From the reading, Contexts for Understanding: Educational Learning Theories]]
Reference:
Bolima, D. (n.d.). Contexts for understanding: educational learning theories. Retrieved from http://staff.washington.edu/saki/strategies/101/new_page_5.htm
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Double Entry Journal #3
From the reading, Contexts for Understanding: Educational Learning Theories]]
Reference:
Bolima, D. (n.d.). Contexts for understanding: educational learning theories. Retrieved from http://staff.washington.edu/saki/strategies/101/new_page_5.htm
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Double Entry Journal #2
Based on "...As soon as she opened her mouth!...": Issues of language, literacy, and power
Quote:
"While documenting the effect of growing up in a nonliterate family on Donny's conceptual knowledge of written language and the problems this posed for his learning to read and write in school, I had to ask what the school was doing about this. How were they dealing with the experiential difference so that his learning could proceed? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not only were they failing to address this experiential difference...they were also seemingly unconcerned about his failure to learn. How could this be? Having seen two of my own children through elementary schools and having garnered a wealth of experience with schools in general, I knew that teachers, specialists, and administrators would have created quite a big fuss if any middle-class child finished first grade knowing how to read only one word. Parents would be called and consulted, assuming they hadn't already been haunting the school corridors, testing would have been recommended and carried out, the instruction and teaching would have been questioned and examined, and elaborate educational plans drawn up to remediate this issue would have been drawn up." (Purcell-Gates, 2002).
Reaction:
This passage, as well as a few that followed, really shook me to my core. I have worked with students from low-income homes, who often do not have parents who are able to assist them with their learning due to their own inabilities. However, the majority of those parents still want their children to learn, and want to find a way to make that happen. True, there are some parents from low-income families who are not as eager as Donny's mother, as you read about in the later passages. But, no matter how eager or not the parents are, it is the teacher's responsibility to help students learn. Teachers are not supposed to pick and choose who they help. Just because a parent is from a lower class, rural area, broken home, etc. does not mean that they do not deserve the same education as a middle or upper class child who may have more parental support, as well as financial stability, and so on. I was so upset by the fact that Donny was sent to the second grade, despite the fact that he was unable to complete what was asked of him at that level. Unfortunately, too many children are waved through like this. I know of a child who was not taught to do long division, and has been struggling because of this. We live in an age, however, that this child can use a calculator, so teachers do not want to take the time to teach the other method. I've tried to assist this child, but it confuses her so that she gives up and returns to the calculator. What are we, as teachers/future teachers, doing to the future of this country? Isn't it part of our job description to care and provide an education to every student that crosses out path? I thought that's what we are supposed to be doing, or at least that's what I want to do with my career. Children, especially ones from low-income, less stable, broken situations, need to know that someone cares about them. Even if their parents care, they may not be able to give the support and guidance that children need, and that is where we are supposed to come into play. We should not be discriminating or thinking that it doesn't matter if a child doesn't learn to read. "Someone else will do it," some people may think. But, what if there is no one else but you? What if this child feels let down and gives up, drops out, etc. after they leave your room? Are you ready to live with that? ALL children should be given the BEST opportunities to learn. ALL. And, if we as teachers don't think we can even attempt that, then we need to decide on another profession.
Reference:
Purcell-Gates, V. (2002). "..as soon as she opened her mouth!..": issues of language, literacy, and power. In L. Delpit & J.K. Dowdy (Eds.), In the skin we speak: an anthology of essays on language, culture, and power (pp. 122-140). Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6DFAmexYq7vMGQxMjI1OTEtMjAyZS00NzJmLTg1OTUtODlmMGQ0ZDIxOTVk&hl=en_US
Related Resource:
This article listed below are some reader responses to a New York Times article. All of the points are valid, and points that I couldn't include in my post. It goes to show that people, not only teachers and parents, notice that children are struggling. There may not be one clear, definite answer to correcting these situations, but it is going to take work and opinions being presented like this article to get things to change.
How Schools Can Help Struggling Students
Quote:
"While documenting the effect of growing up in a nonliterate family on Donny's conceptual knowledge of written language and the problems this posed for his learning to read and write in school, I had to ask what the school was doing about this. How were they dealing with the experiential difference so that his learning could proceed? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not only were they failing to address this experiential difference...they were also seemingly unconcerned about his failure to learn. How could this be? Having seen two of my own children through elementary schools and having garnered a wealth of experience with schools in general, I knew that teachers, specialists, and administrators would have created quite a big fuss if any middle-class child finished first grade knowing how to read only one word. Parents would be called and consulted, assuming they hadn't already been haunting the school corridors, testing would have been recommended and carried out, the instruction and teaching would have been questioned and examined, and elaborate educational plans drawn up to remediate this issue would have been drawn up." (Purcell-Gates, 2002).
Reaction:
This passage, as well as a few that followed, really shook me to my core. I have worked with students from low-income homes, who often do not have parents who are able to assist them with their learning due to their own inabilities. However, the majority of those parents still want their children to learn, and want to find a way to make that happen. True, there are some parents from low-income families who are not as eager as Donny's mother, as you read about in the later passages. But, no matter how eager or not the parents are, it is the teacher's responsibility to help students learn. Teachers are not supposed to pick and choose who they help. Just because a parent is from a lower class, rural area, broken home, etc. does not mean that they do not deserve the same education as a middle or upper class child who may have more parental support, as well as financial stability, and so on. I was so upset by the fact that Donny was sent to the second grade, despite the fact that he was unable to complete what was asked of him at that level. Unfortunately, too many children are waved through like this. I know of a child who was not taught to do long division, and has been struggling because of this. We live in an age, however, that this child can use a calculator, so teachers do not want to take the time to teach the other method. I've tried to assist this child, but it confuses her so that she gives up and returns to the calculator. What are we, as teachers/future teachers, doing to the future of this country? Isn't it part of our job description to care and provide an education to every student that crosses out path? I thought that's what we are supposed to be doing, or at least that's what I want to do with my career. Children, especially ones from low-income, less stable, broken situations, need to know that someone cares about them. Even if their parents care, they may not be able to give the support and guidance that children need, and that is where we are supposed to come into play. We should not be discriminating or thinking that it doesn't matter if a child doesn't learn to read. "Someone else will do it," some people may think. But, what if there is no one else but you? What if this child feels let down and gives up, drops out, etc. after they leave your room? Are you ready to live with that? ALL children should be given the BEST opportunities to learn. ALL. And, if we as teachers don't think we can even attempt that, then we need to decide on another profession.
Reference:
Purcell-Gates, V. (2002). "..as soon as she opened her mouth!..": issues of language, literacy, and power. In L. Delpit & J.K. Dowdy (Eds.), In the skin we speak: an anthology of essays on language, culture, and power (pp. 122-140). Retrieved from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B6DFAmexYq7vMGQxMjI1OTEtMjAyZS00NzJmLTg1OTUtODlmMGQ0ZDIxOTVk&hl=en_US
Related Resource:
This article listed below are some reader responses to a New York Times article. All of the points are valid, and points that I couldn't include in my post. It goes to show that people, not only teachers and parents, notice that children are struggling. There may not be one clear, definite answer to correcting these situations, but it is going to take work and opinions being presented like this article to get things to change.
How Schools Can Help Struggling Students
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Double Entry Journal #1
From the reading: Tall Tales of Appalachia
Quote:
"My own father spent his life backing up, apologizing for the space he took up in the world. He took the hillbilly stereotype to heart and all of his life believed that he was backward and inferior -- a despair I, too, have been trying to escape all of my life." (O'Brien, 2003).
Reaction:
As I was reading this passage of the article, my heart broke. It is so awful, in my opinion, that people from Appalachia have to feel this way. I consider myself a country girl, what Appalachia is, has been, and always should be. My grandpa is a farmer, and I've grown up on the farm, watching him and my father raise cattle, plant and tend gardens, work in the hayfields, and so on. We hunt for our food, butcher the cattle we raise, and grow our vegetables. Now, if being this kind of determined person, like my grandpa is, just living off of the land God blessed him with, is something to be ashamed of, then I must have missed a bulletin. I'm proud of where I'm from, and although I hear all the stereotypes, I just laugh them off. If other people want to make fun, they can go ahead. I'll always be a West Virginian, born and raised, hardworking, and PROUD of my heritage. The video we watched in Dr. Jones' class on Tuesday was basically my life, and it reinforced just how proud I am to be a West Virginian, and how I would not want anything to change.
Reference:
O'Brien, J. (2003). Tall tales of Appalachia. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm
Related Resource:
After reading this article, I decided to search "Proud of Appalachian heritage" to find my related resource. This article from Huntington, WV was the first to come up in my search results, and it really resonated with me as a future teacher, as well as a proud West Virginian. This article shows ways that Jenny Hobson has tried to help her students be proud of where they are from, and could really benefit us as future teachers.
Jenny Hobson: Teach children to be proud of Appalachian heritage
Reference:
Hobson, J. (2008). Jenny Hobson: teach children to be proud of Appalachian heritage. Herald-Dispatch, Retrieved from http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x2065285750
Quote:
"My own father spent his life backing up, apologizing for the space he took up in the world. He took the hillbilly stereotype to heart and all of his life believed that he was backward and inferior -- a despair I, too, have been trying to escape all of my life." (O'Brien, 2003).
Reaction:
As I was reading this passage of the article, my heart broke. It is so awful, in my opinion, that people from Appalachia have to feel this way. I consider myself a country girl, what Appalachia is, has been, and always should be. My grandpa is a farmer, and I've grown up on the farm, watching him and my father raise cattle, plant and tend gardens, work in the hayfields, and so on. We hunt for our food, butcher the cattle we raise, and grow our vegetables. Now, if being this kind of determined person, like my grandpa is, just living off of the land God blessed him with, is something to be ashamed of, then I must have missed a bulletin. I'm proud of where I'm from, and although I hear all the stereotypes, I just laugh them off. If other people want to make fun, they can go ahead. I'll always be a West Virginian, born and raised, hardworking, and PROUD of my heritage. The video we watched in Dr. Jones' class on Tuesday was basically my life, and it reinforced just how proud I am to be a West Virginian, and how I would not want anything to change.
Reference:
O'Brien, J. (2003). Tall tales of Appalachia. The New York Times, Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html?pagewanted=2&src=pm
Related Resource:
After reading this article, I decided to search "Proud of Appalachian heritage" to find my related resource. This article from Huntington, WV was the first to come up in my search results, and it really resonated with me as a future teacher, as well as a proud West Virginian. This article shows ways that Jenny Hobson has tried to help her students be proud of where they are from, and could really benefit us as future teachers.
Jenny Hobson: Teach children to be proud of Appalachian heritage
Reference:
Hobson, J. (2008). Jenny Hobson: teach children to be proud of Appalachian heritage. Herald-Dispatch, Retrieved from http://www.herald-dispatch.com/news/x2065285750
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