Thoughout the two chapters the author continues to mention how girls from working-class families escape their rough family life through the use of writing and literature. I wonder if how much this is related to coming from a working class family, or if it is related to their personality and using literature to escape (whether for good or bad reasons). I am from a strong, middle-class family and I feel that I have always done the same thing, but for different reasons. I read all the time as a kid to live vicariously through the characters. I remember reading The Sweet Valley Twins, and imagining it was me going through those girly issues. I still read as an adult, but not to escape the difficulties of my life. I read everynight to escape the many, many things on my mind that need to get done the next day. If I don't read I lay there running my "to do" list through my head. If I read for a good twenty minutes than I fall asleep thinking about the lives of the characters in the book (girly books). I don't want to take away from the fact that working class students will use different forms of literature to escape their difficult lives, but I think we will find lots of students that are escaping their lives (good or bad) through literacy.
I could definitely relate to the section where the author discussed girls working hard to be "good girls" in school. This describes the girls in my class this year perfectly. Even the girls who stuggled academically tried to do everything right to gain that higher status in the classroom. They would raise their hands, participate in class, volunteer to help me in any way, etc. I can relate to this because I was also this same girl in elementary school . . . oh wait . . . I am still that girl! I never related this to a gender issue. I always thought it was more of a personality issue. I have always been a people pleaser. I always wanted my parents to be proud of me, so I did my best at school, my best at sports, my best at everything, so I definitely fit this gender role perfectly. Now that I think of this as being a gender issue, I think I want the boys in my class to act more like girls!!
I definitely think our schools today are encountering more and more Lauries. I think our school does a great job of accepting students for where they are when they first step into Kindergarten. We know that some students will already be able to read, others might not even know a single letter in the alphabet, but we accept this and teach them at their appropriate level. Hoping we can get all students to at least a certain point by the end of the year. These students leave feeling confident because they were so successful in this first year. Then, just like Laurie, these students move to first and second grade where the teacher begins teaching all students on the same level. They pull out the basal reader and off they go. Everyone is expected to read the same material, answer the same questions, and write the same way. We knew they all came to Kindergarten on a different level. Why do we think now they are all on the same level? I am proud to say that our school (most teachers) is really working hard to meet every student at their academic level. This takes a lot of work and patience, which I think many teachers don't want to take the time to do. We also have teachers that say, "Well, they have to be able to take that EOG at the end of the year, so they need to be exposed to fifth grade reading." Somehow we need to get these teachers to understand that we can't get a student to make three years growth in one year, but if we would provide appropriate level material for these students they should at least be able to make a years growth. When we only put them in material that is frustrating for the child, you're not going to see very much growth at all and the child is going to begin to give up on literacy.
Angie Sigmon
Comments (7)
Angie,
I like what you had to say about some teachers demanding that their students complete grade level work that is years over their ability level. I too work with some of these teachers. What I really want to know is how do we guide theses teachers over to our way of teaching reading and writing? I am fortunate to have free choice in presenting materials and lessons and have found that students are motivated to read when they can be successful. That motivation does develop into growth, but then they must face the EOG and are always confronted with failure. My heart breaks for these students and I pray each year that they will be assigned the teacher in the next grade that teaches reading instead of beating them up with reading that is too hard.
Elizabeth Achor
Posted by Elizabeth Achor | June 23, 2010 11:40 AM
Posted on June 23, 2010 11:40
I loved the Sweet Valley Twins books! I think those were some of the first books that I remember reading over and over. (Babysitter's Club books too!) I think that this was when my love of reading really began because I could imagine myself in the setting, knowing the characters, etc. I wish that I could make each of my students feel the feelings that I do when I read, and to make them see how magical reading really can be.
-Elizabeth Norwood
Posted by Elizabeth Norwood | June 23, 2010 12:55 PM
Posted on June 23, 2010 12:55
Angie,
Hicks spent time talking about Laurie using reading and writing as a way of escaping and dreaming about living in a different class. I like the point you made that many people, no matter their class status read and write for some sort of escape. This made me think of the power we have as teachers to pick good literature for our students to read and to read to them. Students need an outlet and literature is a wonderful way to provide them with that outlet. Maybe if we taught students to use books and writing as a way to express themselves, forget their current problems, and to dream big students would enjoy reading and writing more. I agree that schools are faced with more and more Lauries. It is important that we level our instruction. We all learn differently and at different rates. I like to think of learning to read like training for a race. We are all set on the finish line, but we train on different days and with different people, we wear different shoes and workout clothing, we run at different paces, and usually have a coach/trainer helping us get through the hard days and encouraging us. However we go about our training we are all set out to finish the race. Reading should be taught much like training for a race. The goal for our students should be to help them to become better readers and to teach them on their level and through a variety of different teaching techniques. Our students are not cookies and we have got to quit making them fit into these cookie cutter molds when it comes to teaching them how to read. One size does not fit all in education.
Posted by Emily Rhoney | June 23, 2010 8:44 PM
Posted on June 23, 2010 20:44
Angie, I understand and agree completely. Your statment about the students coming to Kindergarten on a different level, but expected to all be at the same level later on. I teach 8th grade and this past year I completed an IRI, for grad school, on one of my students. I knew he was low, but I never knew just how low until after that assessment. He was independent at the Primer level. Now how on earth was I to get him ready for the 8th grade EOG! I had other students in the same class who were reading on the 7th and 8th grade level. Part of the problem is no child left behind. There will always be children left behind according to the state standards. All of us are not "created" equaly by the Creator. State testing is to blame. As a teacher, my goal is to achieve growth each year with every student.
Posted by Karen Chester | June 23, 2010 9:42 PM
Posted on June 23, 2010 21:42
Angie,
I couldn't agree with more with your statements. I also read the Sweet Valley Twins books and had a vivid imagination and I didn't do either or these things to escape. For me as I believe it was for you as well, it was simply something I enjoyed doing. I also agree with your statement about Kindergarten. It is perfectly acceptable to enter Kindergarten on all different levels, but students are expected to leave on the same one. In a perfect world that would always happen, but unfortunetly that is not the world we live in. My question is though what happened to Laurie and what happens in our schools from Kindergarten to First grade that makes an average to slightly below average student struggle so much. Is their really that big of a difference in the two grade levels and if not what is the "x factor" so to speak.
Posted by Katie Templeton | June 23, 2010 10:31 PM
Posted on June 23, 2010 22:31
Angie,
Just like you I loved to read the Sweet Valley High series when I was a child. I wanted to have a twin, and to have their experiences. Reading was a huge part of my childhood. When you wrote how you still read to relax, I do the same. Just like you I have trouble settling down but if I have a good book in front of me I can forget everything that is going on around me. I still use reading as a way to escape my daily stresses.
I wish all teachers had the opportunity to take graduate classes. I think they would begin to understand how important reading groups, and small groups are to children. By working in small groups teachers have the opportunity to work with children and cater the lessons to their abilities.
Posted by Pam Aubuchon | June 24, 2010 1:30 PM
Posted on June 24, 2010 13:30
Angie,
I feel as if I could've written your post! I loved to read as a child, too. The first books I remember falling in love with, besides Judy Blume and Beverly Cleary books, were The Girls of Canby Hall. I love it when I see some of my 1st graders reading each free moment they have and really falling in love with reading! I also did not read to "escape," but rather to enjoy learning about these characters. I also wondered as I was reading how much of it can be attributed to personality and how much to gender/class?!?!?
Posted by Marsha Warren | June 25, 2010 8:07 PM
Posted on June 25, 2010 20:07