RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2010)

When I think of quantitative research within a school, I think of demographic information, state assessments and grades. The teaching and learning that goes on within a classroom is more qualitative in nature, because there are unique features or characteristics of the teacher’s instruction, the students and their work. I was able to conduct an action research project while taking Teacher as Researcher. The research required careful analysis of several sources of data from two subjects. I know replication is not a goal in qualitative research, but I don’t see how it could be replicated. When I think of the research that I conducted, I could not find two other students who are just like the subjects in my study. The students, their needs, their work and even my teaching could not be exactly replicated. I believe qualitative research is important because detailed research conducted by professionals can add essential information to our current ideas concerning education.

Carol Holt

I couldn't imagine having to double think every aspect of my being just to be accepted, but I guess that is exactly how minority groups feel. To feel like you had to change who your are just to be "adequate". Language is a part of our soul and part of what makes us who we are. I think it is very important for teachers to gain knowledge about the home language of children. The example in the article about the employee that was brillant in computer technology, but her speech pattern was an issue. None of the companies could move past her language to appreciate her expertise. So, do we as a society negatively assess someone's intelligents and potential based on what we can only see and hear? I understand that in the professional world the issue is professionalism, but who sets the standards for what is professional? If I hold an administration position I have to ask myself, do I want the person that will do the best job, or do I want the person that will reflect my standards and what I consider professional? Who says that what I say is professional isn't wrong? If someone can't be themselves and be comfortable being who they are...that's sad. We all have students everyday trying to please us. Do we really want teacher pleasers, or would we rather have students that feel comfortable with who they are and have the freedom to be who they are? This goes back to the article when students' interests are addressed in school, they are more likely to connect with the school, with teachers, and with their work. Is that not what we want for our students? I think we must look at the BIG picture...are they learning what they need to be successful in life and are we creating life-long learners. Language is part of who we are and we must strive to understand the differences...it's a multicultural world and the teachers more so than the students need to understand the differences we have within our own classrooms. With that being said, I do strongly feel that students should be taught proper English and grammar and be encouraged to speak it. BUT, we must embrace who they are and the dialect that is part of their family without doing more harm than good. As teachers we sometimes listen to the way our students speak rather than what they are saying. We need to listen beyond the words and hear what is being said.

Karin Scott

My name is Marlene Wright, but I go by the nickname Marlee. I graduated from Meredith College in 1979 with a degree in Music Education and Elementary Ed. I have taught music, kindergarten and first grade, primarily. I am a kindergarten teacher now, in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools.

My mother tells the story that I wanted to quit school after the very first day. She says that I came home and told her I was not going back to school because they had not taught me to read! I have loved books for as long as I can remember, and I really wanted to learn how to read. I was that child who would hurry through work so that I could get back to my book. I would become so absorbed in what I was reading that I would look up and realize that my classmates had gone out to recess. It didn’t bother me, though; I would simply get back to my book and read until they came in! I learned to read with the Dick and Jane series, and I can even remember my first story. It read “Go, go. Go, Dick, go! Help, help!” I loved to get to know characters in books, and I read books from many different series, including The Boxcar Children, Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys, and the Happy Hollisters. I think that, as I read book after book with the same cast of characters, I felt like I knew them, like they were friends.

I enjoyed writing, as well. At one point, when all of my friends wanted to be movie stars, I wanted to be an author. I was fortunate enough to have teachers who nurtured that aspect of my education, and who encouraged me in my reading and writing. I think that is what inspired me to want to become a teacher.

Although I graduated with a degree in education, I have not always been a teacher. When I got married and moved to High Point, there was a surplus of teachers, so positions were difficult to find. I took a job in the private sector, working in customer service, credit, and purchasing departments of a local textile manufacturer. I experienced life “on the other side of the fence,” and I found that “the grass is not always greener.” Although I liked my job, and I liked the people with whom I worked, I was truly meant to be a teacher, and when I returned to the field of teaching, I realized that working with children was what I was meant to do. I love my job. It thrills me when a child looks up at me and says “I can do it – I really can read!” The experience of “watching the lights come on” for students touches my heart in a very special way. Likewise, the frustration that I see in children who are having difficulty in reading touches my heart – I want to find a way to help these children. This desire is what led me to begin the graduate program in Reading Education. As I have participated in graduate classes I have, on countless occasions, said to myself “So that’s what was going on with ___!” If we could only go back in time and work with those children again....

Marlee Wright

Hello, my name is Karin Scott and I am a first grade teacher at Fall Creek Elementary in Yadkin County. I have been teaching for ten years and I have been in first grade all but one of those ten years. I have been in the Reading Graduate program for two years and will graduate next spring. My experience thus far with ASU has been wonderful. I have learned so much in my graduate classes that I have been able to implement in my classroom, and that has been great!
My earliest memories of reading in school was in the first grade and reading Dick and Jane. I remember my teacher flashing sight words at me and I had to read the words back to her. The older I got I remember whole class reading activities where we would sit at our desks and take turns reading out loud to the whole class. This made me very nervous, because I wasn't a very strong reader. I don't remember ever spending time just reading in class, like silent reading time. Nor do I remebmer going to the library to check-put books on a regular basis. I never remember reading with my teacher in a small group or one-on-one. It was always whole group activities. I'm sure my teacher's read out loud to me through my K-3 years, but I don't recall any read alouds until later in elementary years. I know times have changed, but I think about all the research we now have about reading to children and best practices in how to teach children to read and I stop to think how different my learning experience would have been if only I had the same exposure to books at an early age. As I reflect on the reading opportunities that my students and my daughter has today to read, I hate that I didn't have the same opportunities as a child.
I don't recall my mother every reading to me as a child. I think it was becasue she and my father were so...busy working and trying to provide for our family. I do recall reading with my grandmother. My grandparents lived in Maryland and I would go spend the summers with them and my mother always made sure I hade plenty of reading practice books to keep me busy over the summer. Despite those efforts on behalf of my mother and grandmother I still struggled in reading. I had no interest or desire to read.
As I grew older it didn't stand out as bad and didn't seem to be a problem for me. After graduating with a teaching degree and I actually started teaching children to read in the first grade, reading has become my life. I want to teach my students to read and I want to immerse them in good children's literature so that they will have a desire to be life long readers. As I continue through my graduate work I am learning how to teach struggling readers to read and it has been so...rewarding. Several years ago these struggling readers would have been labeled, but now we are doing what it takes to reach these students and it has been an awsome experiece.
I am currently taking Children's Literature and we have read many books within all genres. We had two author's blogging with us and discussing their work. It's amazing how all subjects can be integrated through good literature. I have learned that the old days of using the text books to teach the curriculm are long pass. If teachers have the right trade books for instruction these books can provide more in-depth coverage of topics than a textbook while accommodating various reading levels. This way everyone wins.
I just recently had to complete a philosphical questioning activity with my first grade students and this was an eye-opener. Our topic was bavery and what makes a person brave. There were various questions I asked about bavery and we had a great in-depth discussion. I was blown away at the responses to some of the questions. Children are natural-born philosphers and we need to give them oportunities to learn and discuss issues. For so many years we (adults) have tried to protect children from the world they live in, but it's their world and they need to know how to function in it. They need to be prepared for what's out there and they are already thinking about worldly issues so why not lead them in these discussions and allow them to become thinkers and not just followers. The only way to guide them through these types of discussions is to share great literature with them and use the topics in those books to not only teach the curriculum but also life-long concepts/issues. By immersing our students in good literature they can learn about the world in which they live and my goal as a teacher is to help my students become life-long readers.

Karin Scott

Hi, my name is Carol Holt and I currently work as a Title One Reading teacher for students in 1st through 5th grade. It’s surprising that I became a reading teacher when I think of my early experiences with reading in school. I do have fond memories of thumbing through Dr. Seuss books at home and occasionally visiting the library downtown. But I don’t remember particularly enjoying reading in elementary school (1st-8th) or high school (9th-12th). As a result, I didn’t do a lot of reading on my own!

In elementary school we always sat in rows of desks and took turns reading aloud. Because I was so nervous about reading aloud in front of the whole class, I would always count the students and the paragraphs and pre-read my paragraph. Then I would continue to take a head count and recount the paragraphs. Needless to say, I would never fully comprehend what we were reading, much less enjoy the story. In high school we sat in rows alphabetically and I just never got into reading.

I did enjoy writing, though. I remember writing lots of stories just for fun and creating little books. I would take the stories when we visited my grandmother and read them to her. She always smiled and told me what a good writer I was. We were able to get a pen pal through school and my pen pal was from Japan. I enjoyed writing to him and sending him little gifts from the United States. It was always exciting to receive his letters and gifts.

It was not until I started a family of my own that I realized I had a passion for children’s literature. I have spent a small fortune on children’s books. I used to sit on the floor in the middle of the aisles at the bookstore and flip through picture book after picture book. I have a BA in Art, so the illustrations would grab my attention just as much as the story. My children and I would read books together any time of day, but we especially enjoyed reading at bedtime after piling into bed and snuggling up with a good book or two.

After graduating from UNC-Wilmington with a degree in Art, I worked in UNC-W’s Printing Services Department as a lithographer. One benefit for employees included being able to take a class a semester for free, so I began taking courses in education. It was a long range goal, but eventually I was certified to teach Elementary Education K-6. Literature for Children was my favorite class! While I was a stay-at-home mom I worked as a reading tutor. Once both of my children entered elementary school, that tutoring position became a full time Title One Reading position. I received my Reading K-12 license from ASU.

I love my job! I get to work with small groups of children who struggle in reading, and I try my best to make it the most enjoyable part of their day. The ASU graduate program has been instrumental in helping me help these students. I have learned so much about reading assessment and how to meet the needs of my students. I understand the importance of creating a friendly, safe environment, and the value of choice in reading. How do I feel about reading now? I think reading is wonderful! I believe reading is the cornerstone of all learning. I thoroughly enjoy children’s literature, and maybe after grad school, I’ll check out some good literature for adults. By the way, this is my last class! : )

Carol Holt

My name is Carrie Brown and I am currently a K-2 Instructional Coach for Cook Elementary in Winston Salem Forsyth County Schools. I moved here from Chicago 3 years ago where I had taught 2nd grade for 7 years. I miss being in the classroom and have been re-inspired by all that I have learned in this graduate program. As I don't have a classroom of my own, I spend time in a lot of different classrooms showing teachers how to implement all the new strategies and techniques that I have learned.
I am looking forward to taking this class because I have been teaching in an inner city environment for 9 of my 10 years in education. I am a strong advocate for students from low socioeconomic backgrounds and am passionate about the fair and equal treatment of all students. I also believe that although my varied experiences have taught me how to work with a diverse population, I am always looking forward to learning more about how to best understand and support my students and their families.
Reading is one of my favorite pastimes. For as long as I can remember, my mom and I would curl up on the couch together with a book. We still do in the rare occasions I get to see her! Although now that I am much bigger, we share the couch but our heads are at opposite ends, reading silently our own choices, yet in fact, reading together. When I was young, I always had my nose in a book. I recall one time my brother saved up to buy me a Sweet Valley High book for my birthday. I stayed in bed and polished it off in 2 ½ hours and he was furious that it didn’t last longer!
My love of reading just scored me a Kindle for Mother’s Day, which I am truly enjoying but I still don’t think I’ll ever totally give up the love of turning the pages of a good book. I tend to like mysteries, yet my book club has been picking some interesting novels lately that I have enjoyed. I have to admit, I’ll give a book 50 pages and if I’m not into it, I put it down. That’s why I am adamant about giving students choices on what they would like to read. I want them to LIKE what they are reading, otherwise the likelihood that they will learn something goes downhill.
My daughter who is only 11 months old, already chooses books over any other toys. I was floored when I walked into her room the other day and saw her sitting on the floor turning the pages of her favorite book (don’t worry…I got it on video)! As I am already doing with my daughter, I am determined to motivate and promote a love of reading with the students in my school both first hand, and through instructing their teachers. Once a child is literate, their chances of success increase greatly. The students that I work with tend to have more obstacles to learning before they even enter the classroom. Understanding where they are coming from and what their needs are is my job as an educator. Reading is the greatest gift that I could give to an individual and it is a goal of mine to give it to as many students as possible, regardless of where they come from.
Writing is not something that comes as naturally. In fact, I have never enjoyed writing at all. Therefore, I hated teaching it. That is, until my charter school in Chicago made writing our priority for professional development for the entire school year. We implemented the Writer’s Workshop program and I realized how writing could be fun. That year, writing became my students’ favorite subject. I would have to set a timer for us to stop, otherwise, we would forget to go to lunch! Now, I find myself modeling how to teach writing to a number of my teachers because it IS a very hard subject to teach. Everyone is at a different place, and has different needs. Yet, I learned a very important lesson: when students see you love something, they love it. Therefore, when I model writing, I model how much I enjoy it as well as modeling the skill. I have found that that enthusiasm can be contagious.

I look forward to learning from you all…
Carrie Brown

“There are times in life when the question of knowing if one can think differently than one thinks, and perceive differently than one sees, is absolutely necessary if one is to go on looking and reflecting on it all.” -Michel Foucault

My whole life I have felt empowered by seeing various perspectives. I often feel enlightened by learning about other’s life experiences and felt that has made me a better teacher. Seeing more than meets the eye is a key part of the complexities of this world. Looking deeper and reflecting are necessary instruments for my teacher brain. When I think of this quote, it reminds me of the way my mind has opened up to how my students’ educational experiences are impacted by their background, socio-economics, race, gender, and lifestyle. Within this class I recognize there is more to reading than just fluency, rate, word recognition, and comprehension. While I knew there was more to it, this class has provided me with examples to put a voice to my thought. I have grown in my concepts of how my students learn best and how unique my students are.
The Skin We Speak resonated with me in a way that I really never thought. Delpit’s provided with me a new perspective of how dialect is looked upon by the outside world. In my own southern speech, I realize that are judged by how we speak at times in a horrible way. “We must listen beyond language form.” I found it profoundly significant to find a word for how our language changes with our environments-code switching. I realized that it was a major part of my life in moving from different roles as sister, teacher, friend, and girlfriend. My boyfriends’ mom calls me a chameleon since my dialect changes with my environment. This made me reflect on how my students might feel in doing this same thing. I learned how significant it is to recognize that about my students and use their language within the classroom. I love her idea of “inviting children into the language of school by making school inviting to them.” This resonated with the other articles in that fact that from the start our readings conveyed the value of making the school environment interesting. I also found the same idea in Hicks’ chapters as she discusses making connections to students, for this it confirmed something that I have known from the start. To teach students, you must know them, make connections with them, and engage their interests.
In Noll’s cases study Experiencing Literacy: In and Out of School, I was enlightened by the different literacies that Zonnie and Daniel experienced at home. Daniel especially made me consider more about recognizing student’s strengths and praising them. I feel that I may have been guilty in the past of neglecting some of those strengths. While I always tried to pride myself in developing a connection with my students, I realize that it is often hit or miss. When thinking about students like Daniel who feel let down that they aren’t showcased in class, it made me sad. Sad because I know there have been times when I could only share a few poems or stories and there was a Daniel in my classroom. This article reminded me that it is absolutely essential to validate students’ accomplishments and make time. That little bit of time that may seem wasted can be invaluable to that students classroom success. It also reinforced the idea that test scores don’t give us the full picture of the child. We must teach the whole child and allow them to express themselves through songs, music, dance, skits, and art. Those experiences can provide teachers lots of insights into a child as well as allow them to experience success.
In reading Hick’s chapters I found myself more aware of gender differences in the classroom which made me question how I can apply that knowledge into my classroom. The insight she provided us in Laurie’s and Jake’s stories allowed me to recognize the unique nuances of each child. Each child has a struggle and we need to be supportive and kind as possible at school. We never know what they deal with at home. Getting to know the child’s interest and their background is essential in providing students with motivation and instruction that scaffolds their language experiences. I realized, but never had heard it articulated how much we as individuals are impacted by the experiences we have and how those experiences help us connect with others. Our identities are essential in understanding who we are as people and how we develop language. Our identities provide us with the opportunities to make connections and explore ourselves. As a teacher, I feel that I understand my role in how to support my students’ identities and allow my classroom to work to meet their needs in both reading and writing.
I want my students to use their own voice and feel as if they are heard. This class has made me recognize the bigger picture in which we navigate our students’ minds to read, write, think, and speak. In Henry’s study she defines voice as “a student’s desire to express ideas in a clear, coherent way, because that student understands that his or her thoughts are important.” It is essential that I promote those voices in my classroom and expose them to literature that allows them to develop their ideas and thoughts to make connections.
I intend on taking a deeper look at my instruction prior to the school year and considering how I can differentiate my instruction to appeal to each student’s needs. By using interest inventories to find literature and continuing to integrate the idea of Questioning the Author (Much like re-authoring), I recognize the value of taking a step back and allowing my students to take a lead in discussions. Now more than ever, I feel that developing a connection and a relationship with my students is essential to promote their literacy growth. My eyes are opened and I see a bigger picture about literacy development. I think now that I will look beyond what meets the eye when I consider the challenges my students are having in my classroom. I will continue to let them know I love them and care. I have been told by a fellow teacher recently that allowing them to know me and me getting to know them more personally is dangerous. I was angered and irritated by this because those connections are the same tools I use to show compassion and understanding. By connecting with them and sharing my life a bit with them, I build trust. By telling them I love them and praising them, I build their confidence. Each of my students forever live in my heart, and I feel like now I’m better equipped to relate and understand the challenges they face.

Amy Hardister

“There are times in life when the question of knowing if one can think differently than one thinks, and perceive differently than one sees, is absolutely necessary if one is to go on looking and reflecting on it all.” -Michel Foucault

My whole life I have felt empowered by seeing various perspectives. I often feel enlightened by learning about other’s life experiences and felt that has made me a better teacher. Seeing more than meets the eye is a key part of the complexities of this world. Looking deeper and reflecting are necessary instruments for my teacher brain. When I think of this quote, it reminds me of the way my mind has opened up to how my students’ educational experiences are impacted by their background, socio-economics, race, gender, and lifestyle. Within this class I recognize there is more to reading than just fluency, rate, word recognition, and comprehension. While I knew there was more to it, this class has provided me with examples to put a voice to my thought. I have grown in my concepts of how my students learn best and how unique my students are.
The Skin We Speak resonated with me in a way that I really never thought. Delpit’s provided with me a new perspective of how dialect is looked upon by the outside world. In my own southern speech, I realize that are judged by how we speak at times in a horrible way. “We must listen beyond language form.” I found it profoundly significant to find a word for how our language changes with our environments-code switching. I realized that it was a major part of my life in moving from different roles as sister, teacher, friend, and girlfriend. My boyfriends’ mom calls me a chameleon since my dialect changes with my environment. This made me reflect on how my students might feel in doing this same thing. I learned how significant it is to recognize that about my students and use their language within the classroom. I love her idea of “inviting children into the language of school by making school inviting to them.” This resonated with the other articles in that fact that from the start our readings conveyed the value of making the school environment interesting. I also found the same idea in Hicks’ chapters as she discusses making connections to students, for this it confirmed something that I have known from the start. To teach students, you must know them, make connections with them, and engage their interests.
In Noll’s cases study Experiencing Literacy: In and Out of School, I was enlightened by the different literacies that Zonnie and Daniel experienced at home. Daniel especially made me consider more about recognizing student’s strengths and praising them. I feel that I may have been guilty in the past of neglecting some of those strengths. While I always tried to pride myself in developing a connection with my students, I realize that it is often hit or miss. When thinking about students like Daniel who feel let down that they aren’t showcased in class, it made me sad. Sad because I know there have been times when I could only share a few poems or stories and there was a Daniel in my classroom. This article reminded me that it is absolutely essential to validate students’ accomplishments and make time. That little bit of time that may seem wasted can be invaluable to that students classroom success. It also reinforced the idea that test scores don’t give us the full picture of the child. We must teach the whole child and allow them to express themselves through songs, music, dance, skits, and art. Those experiences can provide teachers lots of insights into a child as well as allow them to experience success.
In reading Hick’s chapters I found myself more aware of gender differences in the classroom which made me question how I can apply that knowledge into my classroom. The insight she provided us in Laurie’s and Jake’s stories allowed me to recognize the unique nuances of each child. Each child has a struggle and we need to be supportive and kind as possible at school. We never know what they deal with at home. Getting to know the child’s interest and their background is essential in providing students with motivation and instruction that scaffolds their language experiences. I realized, but never had heard it articulated how much we as individuals are impacted by the experiences we have and how those experiences help us connect with others. Our identities are essential in understanding who we are as people and how we develop language. Our identities provide us with the opportunities to make connections and explore ourselves. As a teacher, I feel that I understand my role in how to support my students’ identities and allow my classroom to work to meet their needs in both reading and writing.
I want my students to use their own voice and feel as if they are heard. This class has made me recognize the bigger picture in which we navigate our students’ minds to read, write, think, and speak. In Henry’s study she defines voice as “a student’s desire to express ideas in a clear, coherent way, because that student understands that his or her thoughts are important.” It is essential that I promote those voices in my classroom and expose them to literature that allows them to develop their ideas and thoughts to make connections.
I intend on taking a deeper look at my instruction prior to the school year and considering how I can differentiate my instruction to appeal to each student’s needs. By using interest inventories to find literature and continuing to integrate the idea of Questioning the Author (Much like re-authoring), I recognize the value of taking a step back and allowing my students to take a lead in discussions. Now more than ever, I feel that developing a connection and a relationship with my students is essential to promote their literacy growth. My eyes are opened and I see a bigger picture about literacy development. I think now that I will look beyond what meets the eye when I consider the challenges my students are having in my classroom. I will continue to let them know I love them and care. I have been told by a fellow teacher recently that allowing them to know me and me getting to know them more personally is dangerous. I was angered and irritated by this because those connections are the same tools I use to show compassion and understanding. By connecting with them and sharing my life a bit with them, I build trust. By telling them I love them and praising them, I build their confidence. Each of my students forever live in my heart, and I feel like now I’m better equipped to relate and understand the challenges they face.

Amy Hardister

Jake reminds me of a student that I had several years ago. He loved dirt bikes and cars. He was from a working class family. He didn’t plan on going to “college, college” (as he put it) but maybe a school for mechanics. He didn’t need to do all that stuff. He was smart, but lacked all interest in school. He would sit there staring at the wall at times. He would pretend to read during any free time or sit and draw. I struggled because here sat this boy that I couldn’t reach. I couldn’t let it go. I tried to pick out books that were related to cars and dirt bikes. He read them and loved to share the connections he made, but he HATED, HATED writing and HATED school much like Jake. I tried different ideas and topics throughout the year to engage him. He already had modifications sense he was learning disabled, but really that wasn’t the key. The key was how to peak his interest. SO I decided I wanted to use various picture books to teach a little about the civil rights movement and develop an empathy project. We read Rosa, Martin’s Big Words, The Other Side, Freedom on the Menu, and Show Way in various groups. They discussed the books in their groups and shared pictures and important ideas. This students’ group read Giovanni’s Rosa. I was surprised at how empathetic he reacted to the story. He was angry for Rosa and the way she was treated. We had been discussing empathy recently and he was very adamant that people should be treated equally and respected. I had them create a visual reaction to the story it could be a picture, a model, a collage, anything visual as long as they could articulate how it related to their story. This child was beaming with excitement when he came in. He had spent four hours constructing a Lego model of the bus that Rosa rode that day. In a brief paragraph, he articulated his frustrations at why someone wouldn’t want to sit next to another person just because of their color. He was proud. I finally got him passionate about what he read. By allowing him to create something as a response, he was in his mechanical, hands on mode. I allowed him to be successful and triumph in class. That was what he needed. In the project that followed. They had to research a social injustice. He chose child marriage. He was angry and spent several days, which was very unlike him, working with me after school to get it just right. I was so impressed. In a very unexpected way I connected with him. That is so key and that was the connection that Jake needed. Reading this further confirmed for me the values I place on developing relationships and making connections with my students.

Amy Hardister

While reading these chapters and listening to Hick’s retell her own experiences with literacy and telling those of Laurie’s, I found my self connected. I was connected by two things the mother daughter relationship that Hicks and her mother shared, and the home environment of Laurie. I was raised in a middle class family, my mother, a teacher, and my father a former CPA. My father was forced to early retirement after being severely injured and traumatized by a head on car crash with a drunk driver. He was never the same as my mother said. This happening merely a month before I was born, my family changed. My mother became the primary breadwinner on less than $1,000 a month. We were middle class in that both of them attended college and social expectations were high, but financially we were poor. “We lived between classes (p. 48).” Often we did without at home to protect our outer appearances. We often dressed the part, but at home life was totally different. And, I like hooks, coped through my imagination and connecting to books. I looked for bits of me in text and allowed that to escape the conflict in my life. My head lived in the book and when I wasn’t reading I was living in an imaginary world like Laurie and Hicks. I lived for the future, imagining stories of romance and my role in the world. I cling tightly to The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett. Those were literacy experiences for me, and for many girls I teach. Although I wasn’t orphaned like Mary Lennox, I often felt abandoned like her. I was disconnected in society by what I was and what I had to portray at school. I played in the woods creating my own special place with imaginary friends while in the background yelling and curses filled the air in the distance. My father depressed and broken, and my mother trying to hold him and us together. As Boler wrote “emotions are inseperable from action and relations, from lived experience.” The emotions for Laurie developed into a medical disorder, but for me it became anxiety and depression. These chapters taught me a lot about myself and what I see in my students. All to often these things are presented to teachers as something that the child has to deal with, but we neglect the fact that there is a cause a seed that causes these struggles for students. Understanding once again is half the battle. Through literary text and writing Laurie attempts to understand herself and her role in society. As teachers it is important to be aware of the impact of writing and reading in our students lives, and to raise questions about roles and norms. In journals and in other outlets, teachers must help support girls to recognize “which kinds of fictions will be safe to write, voice, and live in school.” We also must recognize how we carry with us our on hybrid identity in which we interpret the world around us. For our students we have to acknowledge that in their own literacy experiences and provide opportunities for them to connect.

Amy Hardister