The class that I am tutoring in is representative of the statistics in which Matt states in connection to the students in his classroom. The amount of bilingual students is my class is slightly less, but I agree that the fact that these students are already learning two languages gives them a great advantage in acquiring a job in the future. Multiluingists are needed in almost every aspect of business, commerce, travel, education and management and can be the deciding factor over other applicants in the search for a job.
Matt also refers to the fact that people view American as lazy and incompetent. I can verify this statement with direct facts that I acquired when I visited a few countries in Europe. The first day I arrived, my wife and I visited a bar while we were waiting for our hotel room to be ready. We sat down at the bar and the bartender great ed us with a hello. She obviously new we were Americans, but as we watched her she greeted two other customers in Dutch and then in French. She was very fluent in three languages. We started a conversation with her and found out that she also knew some German. In Europe the countries are small and close so the people who speed different language frequently visit each others country, so the ability to pick up more than one language is almost a must.
Matt's response to prompt #2 can also be related to the article "Teaching English Language Learners" by Claude Goldenberg. By teaching the students in Matt's classroom to use their primary language as scaffolding in order to build their proficiency in standard English is one of the main points in Goldenberg's article. Goldenberg also states the many benefits to those who acquire proficiency in more than one language.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Response to Prompt 6 (Delpit)
When I first started tutoring in Ms. Roberts classroom it was difficult to pinpoint the linguistic differences that existed in relation to each student. As my experience in the classroom and my relationship with the students in the class progressed, I was able to grasp the differences in linguistics. Some students come from households where the primary language is spoken in Spanish and other students come from homes where African-American Vernacular is spoken. Both situations have aspects that hinder the progression of learning Standard English at school. At one end of the spectrum, some students were able to read and write with ease, while on the other end, other students had trouble sounding-out, pronouncing and writing sentences.
Ms. Roberts recognizes these sociocultural and linguistic differences amongst the students and has several techniques that she utilizes in order to provide the proper amount of help that each student requires. Ms. Roberts uses what Lisa Delpit would call a "diversity of style". She empower the students by relating the curriculum to the culture of the students, as well as allowing the students to directly participate in nearly every lesson. The last tutoring session she taught a lesson in math on the uses of graphing. She had the students build a graph, while participating as a group, that represented the favorite foods of students. The class was told to give a list of their favorite foods, and then a tally was made of the data in order to properly fill in the graph. She also uses a direct method of discipline in order to keep the attention of the students. This method of discipline seems very necessary for second grade children. Even though she demands good behavior in her class, she rewards good behavior with privileges such as longer recess or fun projects such as kite building. Group work in normal setup for most of the class time, but individual work is also applied.
It is very clear that Ms. Roberts shows great concern for the education of the students in her classroom. It is evident, not only from the statistics on Infoworks. com and the vast number of works published on the subject of the proper pedagogy for multicultural classrooms, that minority children have more difficulty in acquiring the standard of education in which white children acquire. Although this is a very general statement, there is a mass of proof in its favor. One of the methods that Ms. Roberts uses that directly addresses this issue is by allowing the help of volunteers into the classroom in order to provide her students with a better opportunity at an equal education.
Ms. Roberts recognizes these sociocultural and linguistic differences amongst the students and has several techniques that she utilizes in order to provide the proper amount of help that each student requires. Ms. Roberts uses what Lisa Delpit would call a "diversity of style". She empower the students by relating the curriculum to the culture of the students, as well as allowing the students to directly participate in nearly every lesson. The last tutoring session she taught a lesson in math on the uses of graphing. She had the students build a graph, while participating as a group, that represented the favorite foods of students. The class was told to give a list of their favorite foods, and then a tally was made of the data in order to properly fill in the graph. She also uses a direct method of discipline in order to keep the attention of the students. This method of discipline seems very necessary for second grade children. Even though she demands good behavior in her class, she rewards good behavior with privileges such as longer recess or fun projects such as kite building. Group work in normal setup for most of the class time, but individual work is also applied.
It is very clear that Ms. Roberts shows great concern for the education of the students in her classroom. It is evident, not only from the statistics on Infoworks. com and the vast number of works published on the subject of the proper pedagogy for multicultural classrooms, that minority children have more difficulty in acquiring the standard of education in which white children acquire. Although this is a very general statement, there is a mass of proof in its favor. One of the methods that Ms. Roberts uses that directly addresses this issue is by allowing the help of volunteers into the classroom in order to provide her students with a better opportunity at an equal education.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Response to Mr. Mike Prompt 2
The fact that segregation is still present should become completely evident by the service learning experience. In the school that I am tutoring in, as well as the one that Mr. Mike is tutoring in, are not doubt segregated schools. Mr. Mike states that the school he is tutoring in consist of zero white children and the majority are Hispanic and African-American. This statistic as related to the school I am tutoring and the school Mr. Mike is tutoring in call be solidified by the information acquired from Infoworks.com.
I have a similar story to the one Mr. Mike states concerning the situation in which a student asked him if he was Hispanic. During one of my service learning sessions, a second grade African-American girl asked me if I was born with that color hair. I have red hair and the only reason I can figure she asked is that African-Americans are very unlikely to be born with that color hair. It may have been asked in order to get me to talk with her. Whatever the reason, I though it was similar to Mr. Mike's in the sense that the students that asked the question were very curios about the new teacher in the classroom. The tough part about teaching is tying to harness this curiosity in a manner in which it can be used in the process of learning. By this I mean, get the students to use this mass of curiosity, that seems to present in many students, to get them interested in the learning at hand.
Mr. Mike also talks about the economic status of some of the students. He learned that not many of the children had rulers in their homes, and this is a reflection of the economic status of the parents. I had a similar situation occur, but it concerned the school's economic status instead of the parents. I tutor the children in math. When one learns math, one of the first practices that are enforced is the use of a pencil due to the fact that many mistakes are going to be made. The students in the class that I am tutoring in have pencils with no erasers. The pencils also look like they have been used since the first day of school. One can only assume that the school does not provide the teachers with new pencils or the parents are not financially capable of providing their children with a functional writing implement. Not having an eraser makes learning math very difficult, just as not having a ruler makes taking and learning measurements difficult.
I have a similar story to the one Mr. Mike states concerning the situation in which a student asked him if he was Hispanic. During one of my service learning sessions, a second grade African-American girl asked me if I was born with that color hair. I have red hair and the only reason I can figure she asked is that African-Americans are very unlikely to be born with that color hair. It may have been asked in order to get me to talk with her. Whatever the reason, I though it was similar to Mr. Mike's in the sense that the students that asked the question were very curios about the new teacher in the classroom. The tough part about teaching is tying to harness this curiosity in a manner in which it can be used in the process of learning. By this I mean, get the students to use this mass of curiosity, that seems to present in many students, to get them interested in the learning at hand.
Mr. Mike also talks about the economic status of some of the students. He learned that not many of the children had rulers in their homes, and this is a reflection of the economic status of the parents. I had a similar situation occur, but it concerned the school's economic status instead of the parents. I tutor the children in math. When one learns math, one of the first practices that are enforced is the use of a pencil due to the fact that many mistakes are going to be made. The students in the class that I am tutoring in have pencils with no erasers. The pencils also look like they have been used since the first day of school. One can only assume that the school does not provide the teachers with new pencils or the parents are not financially capable of providing their children with a functional writing implement. Not having an eraser makes learning math very difficult, just as not having a ruler makes taking and learning measurements difficult.
Response to Prompt 4 (Carlson)
The students in the second grade classroom that I am tutoring in grew up in very different socioeconomic and cultural environments than those of which I grew up in. The students come from low-income families and Hispanic and African-American cultures, while I grew up in a middle class white culture. Although these differences exist it has not been difficult to find areas in which to associate with these children. The boys in the class are a little easier to associate with because we have common interests such as sports and music. Sports and music each have many Hispanic, African and Caucasian Americans cultures represented. By relating to the students in these areas and by using analogies that the children can associate with in relation to sports and music, the differences between race and social status become less noticeable. The girls in the class also have some areas in which I can relate the criteria of the classroom to. My wife is a big Walt Disney movie and artifact collector, so by proxy I am also a Walt Disney fan. (I do enjoy some Walt Disney stuff, ie. Alice in Wonderland, Fantasia, Disney World) Also, I have twin daughters at home, so I picked up a couple of tricks here and there in order to relate to them. Carlson says that in order to protect minority rights it is essential to make the classroom a place of equality and respect the differences between cultures. By teaching democratically and relating educational subject matter to aspects of these minority students lives in a way that makes them excited about learning are all ways in which to intersect my experiences with that of the students.
Although I am not the oldest student on campus, I am older that a good majority of the student body of the state college. The fact that I am older than most students that are participating in the tutor program, gives me certain advantages that come with age. I have been out in the working world and found that it can be a tough place to try to make a living. Also, certain aspects of life such as bill deadlines, dealing with c0-workers, customers (home owners), managers and business owners, the joys and rigors of family life are all experiences that come with age. These examples are all ways that one learns how to persevere through the many different cultures of power that exist in society. These experiences can be passed down in terms that students can understand in order help them be better participants in the democracy of the United States. By teaching these students to challenge essentialistic world views by relating my experiences, not directly, but from a universal perspective, the barriers such as race, gender, sex and age that Carlson states, can effectively be broken.
From what I have learned thus far from class and my service learning experience, it is embarrassing to say that I pretty much thought that all children had the ability to receive a universally equal education. By this I mean that all children, whether rich or poor, would receive the same education if they chose to grasp it. Boy, was I wrong. There are so many inequalities in the education system that many books could be written and have been written on the subject. It seems that the deciding factor in receiving a good education comes down to money. Cities and school districts that have money are more likely to have students that are achieving because funding can be provided for the best teachers, books, transportation and school maintenance, while the poorer cities do not such privileges.
Although I am not the oldest student on campus, I am older that a good majority of the student body of the state college. The fact that I am older than most students that are participating in the tutor program, gives me certain advantages that come with age. I have been out in the working world and found that it can be a tough place to try to make a living. Also, certain aspects of life such as bill deadlines, dealing with c0-workers, customers (home owners), managers and business owners, the joys and rigors of family life are all experiences that come with age. These examples are all ways that one learns how to persevere through the many different cultures of power that exist in society. These experiences can be passed down in terms that students can understand in order help them be better participants in the democracy of the United States. By teaching these students to challenge essentialistic world views by relating my experiences, not directly, but from a universal perspective, the barriers such as race, gender, sex and age that Carlson states, can effectively be broken.
From what I have learned thus far from class and my service learning experience, it is embarrassing to say that I pretty much thought that all children had the ability to receive a universally equal education. By this I mean that all children, whether rich or poor, would receive the same education if they chose to grasp it. Boy, was I wrong. There are so many inequalities in the education system that many books could be written and have been written on the subject. It seems that the deciding factor in receiving a good education comes down to money. Cities and school districts that have money are more likely to have students that are achieving because funding can be provided for the best teachers, books, transportation and school maintenance, while the poorer cities do not such privileges.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Response to Prompt 3 (Shor)
In order to assess the learning ability of diverse learners and accommodate the sociocultural differences that affect learning, it is essential to incorporate assessment practices that are also diverse. In any classroom, the skill levels and ability to learn are affected by many factors such as economic status, race and linguistics. In order to provide an equal education for the students in any given classroom, it is important to first assess the ability of the students in order to give each student the proper amount attention required. All students learn at a different speed and require more instruction than do other students.
There are many techniques that can be used in the classroom that can be used in order to get the students involved in the lesson in order to assess the progress of the students. By using a variety of audio and visual props, group and individual exercises, as well as ensuring an equal participatory atmosphere in the class, are sure methods to grab the students attention in order to get them involved in the classroom. Shor states that in order to provide a quality education for children we must get them to feel as though they need to participate. By ensuring that all voices in the classroom are heard in a participatory atmosphere, the task of properly assessing the progress of each student becomes an easier task compared to the tactics of past education in which students were expected to memorize and regurgitate information by taking test after test.
Ms. Roberts is the teacher in the classroom in which I am tutoring this semester. In order to assess her students, she uses many different methods of evaluation. Shor says that a classroom needs to maintain a balance between, "The need for structure and the need for openness." Structure is maintained in the classroom by varying the day-to-day lesson plan to keep the interest of the students and also by ensuring that all the students are paying attention to the task at hand. From my experience so far, trying to make sure that all of the students are on the same page is one of the more challenging aspects of being a second grade teacher. Another method that is mentioned by Shor that is played out in the classroom of Ms. Roberts is making sure that the subject matter is oriented around the students culture and needs. Some lessons are given to the class as they participate as group while sitting on a rug in the front of the classroom, while other are given while the students sit at tables in groups. At each table there are four to five students of varying academic capabilities. By grouping students who achieve at a slower pace with those who are faster learners, the group can work together in order to pass knowledge and information in an attempt to help the needs of slower learners.
These techniques maintain an open flow of ideas by ensuring an equal participatory, democratic classroom, providing structure and forming subject matter around the needs of the students are all methods used by Ms. Roberts in which Shor would describe as empowering students. By making sure students are voicing their ideas, caring about their education and providing a diverse learning experience, it is easier to access a students progress throughout year.
There are many techniques that can be used in the classroom that can be used in order to get the students involved in the lesson in order to assess the progress of the students. By using a variety of audio and visual props, group and individual exercises, as well as ensuring an equal participatory atmosphere in the class, are sure methods to grab the students attention in order to get them involved in the classroom. Shor states that in order to provide a quality education for children we must get them to feel as though they need to participate. By ensuring that all voices in the classroom are heard in a participatory atmosphere, the task of properly assessing the progress of each student becomes an easier task compared to the tactics of past education in which students were expected to memorize and regurgitate information by taking test after test.
Ms. Roberts is the teacher in the classroom in which I am tutoring this semester. In order to assess her students, she uses many different methods of evaluation. Shor says that a classroom needs to maintain a balance between, "The need for structure and the need for openness." Structure is maintained in the classroom by varying the day-to-day lesson plan to keep the interest of the students and also by ensuring that all the students are paying attention to the task at hand. From my experience so far, trying to make sure that all of the students are on the same page is one of the more challenging aspects of being a second grade teacher. Another method that is mentioned by Shor that is played out in the classroom of Ms. Roberts is making sure that the subject matter is oriented around the students culture and needs. Some lessons are given to the class as they participate as group while sitting on a rug in the front of the classroom, while other are given while the students sit at tables in groups. At each table there are four to five students of varying academic capabilities. By grouping students who achieve at a slower pace with those who are faster learners, the group can work together in order to pass knowledge and information in an attempt to help the needs of slower learners.
These techniques maintain an open flow of ideas by ensuring an equal participatory, democratic classroom, providing structure and forming subject matter around the needs of the students are all methods used by Ms. Roberts in which Shor would describe as empowering students. By making sure students are voicing their ideas, caring about their education and providing a diverse learning experience, it is easier to access a students progress throughout year.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Response to Prompt 5 (Johnson)
Collaborating with the parents of the students in a classroom can be a very challenging task. Ms. Roberts was telling me during class that she has not had very many parent teacher meeting in the three years that she has teached at this particular school. Also, the school has not a Parent/Teacher Organization established in the school. This fact could have multiple reasons. This school is located in a low income area of the state. Parents may not have the time to make an appointment with the teacher due to the long work hours they have to put in to make the household function and put food on the table. Due to the current economic crisis that is going on in the United States, many families do not have their own transportation. A family without transportation would find it difficult to meet with a teacher even if they felt as though it was important.
If I was the teacher of this class this classroom their are some challenges that I could forsee in collaborating with the parents of my students. About fifty percent of the students in the class are Hispanic. If these parents wanted to meet with me it would be difficult to properly communicate the very important information concerning their child. The fact that I am a white American who is teaching a one hundred percent Hispanic and African American class might give these parents the impression that I might not be able to properly teach these children due to my sociopolitical views or due to the culture gap between my students and I. Many parents do not think that it is important to speek to the teacher possibly because there was never an effort made in the past by a teacher to try to get the parents involved in the education of their child.
By addressing problems associated with collaborating properly with parents is the first step towards a solution. As stated by Johnson in reference to the social systems that we are involved in (school being a rather large social system),"We're involved (in social systems) simply through the fact that we are here. As such, we can only choose how to be involved, whether to just be part of the problem or also to be part of the solution." As teachers we could choose to be part of the solution by attempting to change the system. If there has not been a PTA established in the school, it would be a good idea to try and contact parents in an attempt to get volunteers in order to create a PTA. As teachers, we could send home reports on the students work and tests, whether it be good or bad, in order to get the parents involved in the education process. Send letters home to the parents to get them to attend parent/teacher conferences. Speak with parents who may have financial problems or transportation problems in order to set up convenient time for meetings. When parents who speak another language come in to speak with me, I would try to get a translator or ask parents to bring someone who could translate if I could not provide one.
Try to keep an open about the parents who still do not participate, because these people may have extraneous circumstances that I may not be aware of and that they do not want to share. Some of the most important advice that Lisa Delpit may have stated in her article, "Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children" is that we must listen to these parents whose oppinions may differ greatly than mine.
If I was the teacher of this class this classroom their are some challenges that I could forsee in collaborating with the parents of my students. About fifty percent of the students in the class are Hispanic. If these parents wanted to meet with me it would be difficult to properly communicate the very important information concerning their child. The fact that I am a white American who is teaching a one hundred percent Hispanic and African American class might give these parents the impression that I might not be able to properly teach these children due to my sociopolitical views or due to the culture gap between my students and I. Many parents do not think that it is important to speek to the teacher possibly because there was never an effort made in the past by a teacher to try to get the parents involved in the education of their child.
By addressing problems associated with collaborating properly with parents is the first step towards a solution. As stated by Johnson in reference to the social systems that we are involved in (school being a rather large social system),"We're involved (in social systems) simply through the fact that we are here. As such, we can only choose how to be involved, whether to just be part of the problem or also to be part of the solution." As teachers we could choose to be part of the solution by attempting to change the system. If there has not been a PTA established in the school, it would be a good idea to try and contact parents in an attempt to get volunteers in order to create a PTA. As teachers, we could send home reports on the students work and tests, whether it be good or bad, in order to get the parents involved in the education process. Send letters home to the parents to get them to attend parent/teacher conferences. Speak with parents who may have financial problems or transportation problems in order to set up convenient time for meetings. When parents who speak another language come in to speak with me, I would try to get a translator or ask parents to bring someone who could translate if I could not provide one.
Try to keep an open about the parents who still do not participate, because these people may have extraneous circumstances that I may not be aware of and that they do not want to share. Some of the most important advice that Lisa Delpit may have stated in her article, "Power and Pedagogy in Educating Other People's Children" is that we must listen to these parents whose oppinions may differ greatly than mine.
Response to Prompt 2 (Kozol, Delpit)
The children in the second grade class that I am tutoring in this year are of Hispanic and African American descent. According to Infoworks, sixty three percent of the students live in high poverty areas. As Ms. Roberts informed me, about twenty five percent of the twenty student class live in homes with one parent. Most of these single parent homes are African American. These statistics give indisputable evidence of the issues of segregation as described by Jonathan Kozol that still exist in the education system. These statistics are solid evidence of the obstacles that children and families who live in high-poverty areas have to overcome in their struggle to attain an education equal to that of the middle and upper class.
These students come households that speak Spanish or a form of English that is highly disputed among society as a legitimate language called African American Vernacular. Regardless of the legitimacy of AAV, these children have to learn Standard English in school. The fact that Standard English is not practiced or even spoken in these children's homes does not make it any easier for them to adapt what they learned in school to their home lives. During one of the classes I was tutoring, one of the students was dismissed. He left the class room to meet his mother at the office. In order to get to the parking lot, the student and his mother had to walk back past the class I was in. I heard them walk by the open window and realized that they were speaking Spanish. This situation is an example of how these students have to use one language at school, Standard English, but are not able to practice it at home because the parents do not speak English.
Although these problems such as low income, difficulties in learning Standard English and segregation are problems in the cultures of Hispanic and African American children in my school and in the U.S. in general, these students also bring strong cultural capital to the classroom. These children come from cultures with a rich history with roots in art, music, literature and politics. As in the writings of Lisa Delpit, these children need have their rich cultures preserved and prove to these children that their heritage is extremely important. They need to be taught about the culture of power that exists in the education system. We have to teach them about the politics involved in achieving an education, and the issues involved specifically with the sad fact that it is even more difficult for these low income students to receive an equal education compared to that of higher income families.
If we can accomplish teaching these students about the barriers that they will have to cross and the systems of privilege that are working against them, we will empower them with the knowledge to act against the cultures of power that exist in the world. By teaching these children how a democracy is supposed work, we can ensure that these students will be able to "shake up" the system and attempt to change the status quo. We have to teach these children that their language and the way they use it can effectively be the most powerful weapon in the slow changing environment that is education.
These students come households that speak Spanish or a form of English that is highly disputed among society as a legitimate language called African American Vernacular. Regardless of the legitimacy of AAV, these children have to learn Standard English in school. The fact that Standard English is not practiced or even spoken in these children's homes does not make it any easier for them to adapt what they learned in school to their home lives. During one of the classes I was tutoring, one of the students was dismissed. He left the class room to meet his mother at the office. In order to get to the parking lot, the student and his mother had to walk back past the class I was in. I heard them walk by the open window and realized that they were speaking Spanish. This situation is an example of how these students have to use one language at school, Standard English, but are not able to practice it at home because the parents do not speak English.
Although these problems such as low income, difficulties in learning Standard English and segregation are problems in the cultures of Hispanic and African American children in my school and in the U.S. in general, these students also bring strong cultural capital to the classroom. These children come from cultures with a rich history with roots in art, music, literature and politics. As in the writings of Lisa Delpit, these children need have their rich cultures preserved and prove to these children that their heritage is extremely important. They need to be taught about the culture of power that exists in the education system. We have to teach them about the politics involved in achieving an education, and the issues involved specifically with the sad fact that it is even more difficult for these low income students to receive an equal education compared to that of higher income families.
If we can accomplish teaching these students about the barriers that they will have to cross and the systems of privilege that are working against them, we will empower them with the knowledge to act against the cultures of power that exist in the world. By teaching these children how a democracy is supposed work, we can ensure that these students will be able to "shake up" the system and attempt to change the status quo. We have to teach these children that their language and the way they use it can effectively be the most powerful weapon in the slow changing environment that is education.
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