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.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
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.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Response to Prompt 1
The elementary school that I am tutoring this semester is located in an urban area in which buildings and houses in the surrounding area are mostly three family apartment buildings mixed in with business offices and small businesses. The area is populated with people who are mostly of African or Hispanic American descent. Although most of the buildings in the area need some maintenance, there is an effort being made to renovate the neighborhood. There has been a new technical high school built nearby, as well as new tenement houses and renovated houses that have intermingled with old construction to give the neighborhood a more welcoming look. The school is made of grey bricks with a large glass front entrance that welcomes light into the main foyer. The sign for the building is small which makes it hard to spot from the road. There is a playground and a field for the students and teachers to enjoy at recess when the weather permits.
I am helping Ms. Roberts with her second grade math lessons. She is a teacher of color and her class consists of twenty Hispanic and African American children in the ratio of approximately 50/50. Almost ninety five percent of the students in Franklin Elementary come from low-income families and qualify for subsidized lunches.
The room is neat and orderly, and the shelving that runs along the windows is filled with books, learning materials, paper and supplies. The pegboards on either side of each chalkboard are labeled with a different subject and decorated with posters and work that the students produced. For instance, the area labeled "Science" has a graph in which the students plotted the weather from day to day for analysis at different seasons in the school year. The center of the room is arranged with 5-6 small tables in which the students sit in small groups to do assignments. On the floor lays a rug where lessons can be taught while the students sit in front of the teacher. This makes is much easier to make sure that all of the students are paying attention. Ms. Roberts' small desk is in the corner near the windows, and is almost indistinguishable from the shelves around it due to the piles of papers, folders and books stacked upon it. All of the space in the classroom is very well organize and used up very efficiently with materials for the students which leaves Ms. Roberts with little time or space for her own materials.
The class is very well behaved and it was clearly apparent that Ms. Roberts is a well trained disciplinarian who maintains order by speaking very clearly and directly to students. On the door is a list of traits for good behavior and work habits such as "raise your hand", "no calling out" and "be respectful." These traits are valued greatly in the classroom and are instilled by the teacher as a solid foundation for a functioning learning atmosphere. With good behavior as a foundation, the primary structure of Ms. Roberts' pedagogy is critical thinking. As stated by her, "I like to challenge them. Get them to think critically." She also uses a combination of direct and process approaches in her methods of teaching. As I watched her start the math lesson, she did not begin by lecturing the class on the methods for solving the problem at hand. Instead, she posed the lesson as a problem. She asked the students first how they would solve the problem and in what situations they would encounter such a problem in their everyday life. After listening to their responses, she then gave a small lecture and visual demonstration on monetary equivalencies. The class then split up to work in groups so that children with a deficiency in Math were grouped with those with better established skills. This method of pedagogy empowers her students by letting them be the experts for a while, as well as relating the material to situations the children are familiar with. It also promotes social interaction between students. Ms. Roberts possesses many of the qualities of the culturally competent teacher that will be addressed more thoroughly in later prompts.
I am helping Ms. Roberts with her second grade math lessons. She is a teacher of color and her class consists of twenty Hispanic and African American children in the ratio of approximately 50/50. Almost ninety five percent of the students in Franklin Elementary come from low-income families and qualify for subsidized lunches.
The room is neat and orderly, and the shelving that runs along the windows is filled with books, learning materials, paper and supplies. The pegboards on either side of each chalkboard are labeled with a different subject and decorated with posters and work that the students produced. For instance, the area labeled "Science" has a graph in which the students plotted the weather from day to day for analysis at different seasons in the school year. The center of the room is arranged with 5-6 small tables in which the students sit in small groups to do assignments. On the floor lays a rug where lessons can be taught while the students sit in front of the teacher. This makes is much easier to make sure that all of the students are paying attention. Ms. Roberts' small desk is in the corner near the windows, and is almost indistinguishable from the shelves around it due to the piles of papers, folders and books stacked upon it. All of the space in the classroom is very well organize and used up very efficiently with materials for the students which leaves Ms. Roberts with little time or space for her own materials.
The class is very well behaved and it was clearly apparent that Ms. Roberts is a well trained disciplinarian who maintains order by speaking very clearly and directly to students. On the door is a list of traits for good behavior and work habits such as "raise your hand", "no calling out" and "be respectful." These traits are valued greatly in the classroom and are instilled by the teacher as a solid foundation for a functioning learning atmosphere. With good behavior as a foundation, the primary structure of Ms. Roberts' pedagogy is critical thinking. As stated by her, "I like to challenge them. Get them to think critically." She also uses a combination of direct and process approaches in her methods of teaching. As I watched her start the math lesson, she did not begin by lecturing the class on the methods for solving the problem at hand. Instead, she posed the lesson as a problem. She asked the students first how they would solve the problem and in what situations they would encounter such a problem in their everyday life. After listening to their responses, she then gave a small lecture and visual demonstration on monetary equivalencies. The class then split up to work in groups so that children with a deficiency in Math were grouped with those with better established skills. This method of pedagogy empowers her students by letting them be the experts for a while, as well as relating the material to situations the children are familiar with. It also promotes social interaction between students. Ms. Roberts possesses many of the qualities of the culturally competent teacher that will be addressed more thoroughly in later prompts.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Introduction and First Posting
My name is Mike and I am a Secondary Education/General Science major. It has been over 10 years since I was last in college. I have been excited to get back to further my education and attain a teaching degree. I am finding the college experience fun. It is quick-paced and some what different from my college experience of the past.
When I am not in school, I enjoy spending time with my beautiful wife and my two daughters (who are also beautiful). I also enjoy woodworking projects of which I have a multitude of around the house. I can usually find a few minutes here and there to play an action/adventure game or guitar hero on the Wii.
Looking forward to the experience of the Service Learning Project. See you in class.
When I am not in school, I enjoy spending time with my beautiful wife and my two daughters (who are also beautiful). I also enjoy woodworking projects of which I have a multitude of around the house. I can usually find a few minutes here and there to play an action/adventure game or guitar hero on the Wii.
Looking forward to the experience of the Service Learning Project. See you in class.
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