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

Meredith,

I agree with you. We, as teachers, need to work to develop a relationship with the students we teach. Our students need to feel free to open up to us and discuss things they feel they need to discuss. Teaching isn't just about learning how to read, write, and do math, we also need to serve as mentors to our students to help them work through any problems to the best of our ability. If students feel they can trust and talk to you, I think they will start performing better in school as well. They will develop a respect for you as a teacher and as a friend and want to do what they can to impress you. I think it is very important for teachers to listen to their students. I had a child just the other day who said, "Mrs. Brackett, I really like to talk to you. At home, nobody ever really talks to me." This child never really talks about anything major, but just the fact that someone is there to listen to him makes him feel important. I had a difficult time reading the second article as well. I had to reread it several times, but had difficulty staying focused. I did like the fact that Staples took the time to help her students read and respond in a way that was relevant to their own lives.

Meredith,
For the very reasons you shared we should always push to keep journaling in our classrooms. So often every minute of our day is scheduled and personal writing often falls to the wayside. In both of the articles the writing was such an important component.

Meredith,

You spoke in your post about the desire of students to ask "real-life" questions in the classroom. I think that, in many instances, the DESIRE to ask these questions remains intact throughout their years of schooling, but the WILLINGNESS to ask the questions is what plummets. As Candy commented (although in regard to writing), the day in the lives of a teacher and a student are often very scheduled and this might lead a teacher to say, "I'm sorry, but we don't have time to discuss that right now. We have to go to lunch." Over the years, I think this begins to chip away at a student's willingness to ask questions he/she may be wondering about, although the desire to ask the question may still be present. In many instances, I don't think teachers intentionally "brush off" questions from their students, but I think there are some teachers who do.

My school is in the process of becoming an International Baccalaureate school. One of the attributes that goes along with this is that individuals within an IB school should be inquirers. This includes not only the students, but the faculty and staff as well. One thing that has made a difference with me this year while trying to incorporate the IB philosophy is that I have made a more conscious effort to ask my own questions in front of the students when I have wondered about something. I think this made them more willing to ask their own questions. They saw that I had questions about things and this helped them to see that it was okay to have questions.

To end, I would like to relay a humorous story that happened in my classroom in October 2009. I had been trying to teach my pre-kindergartners the difference between making a statement and asking a question. One morning, a student raised his hand and told me he had a question. I told him to go ahead and he started with some story about his dad taking him to the store. After he finished, I thanked him for his story, but told him that he had not asked a question. One of my other boys, probably the most articulate in the room, chimed in and said, "A question is when you don't know something and you want to know the answer, like 'Why are there so many pumpkins at Wal-Mart right now?'" I told him that he was correct and I praised him for knowing what a question was. I then proceeded to go on with what we were doing at the time, but this student quickly interrupted me and said, "No, Mr. Rice, WHY are there so many pumpkins at Wal-Mart right now?" He had a real-life question to which he wanted to know the answer!

These teens did get to share their feelings, thoughts, and ideas without feeling like they were being judged. I wonder if that is what made them open up more and relate with literature/media better? You made a point I hadn’t thought about. You mentioned that until some students gain the trust of their teachers the teachers may not understand their thoughts. They are perceived differently until that trust is gained. And like you said, anybody can sit back and observe the actions and behaviors of students. But until they connect with them they do not even know what these actions and behaviors are about. The researchers both did make their learning environments comfortable. I wonder if these students performed better because they were at their comfort levels in these environments. Who would have ever thought that a research group’s environment would be comfortable? I guess these researchers knew what they were doing. Henry did do an excellent job of getting Kay to open up in her writing. The sense of not being judged that Kay felt was really a great advantage. Yes, you are right. Tamisha did come to the group with a lot of questions and thoughts most teachers would have just looked the other way with. I even would have felt uncomfortable addressing those things she asked. But Henry had a great way of addressing this and even bringing a film in to let the students connect with. Staples did a good job pointing out a topic that many are misinformed about. You mentioned that people have a hard time reading and learning about things they cannot relate to. If movies and books continue to mislead people on black masculinity and continue to portray it incorrectly then of course many students will lose interest in these types of books and movies. Yes, I also thought the using of movie scripts would be difficult to use in class. But Staples managed this well. I think they worked well because they were catchy and of material students normally do not see in the classroom.

Merdith,
I would have a hard time reading and teaching from a movie script too. I tried to read Walter Dean Meyers’ “Monster” and just couldn’t get through the fade in fade out parts. I think the important thing to remember is that we all have different interests and we all have different ways of expressing ourselves. I am not a painter or a dancer or a writer. I am singer, a gardener and a hunter. I express myself in many different ways and our goal as teachers is to find something that our children enjoy enough that they are eager to share and we need to offer more than just a journal. Many of my students love to tell stories and read with a friend. I used paired reading extensively this year for that reason and my off task behaviors were greatly reduced.
Elizabeth Achor

Just as Candy and Clyde mentioned, we must include time in our busy day to answer children's questions. They are curious about so much and we cannot squelch their curiosity. I always build life lessons into my day and answer student questions. Yes, sometimes it puts me behind in my schedule, but I think it is so important to help children understand their world and how it works.

Meredith, I was truly impressed with how both authors gained the trust of these teens and were able to really explore that world. I also think that each of us has that power if we can just find the time to really listen to our students. This is so difficult in the hustle and bustle grind of the everyday classroom! It is so hard to find time to listen to each student, each day. 22 students versus 1 teacher. Ya know?

I feel that same way about making students feel safe. I think that as educators if we create that safe environment for our students, then they will begin to let us in more. Sometimes a teacher is the only outlet that a student has to ask for help. This was the case in the "Speaking up and speaking out" article. These girls, especially Tamisha felt that she could come to the group and bring up issues she couldn't talk about at home. I also wondered if Tamisha had been sexually abused and that is why Henry did not include that story. Like you stated they all have these questions running through their heads, but never voice them. This is when it leads to making poor decisions.

I also found the question outline the students used in the after-school program to be very similar to the DRTA. As I was reading the article I was wondering how I could apply some of the strategies mentioned. When the questioning format was described, I thought, "Hey, I can do that!" Like you I teach young students, so I would need to adapt the literature to lend to discussions that would bring about the same quality of discussion.

My mother has a saying, “If a child is old enough to ask, they are old enough to have an answer.” The answer doesn’t have to be long or elaborate. The answers lead to conversation. All children need a safe environment to ask life questions so they can grow socially and emotionally. I think Henry did a fantastic job having the group answer and letting the topic become discussion. The group has to have the right dynamics in place in order to have a mature conversation. Also, I believe the group must have a wall of trust before this type of conversation can occur. Henry and Staple built a community with trust as a foundation before they guided the students to approach reading and writing. The groups evolved into more than literacy groups with unengaged students. The students learned they have important ideas and opinions. The groups gave them the power to express themselves.

Meredith,
I totally agree that students need to feel comfortable with a teacher before being willing to ask questions. One of my main goals as a teacher is to provide a safe and CARING learning environment for my students. I want them to know how much I care so that they will feel comfortable enough with me to ask questions they have. I also had a hard time reading Staples' research. I agree that I would have a hard time reading from a movie script, but applaud the researcher for going to such lengths to provide a "text" in which to reach her students/subjects. Marsha Warren

Meredith,
You made some great points in your post. I completely agree with how you must gain the trust of all of your students before you can teach them. Our job's as teachers are to make our students feel safe and secure. They need to know they can come to you with any need and concern or questions. We have to remember that we are the "parent figure" in many of their lives.

On the topic of Tamisha, I had to stop reading as well when coming across her question of when to have sex. I might have even chuckled to myself because I have gotten questions like that as well from own students. The fact of the matter is this is a serious questions that teenagers think about. But when Henry made mention of an discussion that could not be talked about I wondered myself if something had happened to her that she was not able to decide for herself. I am just glad she had someone she could talk to because there are so many young girls out there without a "voice" to speak about it. But a sad fact is that kids are participating in sexual activity at a much younger age! Working in a middle school I see this first hand.