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

It occurred to me too to question how much Daniel and Zonnie’s perception of their experiences were colored by preconceived notions. It is human nature to remember the one bad comment and forget the nine good. It would have been interesting for Noll to poll their classmates, as in the 360 degree review used in the business world, and get an idea of how their classmates felt about them and the Native American population in general. Did Daniel and Zonnie accurately interpret other’s feeling towards them? Certainly the taunts, aggression and racial slurs cannot be misinterpreted, but what of the rest of their classmates (That is assuming the kids even understood. All too often my kids repeat things without the slightest idea of the implications of their words.)? What information Noll did gather from their classmates seemed fairly neutral. Daniel was described as, “usually keeping his thoughts and feelings to himself.” Zonnie’s friends commented that she, “…hung back and listened in social events.” Could their own perspective of how other’s would receive them be leading both to alter their behavior in settings where white students might be present, thus not allowing those white students to see and appreciate who they are?
-Rebecca Ashby

I agree that we need to find a way to make every child noticed in our classroom. Every person deserves to have their voice heard. I agree that we need to dig deeper to build relationships with our family and students. I am up to the same challenge. I want to develop a classroom that values every culture.

Linda,
I love that you set a challenge for yourself becuase of the reading. I also love that you called it a "cultural responsive curriculum." I have always viewed myself as an educator that celebrated diversity, but it was more on a surface level of acknowledgement of differences. The idea of "responsive" though, means we as the teacher need to be active, or resoind to the culture of our students. Viewing it that way, would require the work on our part, but our goal should be to meet the students where they are at and work on making connections for them to where we want them to be. It requires action on our part, rather than the teacher being stationary and the students being expected to change and meet our demands. Thanks for openeing my eyes to something so simple as "responsive."

Michael Lemke

Linda,
After reading your post I started thinking about my students with learning disabilities. Because reading, writing, and math were difficult for these students, they didn’t always enjoy working on the related skills and strategies. They did, however, enjoy expressing themselves through other literacies, especially art. They loved to color and draw and search for images in magazines and on the Internet that represented something important to them. They also enjoyed using technology to aid them with reading, writing, and math. I believe it’s important that teachers incorporate all types of literacies in the classroom to allow for maximum student success.

Laura Corbello

Every child no matter their culture or needs they want to be able to be themselves. I have found that all children want to be good at something. If a child is good at art, music or poetry celebrate this with the student. I had a little boy this year who was LD but was a great artist so we celebrated his artwork. I agree with you that the curriculum needs to respect and embrace other cultures. I want my students to understand and accept people who are different from them. I think if teachers and schools stepped up to this challenge it would help make children more cultural diverse adults. I believe this would make the world a better place but the question is how do we make this dream a reality.

I agree that each child has something unique to offer. They may be talented in an academic area, but we have to remember that this is not the only way in which to succeed. Children's interests should be nutured and supported by adults who care about them. I had a student this year that had a very negative attitude about school and I spent so much of the year trying to change this about him. I hope that I succeeded at least to a point! What I found with him though was that he really excelled at sports. When I was able to bring that into my interactions with him he was much more positive with me than before. I think that this just speaks to the fact that we really have to get to know our students on a personal level.
-Elizabeth Norwood

The comfort zone is a hard place to leave(as a teacher and a student)! Don't get me wrong. I do it, and I understand the need to do so. However, I know how hard it is to balance all of the things that you are required to do at school, at home, and all of the other places. This makes it extremely difficult to find the time for answers to who all of our students are.

When you are a different "color" or dress differently, it is hard to maintain that behind the scenes personality that middle school students are famous for having. I think it draws more attention to you as a student. This is especially true in a school that doesn't have a lot of diversity. The students are more likely to stand out and less likely to speak up!