Blog #8 "Aria" by Richard Rodriguez

 Quotes from "Aria":

Richard Rodriguez describes his experiences as an English learner in school, while Spanish was the main language spoken at home. He explains the effect that learning English had on himself and his family's dynamic. Richard was at first nervous to learn English and to speak it in school, which led to his teachers visiting his home and speaking to his parents. The teachers asked his mother and father if English was spoken at home, and they learned it wasn't. The parents and the teachers made the decision to speak only English at home to allow Richard and his older brother and sister to be successful in school. Rodriguez writes, "In an instant, they agreed to give up the language (the sounds) that revealed and accentuated our family's closeness"(1). Rodriguez was shocked that his parents were willing to give up speaking Spanish at home. Spanish brought their family together in Rodriguez's mind and didn't understand why they should stop speaking it at home. Besides speaking only English at home to improve his and his siblings' English speaking skills, they had to attend extra help classes. His teachers also worked to be sure to keep his attention. But they called him Richard instead of the name he was born with, Ricardo.

As his family began to speak only English at home and as his and his siblings' English-speaking skills improved their relationships began to change. His family began to spend less time together and the time they did spend together they didn't really talk to each other. The kid's English improved, but the parents still struggled, and at some point, the kids didn't want to repeat or explain what they said. Rodriguez states, "The family's quiet was partly due to the fact, as we children learned more and more English, we shared fewer and fewer words with our parents. Sentences needed to be spoken slowly when a child addressed his mother or father"(2).  Due to the kids receiving lessons in English, it created a rift in their family because the parents were not learning English. The kids felt ashamed to speak Spanish in school, which caused them to feel ashamed to speak Spanish at home or in public. This made talking to their parents difficult. 

Rodriguez later described the effect English had on his parent's roles. His father's English was not as good as his mother's, which made the father uncomfortable speaking when they had guests or when in public. His kids and wife would laugh at him while he led prayers at the dinner table, this caused his wife to eventually do it. Rodriguez describes how his father changed from when he spoke Spanish to English. Rodriguez states, "In Spanish, he expressed ideas and feelings he rarely revealed in English. With firm Spanish sounds, he conveyed confidence and authority English would never allow him"(3). Rodriguez's father was able to express himself when he spoke Spanish, but when speaking English he was unable to share information about himself. 

I personally don't know how well the education system has improved to include bilingual classes because I  speak English in an English-speaking community. But last semester I observed bilingual classes, where they delivered lessons in English in one class and then would do another class in Spanish. The students in both classes were paired up with either strong English speakers with poor English speakers or strong Spanish speakers with poor Spanish speakers. This classroom structure seems very interesting because it allows all of these students to learn two languages while they are in school, which allows them to become bilingual. In my Inspiring Minds classroom lessons are delivered in English and English is the main language that I hear the Preschoolers speak, but I do hear the students occasionally switch over to Spanish.  

Blog #7 "Literacy with an Attitude" by Finn

Quotes from "Literacy with an Attitude":

In Finn's "Literacy with an Attitude," he describes his experiences as a teacher and the experiences of Jean Anyon when they observed five schools in New Jersey. Finn's first teaching job was at a school that split the students up into sections based on how well they performed in their classes. The newer teachers had the students that performed the worse in their classes and the teachers with experience had the students that performed the best in their classes. This is strange because to make all of these students get a fair education the students who are struggling need a teacher who knows what they are doing and what they need to do to make their students successful. Finn later became a professor and taught teachers who were trying to receive their doctorate, which allowed him to understand one of his professors.

When Finn first started teaching he was teaching lower level classes and he described how he handled his classes. Finn states, "I made the assignments easy so the least able students could do them. I had 'extra credit' assignments for students who finished early, usually not too challenging, but time-consuming. I corrected and graded and returned every paper by the next class so the students felt that completing assignments mattered,..."(4). Finn made his assignments easy for his students to complete because these students either struggled in school or weren't as interested in school as other students. I like that Finn would return work back with a grade very quickly because when my teachers would take a while to grade work it would be aggravating and annoying. Also, I like how he gives students the chance to do more work if they finish their assignments early, but by making the assignments easy the students may not be getting challenged enough to catch up to their fellow classmates.

While Finn was teaching he was working to receive his doctorate. His favorite professor said something that stuck with him, which was that Finn and the other teachers who were trying to get their doctorate working at poor schools were "hard-bitten". Finn writes, "And we didn't think that John Carter, or any other professor, had anything to tell us about what would work in our classrooms. We were out there in the trenches and we took no advice from anyone who wasn't out there with us. I think that's what John Carter meant when he said we were hard-bitten"(7). Finn's professor John Carter meant that these teachers experienced the schools and communities that have few resources to make their students and classrooms successful. This made these teachers ignorant because they didn't want to take advice from anyone else unless they were in the same position as them.

Finally, Finn described Jean Anyon's experiences of observing five schools in New Jersey. Each of the schools had different financial resources. The five schools were either working-class, middle-class, affluent professional, or executive elite children. Each of these schools had teachers with different backgrounds and relationships to the community they taught in. Each school taught similar topics but were taught in different ways. Anyon finalized her observations of the school and described what the students were learning due to their financial class. Finn states, "The working-class children were learning to follow directions and do mechanical, low-paying work,.... The middle-class children were learning to follow orders and do the mental work that keeps society producing and running smoothly. The affluent professional children were learning to create products and art, "symbolic capital," and at the same time they were learning to find rewards in work itself and to negotiate from a powerful position with those who make the final; decisions on how real capital is allocated. The executive elite children? They were learning to be masters of the universe"(20). These results show that students at these schools were being taught to stay in their classes and to not challenge them or try to get out of them, but to accept that they are stuck in that class their whole life.

I found this reading very interesting. Future teachers need to be aware of their additional job of teaching students how to challenge what society and the world classify the students as. Teachers shouldn't let their students accept or embrace what society thinks of them, they should help them break free of these expectations. 

Blog #6 Kohn: "Introducation to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy" and "What to "Look for in a Classroom":

 Alfie Kohn's Argument

Alfie Kohn's argument is that there are many things to make a classroom or school appear as good or bad, without even listening to a teacher or student discussion. You can tell by the appearance and layout of the school and class. But after making your observations, you can observe how the teacher runs the class. The teacher could either be the dominant voice in the class or the one who starts the discussion and lets the students all speak.

Alfie Kohn created a table that lists good and bad signs to look for in a class. Good and bad signs aren't just the teacher and student's relationship, but also the classroom and school environment and setup. Is the school welcoming? Are the staff welcoming to new people and questions? Is it a place where you would want to spend your time? These are some questions that you could ask when in a school to see if the school has good or bad characteristics. The table emphasizes that the layout of the classroom can show many good and bad signs. If the class is arranged in rows with no student work on the walls, these would be considered bad signs. If the class has large tables or desks in clusters with student projects on the walls it makes the class feel more inviting and welcoming, which are good signs. Another section is the teacher and staff's voice and attitude. If the teacher isn't the main one doing the talking in the class and the students can share their thoughts and opinions, that is a good sign. But if the teacher does most of the talking for the entire class and the students can't speak, this would be a bad sign. The main point from the chart is what makes a school or a classroom a success or a failure. 

The video "Introduction to Culturally Relevant Pedagogy" the connection between culture and school. Teachers can make their lessons or assignments connect to the student's personal life experiences and culture. By doing this it makes the students more engaged with the lesson or assignment, which can lead to more creative and unique work. It says that culturally relevant pedagogy builds on students' prior knowledge, mainly their cultural knowledge. The students can learn about their culture through courses that teach with culturally relevant pedagogy. By doing this it would also result in unique and creative work. If teachers fail to incorporate the students' culture or life experiences, students might not be as engaged in the lesson, and class results may not be as successful.

This chart and video are especially useful for us education teachers right now because we are currently in a class and school and we can use this chart to see how the school and class would do. We can see where the class and school can improve to make it more welcoming or successful. Some schools may need to work on the way they layout their classrooms and others may need to work on displaying student work.  

Classroom Observation Blog on Student relation to Shalaby

"Troublemaker"

    A child in my Pre-K school placement who could be classified as a "troublemaker" is an African American boy with an IEP. I've never really heard him speak or say anything to anyone. He tends to not listen to the teacher, the teacher assistants, me, or the other volunteer. When the teacher is delivering a lesson on the rug this boy doesn't stay over there for long and tends to walk away and begins to play with some of the toys around the room. When any of the teachers tried to ask him to return to the rug, he would just continue to play with the toys. My first day was my teacher's first day back from maternity leave, so she was just meeting the students and learning their personalities. I heard one of the teacher's assistants tell the teacher, "You are going to have fun with that one". This is a horrible thing to say in front of the students, even though they are Pre-K and might not even acknowledge or know what they are saying. Once, when the student wandered away from the rug while the rest of the class was watching a video about the alphabet, I followed him and tried to see if he would go back to the rug. But after I asked him multiple times and he didn't go back, I just played with him and kept him company instead of leaving him by himself playing with a toy while the rest of the class was together. He also tends to be destructive by sometimes knocking over blocks that other students are playing with and stacking, which causes the other students to be upset with him. But I calm the students down and tell them they can rebuild it better. I also try to give him some blocks where he can build and knock them down instead of doing it to other towers students make. He tends to just walk away and go play with something else and doesn't play with one thing for long. This causes me to believe that he has a short attention span and will need assistance with staying on task. 

Troublemakers By Shalaby

 "Preface" and "Introduction" on Troublemakers by Shalaby

These readings focus on students who are considered "troublemakers" and how teachers should respond and act when they have students who are considered "troublemakers" in their class. Teachers need to think about what causes their students to act out. Teachers shouldn't single them out in front of the entire class and punish them when they may just need some extra help. I found multiple parts of this reading very interesting and valuable for future teachers to learn about and use in their future classes. 

The first reading started with lyrics from the song "Something Inside So Strong" by Labi Siffre. Labi Siffre states, "The more you refuse to hear my voice, the louder I will sing."  I found these lyrics interesting because they focus on how the more someone is silenced, the more they will try to speak up. This relates to how minority groups continue to be silenced for the injustices that they face and how they have to continue to challenge the system that continues to silence them and oppress them.

The first reading later talks about how miners used to bring a caged canary down into a mine to alert the miners to carbon monoxide poisoning. The canary was able to sense the carbon monoxide before the miners, which allowed the miners to escape their deaths, but the canary died because the miners valued their lives over the canary's. This is a valuable example not just for teachers but for all people to learn from. People need to understand that no one is more valuable or important than someone else. Shalaby writes, "...we are in the habit of incarcerating the people from whom we could learn the most about freedom, we cage the birds singing most loudly." People that we could learn from regarding their life experiences are the ones who tend to be punished and silenced causing our society to be the same and never change.

The second reading further focused on students who are considered to be difficult for the teacher to teach or keep focused. It also focuses on what teachers think of their students regarding how easy they are to work with. Shalaby states, "We generally think of 'deviance', and of deviant people, as a problem. I have learned to think of deviance as informative, and often as an exercise of power and free will." The author believes that students who are "problems" tend to use their rights to share their opinions and beliefs. The author wrote about a student who always challenged a teacher's instructions and never did an assignment that they didn't want to do or find interesting. In this case, the teacher may have either put in the extra effort to keep the student engaged with different lessons or provided extra help to make the student enjoy the lesson or activity.

Teachers need to be aware that every student is capable of greatness, and some just need the right tools to be successful. Teachers have to be insightful and alert, they have to notice things about their students that others may not notice to allow their students to get the help that they need to be successful.