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

“Critique is understood as an interrogation of the terms by which life is constrained in order to open up the possibility of different modes of living; in other words, not to celebrate difference as such but to establish more inclusive conditions for sheltering and maintaining life that resist models of assimilation.”- Judith Butler

This quote, in my opinion, best summarizes what I am taking away from this course. If we are to be true educators then we must open up our classrooms and allow all of our students to find a place where they feel comfortable and can find their voice. We cannot continue to critique or students, their families, or their intellect based on the narrow confines and constraints of a formal education system. We cannot allow our schools to become places for only a select few who manage to “fit the mold”. Schools must meet the needs of all students.

When I began this class I was definitely aware of the differences among the students I teach, however, I don’t think I ever really thought about the effects it had on their education. I must admit that at times, I was guilty of critiquing my students. I have been that teacher who thought the working-class children should welcome education with open arms and be grateful for the opportunity public school was affording them. I still think education is important, but I now see that it means different things for different people and it is not our job to decide the course of our students’ lives. It’s our job to make sure we offer an inclusive and responsive learning environment so they can decide that for themselves. When I read the articles by Dowdy, Henry, Staples, and Delpit, I began to realize that many students don’t feel comfortable in the school environment. The personal stories that were recounted in the research gave me a perspective that I had never really considered. For example, in Noll’s article, she discusses a Native American boy named Daniel. Daniel seemed to be living in two different realities; school and home. In school he struggled both academically and socially while at home he was a competent and thriving member of his family and Native community. Noll states that Daniel lacked a sense of belonging at school. His disconnect caused Daniel to be an unsuccessful student who did not particularly care for school. This made me think about the students I teach and the behaviors and attitudes they express while at school. The majority of my students come from working-class homes and some of them (if they finish) will be the first to graduate high school. Most say they want to graduate from high school and several even talk about going to college. Unfortunately, their work and attitudes towards school do not reflect their sentiments. Until now, I assumed it was due to a lack of maturity and possibly puberty. Now I realize it is much more and it is something that I may be able to impact and change. My students, like Daniel, don’t feel they belong in school. They haven’t found their voice or their purpose for being there. They don’t define themselves as successful and competent learners. Case in point, I had a student last year named “Kayla”. Kayla was habitually absent, did little homework or make-up work, and began the year reading at a fourth grade level. She commented several times about how frustrated she was with school and her lack of progress. Kayla comes from a working-class family. Her parents and older siblings all dropped out of high school. Kayla is very social and spends much of her school time focused on her friends and boys. When Kayla first entered my class she was a reluctant student who rarely participated. As the year went on she began to feel more comfortable and started joining in class discussions. She even began volunteering answers. Her lexile level began to rise and so did her grades. By the end of the year her end-of-grade test scores improved and so did her attitude towards school. Kayla finally started to see herself as a successful student. She found her voice and she started to feel like she belonged. This is exactly what I think the research we read is talking about. Whether the barriers are cultural, social, linguistic, or economic, we have to make our schools inclusive to all.

Another key idea I will take from this class is the idea that literacy and intelligence comes in many different forms. The most powerful and memorable reading to me was Deborah Hicks, Reading Lives. Hick’s case study of Jake really made me take a hard look at how I teach. The information she presented concerning Jake and the dynamics between his life at home and his life at school were compelling. It made me realize that our educational system has a very narrow view of literacy and intelligence. Jake, according to Hicks, is a capable and skillful apprentice to his father, yet, at school, he is failing. Jake’s knowledge and skills are not valued in a classroom setting. In contrast, what the school is trying to teach is often not valued by Jake. In order for Jake to be able to find a place in his school, his teachers will need to understand and respect who Jake is as an individual. Then, as Jake’s dad commented on page 134, they can begin to connect his interests to his academic tasks. Again, as I read about Jake I started to think about the students I teach. I, too, judge my students and their literacy skills through the eyes of a formal educator. I don’t give my students credit for being skilled mechanics, musicians, artists, athletes, farmers, etc. In the classroom, I don’t give them many opportunities to show me what areas they are experts in, yet I expect them to engage in difficult and challenging tasks on a daily basis. I don’t always explain the relevance the skill has in their lives nor do I always pick activities that are relevant to who they are as individuals. I teach them what the state deems important and I expect them to do what is asked of them without question. I now know this has to change and next year I will take a different approach to what I teach and how I teach it.

Deborah Hicks, at the end of her book, discusses excerpts from Mike Rose’s book, Lives On The Boundary. This was some of the most powerful and thought provoking material I have read in quite some time and I plan to read his entire book in the near future. I was particularly drawn to the section where he shares his reflections of life in South L.A. on pages 142-143. For many years I have often wondered why my students had never really dreamed of a life outside of the projects of East Winston or the rental houses of Stokes Co. Why didn’t they want more? Why didn’t they aspire for careers, financial security, nice homes, etc.? After reading Rose, it has started to become clearer. He states that growing up he never met anyone who was passionate about a career or a cause. He only saw people who worked as a means of survival. He witnessed how hard life was and the toll it took on people. He had no role models for what could be. That’s exactly what my students experience. They don’t necessarily see me or people like me as role models. To them, we live in completely different worlds. This is why it is so critical that we bridge the gap between home and school for our students. They need to see that education can be a part of their realistic part of their future. They need to realize that they can thrive in an academic setting.

In conclusion, I have found myself thinking a lot about the ideas presented in this class. I now catch myself being cognoscente of my pre-conceived ideas and notions about people. I cannot place my value system on them nor judge them for theirs. I have also spent a great deal of time reflecting on the students I teach and how I want to do some things differently next year. I know first-hand that understanding who your students are and respecting where they come from can have a tremendous impact on their success at school. The trick is to continue with this idea and reach all students; not just a few. Our schools should not be a place where students are judged and made to assimilate or fail; rather, our schools should be a place where all students are included, valued, and celebrated for who they are.

Sally Elliott

Imagine a utopia. A world that exists without problems or conflicts. All creatures, no matter how great or small thrive together in peace and success. All is well in the world. All is quiet and balanced.
Now, imagine this life. Days and nights of stress, usually derived from problems and conflicts. You cannot please each and every person you come into contact with. The world is a bit rocky, teetering on its thin edge. All is noisy and unbalanced.
Which world do you prefer? Which world do you live in? When I think about this class, and what I have taken away from these few short weeks in discussion I have learned that no matter what background you come from, we must all learn to open up to the possibility of change and to appreciate the differences in one another. I felt that the quote by Judith Butler spoke to me personally when summarizing my experience in my career, thus far, in my life and in this RES5535 class. “Critique is understood as an interrogation of the terms by which life is constrained in order to open up the possibility of different modes of living; in other words, not to celebrate difference as such but to establish more inclusive conditions for sheltering and maintaining life that resist models of assimilation.”
Thinking back to the first two articles from Dowdy and Delpit, I recall thinking about how one must be open to change when it comes to dialects and speech. From the dialect shared in “Ovuh Dyuh” and “No Kinda Sense” I began to relate those experiences to my experiences as a 2nd year teacher, teaching at a school with a high African American population. I knew from the start that I would be experiencing some changes within my population of students taking this position, but at the same time, did not know how drastic those changes would be for me. I share the same shocked feeling that Delpit did as she first listened to her preteen daughter say: She be all like, what ch’all talkin’ bout?” like she ain’t had no kinda sense.” I was in a cloud of daze at times listening to some of my students say some of the same things. In time, I learned to decipher what was being said, and to really appreciate the origin of this dialect. I knew to fight this was going to be a burden on myself, so quickly, I realized that these children’s’ backgrounds were what shaped them as young people, and their dialects as well as their patterns of speech were a part of who they were, not for me to judge.
As I read on through our course, I came upon Noll’s work that described another aspect of culture weaved through the reading and writing process: Native Americans. I took a great liking to this article particularly. I shared in my blog posting that I had this preconceived notion of Native Americans. I can recall thinking they were scantily clad, painted for war and ready to fight savagely if provoked. Of course, as an adult, and after a slue of history classes, I came to more appropriate conclusions about this population, but what I had not thought of was their literacy habits. Noll opened my eyes to how Native Americans view reading and writing. Again, I approached this reading with an open mind, because I am always eager to learn more about a culture and to obtain background knowledge about a particular subject. Through the case studies of Daniel and Zonnie, I came to find out that these Native American students did not seem to be much different than American students. Daniel was a husky child that had the traditional long, dark hair with darker skin and dark eyes. He enjoyed history, mostly of his culture and enjoyed hearing stories about his past. I felt that Zonnie was even more “Americanized” than Daniel. She was a “typical” pre-teen that enjoyed being social with friends and worried about having a social life rather than a school life. Again, just like the African American population that I learned about with Dowdy and Delpit, I found another culture that I could learn a bit about and make necessary changes in my views of their upbringing in order to better serve them academically.
I felt that Staples’s article, “Hustle and Flow” spoke volumes to the message that was being conveyed by Judith Butler. After reading about Staples’ group of African American teenage men, and their struggles to get to where they are today, I could not agree more with Staples’ choices to coach her struggling readers. Staples invited her students to become more fluent and overall better readers through a series of approaches. She focused her students on “re-authoring” various types of texts and to allow the students to put themselves in charge of those texts. Her students were asked to become “culture critics” of what they read and understood. I feel that Staples began to share the idea of appreciating and accepting differences in cultures and in backgrounds in order to understand and enjoy various texts.
As I had the opportunity to read through Perry’s piece, “From storytelling to writing: Transforming literacy practices among Sudanese refugees” I focused my post on how the practice of storytelling orally has been lost from generation to generation. I looked at how we as a society really rely on technology to keep us up to date with stories of one another. Telling oral stories have become “outdated” so to speak, and therefore, I felt that I had a great chance to learn a bit about the Sudanese refugees to come to the United States and share their love of storytelling. Again, I feel that this piece of research parallels with Butler’s quote because to understand where the refugees come from, we must appreciate their backgrounds and must be open to their experiences. I feel that we as a nation need to re-connect with our own backgrounds and our own knowledge and become more intone with ourselves in order to really carry on our family names and traditions.
In the final reading assignments, I read from Hicks’ Reading Lives. I learned a good bit about research based writing and how case studies are beneficial for most to diagnose and clarify problems during a child’s intellectual and academic development. I feel that I took the most from the study of Jake. Jake is the child who is the mover and the shaker, usually dubbed the “problem child” in the classroom and has many interests outside of the classroom. When I read about Jake and his love for NASCAR, his love for Sega, his respect for his father and his dialogues with Hicks, I commented about how children are “labeled” so very often today. I feel that Jake has a very important background and he should be appreciated, not labeled for his differences. At the same time, I posted about Jake’s love for video games. I shared stories on how I have a brother who was and still is so very involved in gaming, that his social and to somewhat of a degree, his academic identity was shaped by technology. Again, I try to think about children that I have come into contact with and imagine what home life might be like. Referring to the idea of being open to different possibilities of living allows oneself to be free of a stereotype and to appreciate differences in each and every person one meets.
Now imagine that utopian world again. Would everything be serene and peaceful? Would you have no worries, no problems, and no conflicts? Would you choose to be surrounded by friends? By family? I don’t think I would personally choose this “perfect’ world. I like the chaos. I like the confusion. I like the idea of an ever-changing society built on a rocky cliff. It’s the chances that one takes that shapes one’s experiences. It’s the ability to be open to a new world, and to take on the role of a different person. It’s the “I’ll walk a mile in his shoes to understand where he is coming from.” It’s not easy, but I do it 180 days out of the year. Its life, it’s the experiences I have taken from RES5535, and its teaching.

Renee Hennings July 1 2010

This class has been an eye-opener for me. I am a very literal person who does not like to “look for meaning” when reading. For this reason, this class has been very challenging for me, but at the same time, I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed reading the different articles because they’ve told stories from different perspectives than my own. I’ve also enjoyed reading other people’s blog entries. I think it’s so amazing that so many people can read the exact same thing, and yet get so many different things out of the reading.

I have chosen the quote from Michael Foucault that best represents my learning from this course material: 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 at all. First of all, I did question myself at the beginning of the semester as to whether or not I would be able to see the different perspectives of the people whom we read about. I was born and raised in a small rural town, where most people are very, and think very, similar to each other. I now teach in the same county in which I grew up, in a different small rural town, with basically the same population. When you’ve grown up around a certain culture, it’s hard to “put yourself in others’ shoes” and “feel” what people from other cultures feel.

After reading the syllabus for this class, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to make connections between myself and my experiences and the articles we read. I was so surprised when reading the articles to find myself making connections to each article in some way or another. Sometimes, I would make a connection between a person in an article and a student whom I had taught, such as in Hicks’ book with Jake and Laurie. Sometimes, I would make a connection between my childhood and the experience a person was having in the article, such as in Perry’s article concerning storytelling. Sometimes, I would just have strong feelings towards statements/ideas the authors made in various articles, such as Henry’s article on finding one’s voice. These connections I made were very exciting for me because I was unsure at first if I was going to be able to make any connections at all.

I always reflect on myself as a teacher after each lesson and especially at the end of each year. I think about what I could have done differently in order to better help my students. I feel that I will be able to do a better job of reflecting after lessons because of what I have learned throughout this course. There are so many things I haven’t taken into account when reflecting in the past: students’ discourses, home lives, gender, ethnicity, race, etc. I never knew how much of a difference these things make in relation to a student’s literacy learning. I feel I do a really good job of teaching children on their instructional level and also of learning about the interests of my students outside school. Now, I think I will be able to do an even better job of this.
Marsha Warren

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 at all.
Michel Foucault

In closing out this course and the reading program, I found this quote to be most meaningful. During my time in the reading program, I have learned to look at reading in a way that I never had. As much as I loved to read and share this love with my students, I was weak when it came to teaching reading. I attribute some of this to the personal ease and enjoyment I received from reading and the rest I would attribute to a weak undergrad education program in the area of reading. Being a part of this program has allowed to me think and look at the world of reading (and the way I teach reading) in a new light.

I feel this class has also opened my eyes to some of the issues that I thought little about when teaching reading to my students. I have always been a teacher that reflected on what works for my students and what I could do to make my students become more successful in the classroom. I would try many different approaches to teaching and instruction until I found what worked best for my students. I believe that because I started teaching in a school where many of the students lived “rough” lives, I have always taken into account the home environment when planning lessons and grading/assigning homework. Although I was aware of my students home lives, I never really thought about how that played into how they learned to read successfully (well with the exception of students that spoke other languages at home).
In the beginning of this course we were presented with several articles that addressed various issues in regards to teaching reading to different “types” of students. My experience working with children from poverty and low income homes taught me to distinguish between school language and home language. The Dowdy and Delpit articles discussed how different groups of children used language at home that were different from the language that was used and accepted at school.

The Noll article discussed how American Indians (Daniel and Zonnie) struggled in school because their teacher did not use their strengths to support their classroom learning. They were viewed as under achievers when they excelled in areas that were not considered to be school related. As I think back to the students that I have taught, I feel that I have always tried to use their strengths (regardless of what those strengths may be) in order to help them be successful in the classroom. I will definitely think more about helping to connect the areas where my students excel into my classroom.

I think that I made the best connection with the Perry article. It reminded me of The Lost Boys movie that was popular when I was growing up. The Sudanese children were living in an area of war and danger. They lost their homes and families, forced to travel to a refugee camp and later to America. These students had to learn to bridge their cultures and ways of living with the new culture they had to adapt. The part of their culture that survived and provided that connection was their ability to use storytelling in their daily lives. I believe that we can use storytelling in our classroom to get our students involved in reading and writing. Allowing the students to share a story from their lives and then write that story down as a way to help others connect with them is very beneficial to all students. I have always encouraged my students to write about things they are familiar or have a connection, but allowing them to first share their story orally and then write it down seems to give them a chance to build that story before expecting them to write things. I am excited to begin school the fall so that I can try this out and see how successful students can become with writing.

I think that I was most impacted by the Deborah Hicks book, Reading Lives: Working-Class Children and Literacy Learning. This book really caused a stir inside me. When reading this book, I began to reflect on my teaching, wondering if I had over looked some of the issues my students might have been having at home that could have impacted their learning. I have always been mindful of the things my students might be lacking in their home such as good books or quiet settings where learning can best occur. As mindful as I have been about things that might be occurring in the home, I never took into account the values and expectations that my students developed from their family. Thinking about the year ahead, I want to really factor in my students family influence into their learning. Why they are the way they are, so that they can be most successful in the classroom environment. I believe that I will take this book and keep it in my classroom so that I can quickly reference it when issues come up that could relate to class and gender.

Over all, I think that this class has caused me to think more about what my students bring to my classroom and how I can use these issues, values, and ways of thinking to help them become successful students that have a love of learning.

Going into this semester I asked myself what more I could I ascertain about reading, writing, and the thinking process of children in the classroom? I have explored these topics in other graduate classes and have worked with many children over the years from diverse backgrounds and have taken note of many differences. After the first reading I became aware that I had only scratched the surface of this topic. There was a statement in the first article we read from Dowdy that lead into the importance of considering how a student’s history affects their academics.

“I think that I survived my high school years by assuming the best mask ever fabricated: the mask of language. I invented a character who wanted to please her teachers and her dead mother.”

I have used this statement as the cornerstone of my learning this semester and reflected on it with each of the articles. I had never thought of language as a mask and the more discourses one has the greater a person’s ability to slide into a new role with confidence, which will empower a person in their own life and make them comfortable. Ironically my final class links directly to my first class, Culturally Diverse Children’s Literature, in this class we were asked to reflect on our own lives through poetry and then make connections to other cultures as we explored literature. It was at this point that I realized the short comings of my classroom library. Children were seeking out characters that they could relate to where they could see a mirror image of who they were. Using this type of literature also allows students to explore other cultures and ideas freely. After this course I see that although that was a nice start there is so much more that I must put in place to make my school and classroom accessible to everyone. This realization led me to choose the quote by Michel Foucault.

“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 at all.”
Michel Foucault

To me this statement means that I should always look carefully at who and what I am teaching and I should strive to grow and change to meet the needs of myself and others. I must be willing to change.
This statement hits at the heart of the research articles we read during our course work. We wish to understand more fully so that we can be most effective in the classroom. In Hick’s article I am reminded that there is a distinct difference between the way middle class and working class students address the classroom. They come with different expectations and they must be supported as they make a “shift” in their thinking. It is my responsibility to make sure that the texts are approachable to the students. In other words in my own classroom it is my responsibility to show students all of the possibilities and how new knowledge can lead to different venues.

Noll’s article points out the importance of valuing what is important to an individual if you want to truly make the classroom a place where the student feels comfortable. Both Daniel and Zonnie had a great divide between their academic discourse and what they felt truly connected to. They were wonderful at “re-authoring” themselves outside of school. They were dancers, poets, and musicians. In these roles they displayed great confidence. If only the teachers had been more aware of what was going on with these students maybe this knowledge could have been used to draw the students into the classroom. I believe that an approach similar to Writer’s Workshop would be one way to make this happen. By giving students an opportunity to write and share what is important in their lives it will give others a greater appreciation of a student’s expertise outside of school. Through this appreciation of knowledge I would be hopeful that the attitude of the other students would be more accepting of Daniel and Zonnie’s differences and that they would find a comfortable place in the academic world.

Voice is power as stated by Annette Henry and I must strive to make sure that my students’ voices are being heard. I cannot be so driven in my school day that I miss the opportunity for a student to make a connection between home and school. I must be willing to see the world as they see it in order to help them develop fully. The more the students feel empowered the more risk they will be willing to take when approaching a new discourse.

This class has also made me more aware of gender in the classroom. Up to this point I have only sorted books by genre so that I can direct girls to literature that may be of interest and that know seems like a pitiful attempt. There is so much more that needs to be addressed in the classroom. I understand know why sometimes my girls are less likely to share responses in whole group and why my small teams don’t always work out for my girls. Like Laurie sometimes they are busy being little mothers to get to what they need to accomplish. I am also reminded by chapters 3 and 4 that I shouldn’t assume that a student knows what I expect. Laurie had figured out what it took to be a good girl in three years but I have to wonder if this would have all been an easier transition if the teach had been more clear in their expectations of each component in the classroom while taking into consideration her need to interact as a caretaker and providing that time as well. Next year I plan to have literacy centers in my first grade class and I plan to use what I have learned through Hick’s research to make sure that each student feels successful.

This leads back to Michel Foucault statement that we must “think differently than one thinks, and perceive differently than one sees…” We must work to create a hybrid classroom where the students are comfortable and able to transition from one discourse to the other. We must work to have a greater understanding of what is important to our students and true to see more clearly what they hope to gain in the classroom. Through my course work my approach to my students next year will be dramatically different. I plan to spend more time talking with parents to gain a better understanding of my students outside of school and I want to incorporate what I learn into writing and author’s chair time. I also hope to include parents as guest speakers in social studies or science whenever there is a connection.

Candy Mooney

Critique is understood as an interrogation of the terms by which life is constrained
in order to open up the possibility of different modes of living;
in other words, not to celebrate difference as such
but to establish more inclusive conditions
for sheltering and maintaining life that resist models of assimilation.
Judith Butler

For me this quote means that realizing and learning about differences in thinking and living is important not just because we are different, but because we can’t all be the same. Looking critically at life and the why and how of what we do helps us to determine ways that we are unique. Throughout this course, the readings and blog discussions have challenged the way that I think about life and teaching, as well as, what I think about what other people think and feel.

Before this course, I knew that students were different and that the experiences and lives lived before entering my classroom gave them all a different take on things. However, I am not sure that I really thought much about the complete impact of these differences as I taught. I came into my classroom, taught my heart out, and expected that my students give the same 100% plus back. I expected that they shared the same values I held for education. I expected the learning curve in my classroom to be a straight line drawn by me in my educated way of thinking. In my mind, I had made allowances (I thought) for the struggles faced by my students from less than affluent families. After all, I grew up that way, and I made it through. The connection that I had with students who lived similar lives was strong most of the time, and I truly believed that this help me “understand.”

Sadly, the point that I failed to consider was that my discourse has changed. As much as I try to identify with the students raised in families like I was, my life is different now. I have different expectations, because education is what helped me “get through.” I often forget that there are still people who feel differently about education and what defines one’s successes than I do. I do not feel that there is only one method of success, but the middle-class belief that success must in some way be comprised of formal education has been very prevalent in my mind for years. As a teacher through and through, education just is. It is my life. I want it not only for myself, but for my students, my colleagues, my family and friends. I have realized though through the readings in this class that not all of my students (and their families) can be expected to “assimilate” to my way of thinking.

From the beginning of the course with “Ovuh Dyuh” and “No Kinda Sense,” I began to have a new understanding of how difficult attaining education can be for some people. There are so many battles and conflicting messages that students must work through. Throughout the course, I have been surprised at my own thought processes and to some degree my biases about education. Reading the articles about children from different countries and cultures helped me to see ways to connect students who are different from each other and teach them to value differences, as well as, similarities. I will use the ideas and situations discussed in the Noll and Perry articles to reflect on practices that will best help my students connect to who they are and to play on the strengths that these students bring. It is important that students feel valued and are empowered to express who they are in our classrooms. Seeing how this could work for students that may have otherwise been overlooked is major part of what I will take from this class.

Even though my growth has come from all of the readings, I have felt the deepest connection to Reading Lives. Through Hicks’ research and the reflection on her own learning, my eyes and my heart have been opened to the impact that “other influences” can have on a child. I thought that I was strong in this area already. However, after reading about Laurie and Jake, I have a new appreciation for how much a child is impacted by her perception of herself as a learner. As teachers, we play a large part in building these thoughts and feelings. Jake taught me that a child can be very bright and still struggle with the institution and the concept of school.

This book was important to me, because it has helped me to see that there are students that I am potentially overlooking. It has helped me to understand that trying to “assimilate” all of my students into the same academic way of living and thinking is not necessarily what is best for the education of all of my students. One of the greatest impacts that this course has had on my life is to open my eyes. I think sometimes we forget the look carefully at our students. We can get so caught up in doing what we know, and teaching what is required, that we forget to look into the eyes of kids like Laurie and Jake (and all of the others) and see them—who they are as not just students but people. I see the faces of a couple of my students even as I type this and have throughout the course. My mind goes back to the experiences that they have encountered in my classroom. This course has helped me to see the importance of “seeing” those faces as I look at strategies and practices that are best for my all students as individuals. I hope that never changes!

Christy Laws

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 at all.
Michel Foucault

I don't think I knew what I was getting into when I signed up for this class. I had no idea that my way of thinking would be so altered. When we began reading the text, I admit that I felt a little lost. The language was so foriegn to me. But in retrospect, I think that made me more empathetic for the subject matter. It leveled the playing field and allowed me to feel how these children sometimes feel in the classroom.

I also feel, as Erin Whisnant said, that when I get to a place where I don't think I can learn something new, do something better, or need to reflect then I need to have my sanity checked. Through all aspects of life, reflection and learning are necessities.

When Hicks said, "Schooling in the primary grades should ideally become a set of opportunities for children to experience new identities connected with textual practices," it made me think that children also need opportunities to reflect on their learning experiences. One way for them to do this is to talk about what they read and write. To talk to their peers and their teacher about the content and about what it means to them. They need lots of opportunity to explore on their own terms like Jake needed. Through many varied opportunities of learning all students can be successful in school.

I grew up in a working class family. I understood and perceived much of what Hicks was describing in an experiential way. I could empathize with Hicks and the way she described her mother and her "being a good girl" at school. I think so many of our students are hiding what they are dealing with at home by being "good" in school. The wallflowers, so to speak, are the ones I worry about the most. They don't express what they want or need; they don't want to be seen. I was one of those.

I agree with Hicks when she says that working class children are viewed negatively without cultural sensitivity. None of us would tell or let be told a racist joke within our classroom and probably our presence. But we so often let jokes about rednecks go by. I think this book has changed my view of that. I want be able to listen to those jokes or TV comments without thinking about Jake and Laurie and having a different oppinion of how they make people feel.

As we read the articles, each of them left me with the sense of respecting students and their cultures. The Noll article described how Daniel and Zonnie wanted to be able to combine their school life and the culture. Daniel also reminded me of Jake. He wanted to do activities that made sense for him and not "useless" homework and projects. If he could find some ways to do his schoolwork in a way that seemed purposeful, he could be successful in school. The Lost Boys found a way to alter their cultural storytelling into a form that could be useful to themselves and their homeland. As teachers, we need to find ways to help students bridge these gaps and help them be more successful in school. Staples in particular seemed to find a way to help her students bridge the gap. By using relevant movies and books, she was able to get students to feel their activities were purposeful. She also gave them decision making powers that allowed them to feel in control.

Overall, I think I became more familiar with this way of thinking and percieving and I was able to reflect and comment with knowledge in my post and comments. I know my way of thinking has been changed.

Christy Findley

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 at all.
~Michael Foucault

In order to grow as a teacher and a person, you have to look at a person or situation from several dimensions. Also, you have to challenge personal prejudices and beliefs. You need to become proactive and seek the reason behind the prejudices and beliefs. Do they come from something you heard? Do they come from your childhood teachings? As you are searching and reflecting on teaching practices, beliefs, ethnic groups or situation, you have to focus on changing your mindset. Change is frightening. Change is uncomfortable.
Questioning who you are is frightening and uncomfortable because you are not always certain what you are going to discover.

As I read the articles, I was reminded of my journey of accepting my students for who they. I do not have trouble accepting or appreciating people of different ethnic groups. Yet, I am an education snob. I believe everyone should push their children to earn good grades, parents should attend all conferences and college should be encouraged from the day the students step into the kindergarten classroom. When I first heard the Ebonics debate in California a few years, I went on a fifteen minute rant. I was standing behind Bill Cosby, Jesse Jackson and Maya Angelou. After reading Delpit and Dowdy articles, I learned the purpose behind Ebonics. I still did not agree with the use of it in the classroom but I understood it as a way to create a comfort level for the students. In my opinion, teachers learning Ebonics is comparable to learning conversational Spanish. It was just another way to effectively communicate with your students. Ebonics is example of my mind being closed to a new idea meant to help students and teachers.

My family is composed of various ethnic groups. We learn to accept people as they are. Our philosophy is skin color is so overrated. There are good people and bad people in every race. Of course, I bring my core beliefs with me into the classroom. As I read the articles and the books for class, I began to reflect on my classroom and my interactions with my students. Are my students comfortable and secure in our class community? Have I made an effort to connect their real life with school? Do I treat differently students based on gender?

First, I thought about the gender of students. I enjoy male students more than female students. I do not enjoy the female banter or the dramatic behavior they exhibit. I admire the way Henry taught the young ladies to find their voice. She took their dramatic behavior and channeled it to a positive behavior. At the same time, she did not take away who they were. I connected this with Laurie in Hicks’ case study. Laurie was imaginative and had the ability to express herself throw writing. The girls were getting lost in the classroom because of their home environment. The role of a teacher is to find a balance between home and school. Teachers play various roles with teaching landing at the bottom more times than not. In my beginning years as a teacher the first I spent time getting to know my students on a personal level as well as on an academic level. As my roles increased I spent less and less time getting to my students. Zonnie and Daniel are perfect examples of what happens when do not take time to get to know your students. Zonnie and Daniel are creative students but the assignments places limits on their ability. I believe it is better to discover a student’s strengths and use the strengths to build the weaknesses.

Secondly, as I reflected on my classroom community, I have left students behind. I did not appreciate their talents or gifts. I went from poverty level school to a middle class school this past year. I formed a social class prejudice. I complained about how spoiled the kids were and unappreciative they were. I did not like their smart mouth attitudes. I formed bonds with a select few and kept the other students at arms length. At the poverty level school, I had spoiled students with smart mouth attitudes. I dealt with it by saying they are the product of their environment and it is my job to create a safe different environment within the classroom. I walked into my new middle class school with different expectations. I expected the students to behave as proper little adults and their parents to attend conferences without me having to call and send five different notes. In short, I expected my job to become easier. I expected to go into my class and teach while not worrying about their home environment. Wrong. They brought their discourse to school every day. I was challenged in a different way. Parents had different expectations. They were in my classroom business questioning my methods. The students questioned me. I did not have parents questioning me or students in my other school. I had to change my mindset in order to be successful. I had to see with different eyes.

I walk away from this class feeling renewed. I rediscovered that children bring their home and personal beliefs with them to class everyday. In order for students to participate in the learning community they have to find a connection or some from of acceptance. It is the job of the teacher to make sure students feel accepted. The acceptance begins with the open mind of the teacher who has the courage to change his/her mindset.

Zandra Hunt

In both Henry and Staples the commitment to allowing students to have their own voice is significant. “Coming to a voice” is a valuable concept that allows students to cope with adolescent struggles in accessible way. As Henry notes, “you cannot merely just ‘empower’ or ‘give voice’ to girls merely through weekly writing activities (p. 236).” It takes more than that. It takes understanding and interpreting their modes of expression. It means letting go off right and wrong and stepping outside the box. Staples also suggests teachers to facilitate re-authorship should “become a student of students, and learn to embrace the benefits of students’ reading, writing, speaking, and listening in alternative contexts (p. 388).” As teachers we have to provide freedom and acceptance to hear students. For staples re-authorship and literacy work outside the classroom proved to allow that autonomy as well as using relevant modes of media texts to appeal to interests.
Henry’s work with African Caribbean immigrant young girls allows us to recognize that often teachers and peers discourage these students from expressing their thoughts in their mother tongues. Her work addresses this through attempting to connect with the girls in small group sessions through a relevant novel. From this experience she found that in that comfort zone, these girls dealt with pertinent issues of their gender roles and began to express themselves more freely divulging their inner thoughts and needs. Staples provided a similar approach with African American boys in an after school setting using a popular movie. Although the approach was more risky, the study of Hustle and Flow provided “a popular narrative” that allowed the boys to deal with issues that are relevant to their identity. In this highly risqué film, their group challenged and analyzes the story. Discussing issues of words ( pimp, nigga) and themes (oppression and liberation), the boys began to re-author and question what they viewed which is an essential part of media literacy.
I really enjoyed hearing connections that were made in both of these case studies. They both confirmed something I have long believed-that to truly connect and build literacy you have to build a trusting relationship and provide relevant instructional contexts to engage students. I loved the fact that Staples took a risk in analyzing a movie that would be deemed inappropriate. While I don’t think that we should show those kinds of movies in school, I do think that our students often view movies like that without support. Many of our students can relate to some more risqué movies, but don’t know how to create their own frameworks for analysis. All too often parents, allow their children to view these materials without discussion or analysis. That is when the bigger picture is missed and a perfect moment to build literacy has escaped. Through various media, songs, television, and movies we can challenge our students to think that they never knew possible. One-that is where our children’s interest lies. Two-they often are surrounded by media and should become aware of how media can impact their thoughts. I love using songs and movie clips to teach my students in language arts. Their interest is peaked and that builds a connection. While I may not love the music or television they watch, just by knowing and understanding what they like, there is a connection made. I can use those things to pull from to teach and build knowledge. When I use their language and tell them to “holla” at me next year there is camaraderie that is shared. I’m down. While they may think it’s silly, it is important to speak to them on their level. I become accepted as more than just another teacher. That relationship and understanding is an invaluable tool with my students. I hear them and listen.

Amy Hardister

The story of the Lost Boys is amazing. I first stumbled across their story when looking for materials to teach about Sudan and the conflict to my 7th grade social studies class in my local library. There is a beautiful picture book called Brothers in Hope: The Story of the Lost Boys of Sudan by Mary Williams and illustrated by Gregory Christie. It was an honor recipient of the Corretta Scott King Illustrator Award. It was amazed because I never heard of this before. I was shocked at the amazing journey these boys took together as a family clinging to one another as a means of survival. The older boys taking care of the young and providing comfort, it is beautiful. I had never really thought about what happened to the girls and why there were only “Lost Boys” until I was discussing the article with a friend. She asked what happen to the girls. How horrific the War in Darfur is for the young people? There, in Darfur, the Janjaweed and the government want the native African tribes to neglect their stories and their histories to be Muslim. There the government wants supreme authority without question. I can’t imagine living in a place where the government is trying to destroy your people and erase your culture from the map. These boys should tremendous courage and strength and as Perry found they are eager to preserve their stories. The oral tradition is already an art that seems a bit lost and removed from the high tech world we live in. It is true as Chol says to Perry when asked about storytelling happening here “it’s common, but we don’t-people go to work… In Africa, there’s not a lot of work, but people gather to tell stories.” The sense of communities found in these boys’ native tribes as well in the Kakuma Refuge Camp promoted storytelling and communication as an art to teach, to share, and to explain the world around them. Religion also was the based upon storytelling. It doesn’t surprise me that these boys felt it particularly important to try to preserve storytelling here, too. For them it is an important part of literacy learning. I think for some students, especially those from low socio-economic backgrounds, there stories are a vital piece of who they are and how they understand literacy. Instead of rushing them through, it would be beneficial to provide an outlet for that oral communication that is becoming more and more a lost art in our world. I know that at one point during a particular emotional conversation with my boyfriend I had to result to texting him to get him to respond to me. Sad, yes, but definitely true. We, as teachers, have to work to maintain storytelling as a viable means of communicating ideas in our classrooms. This is challenging, but one important lesson learned from this case study. I enjoyed the distinction that Perry made in her analysis of traditional storytelling verses transformed storytelling. It has changed, but in our students stories we can find invaluable comments about life and take a deeper look in how they understand the world around them. We often take for granted stories that students connect with as they read text, but storytelling is a purposeful way to interact with a text. It may not just be important for refugees, but also as a way to give our students a voice.

Amy Hardister

Literacy isn’t merely written. It is a cultural process that spans the colors of society, gender, race, and various discourses embedded with values, ethics, and beliefs visible through language. As teachers when students such as Jake come to school or Lee Ann for that matter, we judge their social discourses often misunderstanding the background of these students. At school it is like a box of crayons with various colors, language practices, and identities that are essential to literacy learning. By understanding that as Hicks suggests, teachers must recognize how this can impact literacy development in the classroom otherwise conflict occurs.

This reminds me of a student that I was told at the beginning of the year, “Oh no, I feel sorry for you.” This student wasn’t bad, but was caught between two worlds of home and school. While his actions at school were deemed inappropriate, at home that was the norm. He wasn’t terrible. At home, irritating behaviors were learned behaviors that got him the attention he lacked and that carried over to school. At home school wasn’t important and at times he didn’t feel important. While his father was more concerned with trying to talk to me not as a teacher, but in an attempt to get my number, this little boy was reaching out in the ways he was taught. He would claim to be stupid, and not know anything, but when I got a chance to hear him without judgment he made more progress. Although the other upper middle class students turned their heads in annoyance at his stories and actions, I knew there was something more to it. While I don’t think I understood it really until this point. I do feel that from reading this I recognize that sometimes we can misunderstand our students if we don’t understand the background and colors from which they come from. These chapters remind me that we must see the children we teach as individuals. It isn’t our place to change them, but to allow them access to the curriculum by supporting their discourse. By helping students navigate social norms and expectations. It is challenging enough to deal with school, adolescence, and the search for ones identity, but it is terrible to feel alienated and lost in a crowd of judgments.

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

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

“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