavior from home. The language must have been what was spoken in their home. This reminds me of some incidents from my classrooms. The language was not directed at me by the child. Thank goodness! If I had been in a situation like this one, I do not believe I would have been very tolerant. The first situation happened several years ago with some African-American children. A boy in my class was going around saying that someone was doing the nasty. That was a first for me in the classroom. I tried not to over react but spoke with the child and told him that the language was not appropriate. After talking with mom, the child did not say this anymore. I believe that a child needs to be taught that the language is not acceptable in the classroom. A teacher can do this without making the child feel bad about himself or his home. The next situation happened last Friday with a girl in my kindergarten class. She did not exhibit this particular behavior like the preschoolers did but the language used in her environment was inappropriate in a school setting. She and I were walking down the hall and I had just called her mom to come pick her up because she had head lice. She looked up and said, "Mrs. Thomas, if you would keep this school clean my momma said that I wouldn't get lice." She went on to say, "My momma calls you name a bad name." I said, "She does?" She said, "Yes, you know that word that starts with Mmmu..." I said, "Yes." She said, "You know the other part starts like Fffuu. She says that word about you. That's bad isn't it?" I spoke with the child about the language and told her that I was sorry to hear that her mom said that word about me. I praised the child for using appropriate language at school and encouraged her to continue to use appropriate language. The child was caught between two worlds. There was the home culture and the school culture. She wanted to respect her mom yet she knew the language mom used did not belong in the school culture. I feel like this was bothering the child and she had to talk about it. The child is outgoing and speaks to everyone. If someone speaks to her, she definitely acknowledges them. Except, on that day, the principal walked by and said hello to her while she and I were engaged in a conversation about this language. She didn't acknowledge the principal because she was so concerned about discussing this language. Her home language and school language was definitely on her mind. What are we to do in situations like this? Fortunately, my student did not use the language heard from home. As stated in the chapter, "Somewhere too teachers had to confront their own racisms and classisms before they could see the richness of children's culturally saturated lives." I believe this means that we as teachers have to move beyond our biases. It could be language or anything. I could have told this child how awful the language was and made a big deal out of it. This would have made her feel bad about herself and her home life. She may have shut down and not shared any thoughts with me again. She may have shut down as far as her work in the classroom goes. Instead, I chose to talk with her about the language and how that language at school was inappropriate.

As far as the transcript with Sean, Terry and Miss Baxter, I don't believe responding with"You're being silly" is appropriate. Not only were they using this learned social behavior amongst themselves but other children could have heard it. What actions should be taken in situations like this? What do we do when our children are caught between two worlds like these incidents I have described? How do we teach them to move between cultural worlds? As Heath worked "alongside teacher ethnographers in her university courses, she helped their young students juxtapose community language practices with school literacies, as students learned to articulate language differences and move between cultural worlds." As they moved between the cultural discourses they did not give up their community experiences and language practices.

During chapter one of this book I found myself thinking this is going to be interesting. I was able to understand her goal she wished to accomplish and knew how she accomplished it. I applaud her need for more research into this “put aside” issue of the life of the child and how the child learns not just class. Putting the history of the student together with hard core research to see what she could discern seems to be a great research idea. I applaud her even further for the amount of time and effort she put into this project. One day a week for three years is quite an accomplishment on her part and I can’t wait to hear the benefits of this endeavor. I was able to understand much better after her example from the story, “The Member of the Wedding.” You need to understand the life of the student to better understand the research.

During chapter two when Hicks talks about the myth of autonomy I think she meant that she didn’t agree with psychology’s view of literacy as “…a set of cognitive competencies.” Which I believe means that the learner should be able to go and learn these competencies of literature and everyone should be able to learn them the same way. According to Hicks, this has been the view for many years and I agree with this comment. I also agree that we should consider the learner and how they learn best and then teach them the “practice” of literacy.

I’m having trouble understanding the excerpt from the daily life of Jake and his little sister and two cousins playing. I think it is something to the effect of how you are taught to react in everyday life, the “knowings” and “becomings,” relay over into how you approach literacy in the school setting or anything else for that matter. The second half of chapter two went by a little more smoothly than chapter one and the first part of chapter two. I will probably try to get the book “Ways with Words” because of how interesting it sounds. I particularly like the part about. And especially after reading this I understand a little better about the excerpt on Jake.

I am having much more difficulty commenting on this book than I did the last. I spend a great deal more time trying to wrap my head around the ideas the author is trying to explain. Hopefully that was just for the first two chapters of her trying to explain everything. Anyone else having this issue?

Children become who they are through their senses by what they feel, do, see, smell, hear, and even taste. What we experience as people, shapes our language and even affects what we believe and how we act. I agree with the statement Hicks makes, "Language is not simply a communicative tool; it is imbued with, drenched by, the particular relations and feelings that children experience as they learn language and as they move on from there to develop literacy."

In the Overview written by Hicks she explains the research she has conducted, who she researches, when, and for how long her research takes place. Hicks writes about the history of two children and how such history shapes literacy experiences in children. Her goal was to research the life experiences of these children so that it could help educate educators and enhance the learning that takes place in their classrooms. Hicks engaged in a three year research project where she could explore the affects of literacy on children that come from working class families. The two students remained in the same classroom so that research could be conducted on the same day. Her hope is by researching these students it can possibly create educational change.

Reading this book really opened my eyes to how quickly we are shaped in our thinking and learning and even beliefs of ourselves just in a matter of time from the experiences we are placed in. Hicks gives and example from MCCullers, "The Member of the Wedding", on how Frankie had a new sense of social belonging just from the changes that were taking place right before her brother's wedding. At the wedding Frankie found herself out of place without a sense of belonging. The two students that Hicks researches, Laurie and Jake, just like Frankie needed to find a way to belong in school. They had to learn to write and live a different way in the classroom. Thinking about Laurie and Jake has really has opening my eyes to being more understanding to how children must feel that have to struggle through writing when their dialect is different.

I could relate to Hicks statement about how teachers feel pressured to make sure that children are meeting grade-level expectations. This does make it difficult and frustrating for both the teachers and students when they are pressured to learn at a pace and level that is not right or comfortable to them. I too like Hicks connect my evolving work in the classroom to the reflections of my past. Yes, the past does shape who we are. I think that we can bring rich experiences, values, or beliefs to our classroom just from the things we have experienced in our lives. I too remember reading the Golden Books and still have this collection now in my self-selected reading library. The immagination I learned as a child helps me to be creative in my classroom. This is the type of research Hicks refers to. In her research she investigates how the ways of everyday life shape our language and learning.

In chapter 2 Hicks agrues that literacy learning in part comes from moments that the children are playing at home or at school. She gives an example where Jake is playing with boxes when Lee Ann calls him a chicken so he pushes her down. The family sides with Lee Ann and tells her to kick Jake's butt and jump on the boxes he is on. I totally didn't agree with the way Jake was disciplined. Jake could have been hurt really bad if the box would have crushed when they jumped on him. Also, Lee Ann and Jake have learned that it is ok to hit back. In a school setting, Lee Ann would have been in a lot of trouble for kicking or hitting him back, but these are their ways of being, knowing, talking, acting, and feeling. I can totally see how this type of oral language learning would have an impact in school and their literacy learning. This example did make me think and helped me to come to a better understanding about why some students don't come to us with the same social skills we as teachers would require from them. It makes sense that knowing how to feel and act are part of the modeling of language people have been exposed to.

The book talks about how Roadville children learn community ways of learning and talking that contradict the schools approach to stories. Reading this really opened my eyes and has really helped me to better understand the whys when trying to understand why students act the way they do. The shaping of what children know, also comes from the media, stories, film, comic books, and talk.

Hicks writes, "The specificities of history, locality, and class can sometimes be oddly missing from educational discourses that strive toward getting students to read and write critically." I do believe that the history and background knowledge of all of our students are things that we as educators don't know about each of our students. I do believe that if we knew more about our students, we could possibly understand the best ways to help them attain a better literacy education. My question is now how do you find the time to learn more about each of your students and what are other ways to do this? There are parents that come in frequently and those are the students it becomes easy to learn more about, but what about the students whose parents don't come to conferences, won't send in the background information survey, don't send back notes, or even Keeping-In-Touch folders? Many times these are the students that don't speak up either. I do feel home visits would be helpful, but now you have administrative officials informing staff members not to visit homes without witnesses for safety reasons. Such safety issues makes it even more difficult to connect with the histories of our students. I have realized that I am going to have to be certain I set up more times during my day, like during morning meeting, to learn about my students histories and who they are by letting them talk. The challenges as an educator will be to incorporate so many different learning styles to meet each individual student's learning needs with each having such a wide variety of experiences that they have learned their oral language skills from.

Linda Younts

These two chapters forced me to do some re-reading to comprehend the author’s personal and professional perspective of this study. As I read these two chapters, I consistently and subconsciously tried to convince myself that these complex readings will emerge into something that is so simple that it would be one of those “I got it ” moments. Well, I think I got it! Chapter One is about a study this author is conducting relative to working class families and middle class families, in which I thought the two, is the same. I always thought of my family as being a middle class family, however, according to Hicks' definition or example, I am an extension of a working class family. All I know is that, in my family, we were expected to go to college. If you were not college bound, we had better run to the edge of a cliff and take a dive. When I finish with this post, I will look it up to see what the two really mean. I do know that we as educators are clueless of what our student’s home life may be like on a day to day basis. When they enter our classrooms, we expect them to forget their physical and emotional experiences of home and conform to our beliefs and values of school. We also expect them to meet goals that are impractical for them to obtain. I must admit that there are times when I am more focused on addressing their behaviors, goals, and objectives of the curriculum instead of the child especially when testing is near. Hmmm, this is interesting. How often, we as educators say, if I can get Johnny's behavior under control, then he can learn. Maybe, if we took the time to listen, we could learn. I am a little curious about the outcome of this study because it focuses on race and ethnicity, which encompasses class and gender.

As for Chapter 2, I am still trying to understand the terminology “knowers” and “knowings”. Maybe I am too exhausted from the pursuit of obtaining copies of this book to read for tonight’s assignment. OR it could be that I am frustrated in my pursuit of tracking the order I placed for this book several weeks ago.

On page 31, I found it very interesting what Barbara Comber had to say about teachers and students engaging in critical literacy. From what I could gather, the scheme of this type of interactions entails “experiences”. In educating the child, we must think about what are their “experiences” at home. We have to consider their parental or guardian values and the environment in which they resides. We cannot expect children to conform to our ideology until they become familiar and experience those values and beliefs (Character traits) that are implemented in our schools.

Like many of you I found these two chapters difficult to read. In fact, I made a note in the book about it being "wordy." I had to re-read and make notes along the way the second time through the chapters.
In my mind working class and middle class are one in the same. I had always used those two terms interchangeably. I grew up in a middle class family, yet my father worked very hard to provide for the four of us. There were things we wanted but sometimes had to wait for, but we never had a need for the basics. If he had lost his job, we would have been in trouble financially. So for this reason I felt that our middle class family had to work very hard to earn a comfortable living. I understand that for the understanding of this book, working class means lower middle class or near poverty level. However, I feel that most middle class families today are living right on the edge of poverty. According to Ruby Payne who has completed research on social classes, poverty is situational and can affect many middle class families throughout a lifetime if circumstances change.
So as I understand the working class I try to keep in mind that children who come from these situations are possibly lacking the necessary resources to achieve or perform up to academic standards in school. Perhaps teachers should keep in mind that poverty is not just about lack of money. It involves a completely different set of values because resources are not the same from family to family.
I liked the point that was made on page 13 about teachers should "draw on listening, watching, feeling and understanding." As a Kindergarten teacher I model many practices and therefore my students must listen, watch, and understand what I'm teaching. Each child is unique and capable. I am a firm believer that children live up to or down to the expectations that we place opon them.
In an earlier course I learned about Gee and his description of primary and secondary discourses. I think that the bottom line is this: Children who can successfully shift from one discourse to another and be able to think about the implications of this process will do well in school. Naturally there are other factors that contribute or hinder progress, but students need to be taught that their primary discourse should be embraced and valued for what it is, but that SE and the language of school or workplace is equally important.
Think about students who are trying to learn a second language in school. They are taught and expected to speak using correct pronunciation, spelling, verb usage, etc. The most comfortable form of communication is the language that you learn first-- the language used at home. So when ESL learners are learning English it is important to teach them SE so that they can communicate effectively with other English speakers.
I feel that the book we are reading is focused on the viewing the student as an individual, a complex person with a cultural background that must be considered when setting the course for success in literacy. Teachers should be sensitve to issues that involve social class, gender, or ethnicity when preparing to teach.

I have often thought about the topics that Mrs. Hicks brings to attention. The environment that children have grown up in and the people that have been their "others" have an impact on how and what they learn in school. There have been many days where i've made or someone around me has made the comment, "I wonder if they are doing this b/c of their homelife.....or.....I wonder what happened to them this morning before school." Environment, culture, class, gender, and race affect how children learn. I'm glad that Mrs. Hicks if finally bringing attention to this heated topic.

I grew up in a working-class family. We ate a constant diet of hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, and peanut butter and jelly. I thought i was in heaven! Looking back though, i realize it was b/c we just didn't have much money. Mom has told me that we lived paycheck to paycheck. Because of this, my parents pushed me through school so i could have a different life than they had. I believe this impacted my learning. Now that i'm a teacher, i see it full circle. I see kids that have tons of parent support and love, and most of the time, they do well. The kids whose parents i never meet, whom the kids never talk about, they're the ones that struggle. Does this have to do with class? I'm not sure. Based on my first hand experience, working-class did not hold me back, it pushed me forward. I actually think success in school has more to do with the "others" in your life, but who knows, the way the "others" act could have something to do with class. Maybe this confusion is why these two chapters were difficult for me to read. I got the main idea. Children do not learn autonomously, they learn through their "attachment to others." I loved and am going to put up on my wall, the quote under the heading of Chapter 2: "Knowledge comes to form in human relationships. The world we notice is the one that someone we cared about once pointed to." I think sometimes teachers forget that they are the eye-openers...along with the student's parents. As mentioned before, some kids have no love and support at home, so teacher's may be some kids only caregivers. In this test driven society, teachers are quick to teach by the book and for the test, however, we lose many children this way. Just as mentioned in our last book, The Skin that we Speak, we have to respect children's dialect as well as their culture. I see how these two books connect.

The situation in Chapter 2 with Jake and his cousin Lee Ann made my teeth cringe. But, as a teacher, i have to realize that this IS how some kids are brought up. It may not be the way that i think is right, but it could be the student's "others" right way to think and react. So, if we automatically turn our noses to Lee Ann's reaction, we are turning our noses to her "others." This could have consequences in Lee Ann's response toward us as teachers. I look forward to reading more about Jake and Laurie's literacy experiences, home lives, and how it all fits together. I feel like after reading more of the book, i'll have a better grasp on the author's main idea.