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

Are We Teaching All Students?

A common goal for us as teachers is to meet the needs of ALL of our students. After reading Noll’s research article, I began to question myself in how I strive to meet the needs of all of my students. With the high demands of teaching: working to meet school, county, and state standards, creating a safe community of learners, etc., where does meeting the needs of students fall on a teacher’s list of priorities?
I commend Noll in taking the time to learn about the community and culture of American Indians of Lakota and Dakota adolescents. I cannot imagine the difficulties that Daniel and Zonnie experienced not only in their community, but also academically, trying to “fit in” in a mainstream white culture. There is great importance of working to meet the needs of these students, especially through the use of literature and writing which “further generate understanding about the personal and social issues that were important to them”.
How do teachers meet the needs of all students? I personally make this one of my top goals each year, hoping to be successful. When teachers receive class lists at the beginning of the year, we quickly become aware of students that have learning disabilities, behavior problems, and academically gifted, well-behaved students. For these students, preparations are made to help them achieve even before they walk into our classroom. It is important to not make judgments or assumptions as to how the child will work. However, we do need to be prepared and keep in mind those children whom will need to sit close to the teacher, have a buddy, and need activities to meet them at their own levels of learning. How much do we pay attention to the race or culture of the child? Do teachers prepare lessons to teach the Hispanic or American Indian child’s culture? We may also be guilty of assuming that the child may not speak English, stressed to meet the child on the first day of school. I personally have learned the lesson of “not judging the book by its cover”. My first year teaching, I was apprehensive of having Hispanic children in my classroom; I had not had Spanish practice since high school. However, I discovered that the student was very fluent in both Spanish and English. He was also a very bright, well-rounded student. I did my best to work to meet his needs and learn about his culture. During the holidays, we did a “Christmas around the World”, unit in which we learned about different traditions and how different cultures celebrated the Christmas time of year. The Hispanic student really enjoyed the unit, as well as the rest of my class. In fact, I even asked the student to help teach about the Hispanic traditions; he really got into sharing his culture. It is important that we prove Philip’s quote from the article wrong, “It is primarily by virtue of the teacher’s position and authority that the students and not the teacher come to be defined as the ones who do not understand” (pg. 206). It is vital to try to meet the needs of all students and to not make judgments or assumptions until proven otherwise, and even then not assume that they are set in stone. We must try to understand and work to recognize all students no matter their shape, color, or size.
I applaud the way in which Noll explored not only Daniel and Zonnie’s literature and writing at school, but also how they used literacy in their cultures, and how they used it to help define them. We often conclude that literacy only affects our educational experiences in the classroom settings. However, as Noll discovers in the article, literacy has a great influence on our lives outside of the classroom including on our culture through art, dance and music. When working to meet the needs of students, it is imperative to tap into the students’ interests, whether it is sports, cultural experiences, or arts. I am always fascinated by teaching a lesson that strikes a connection or interest with a student. It is exciting to see the child become so enthusiastic about the lesson, and typically the child is successful with the activity. It was neat to hear Zonnie say that she would like to be a composer and singer: “I like music and I like writing, and I could put the two together…and see what I can come up with.” (pg. 226). Zonnie’s statement reminded me of a student that I have struggled with this year due to a rough home life causing him to bring a negative behavior to school. I have fought the battle of behavior and completion of work. We recently did a lesson on Memorial Day and the importance of honoring our troops. One day he opened up to me, expressing that he hopes to be in the military one day. After our discussion about his dream, I gathered as many books as I could about the military for him to read. It was through that lesson that I was able to connect with the student. An activity that the students completed was to write a letter to a soldier in the army. My “future soldier” wrote one of his best pieces of work this year. I was very proud of him.
How can we meet the needs of our students? I believe a possible answer to my question would be to set out to teach the student where they are, not only academically, but also culturally. We should also encourage literacy to help our students make connections to their personal goals and lives outside of school.

Katie Johnson