Student Interview

       Before I did my lesson I asked a struggling student what kind of things they would like to try in the classroom. The student answered more "hands-on" activities rather than just watching videos and doing worksheets. So after asking them this, I planned my lesson accordingly. The lesson I gave the class was a fun little economic lesson that had to deal with auctions and setting up stores, while using basic terms used in economics. After I did this lesson, not just this struggling student, but all of the struggling students seemed to have enjoyed it and got involved a lot more in the classroom discussion. I asked the student what she thought and she said she felt that this lesson was a lot of fun and it was easy to learn. The assessment that I gave the students reflected their enjoyment of the lesson, because their grades improved drastically in class participation, and discussion.

Extra Credit; Making the classroom like kindergarten

"For today’s children, nothing is more important than learning to think creatively – learning to come up with innovative solutions to the unexpected situations that will continually arise in their lives" 

"Instead of making kindergarten like the rest of school, we need to make the rest of school (indeed, the rest of life) more like kindergarten." 

"In my mind, play and learning can and should be intimately linked." 

  I chose these three quotes because I strongly agree with all of them. My emphasis as a teacher is going to be making things fun. If you make things interesting and fun then you will get a lot more out of the students. I want my classroom to be the one the kids want to come to, not despise. So by making it like kindergarten, and allowing the children to play while they are leaning you'll have a much greater success in educating them.


http://www.proteacher.net/discussions/showthread.php?t=322300

Future Classroom Teaching...

Although I am not big into Hip- Hop music most high school kids are. So I chose the link telling about the history of Hip Hop, because this is something that most students would probably be interested in and want to learn more about. Trying to find something they will actually get involved in and show interest is half the battle  as a teacher.

http://library.thinkquest.org/08aug/01911/

http://elschools.org/best-practices/preparing-tomorrows-leaders

           I chose the Preparing Tomorrow's Leaders blog. This teacher is using a Expeditionary Learning in her classroom for getting the information across to her students. Even though she was known as the teacher the kids liked, and enjoyed her class. She was actually concerned with the students just having fun and not getting the important information that the students needed.
        The teacher changed her teaching strategy to doing what we just talked about in class on Tuesday and that is Authentic Learning. Problem-Based Learning is exactly how I want to teach my students when I become a teacher, because it's more of a hands-on approach. By using the hands-on and authentic learning approaches the teacher's students were required to use their knowledge prior to the class and not just the textbook information. This teaching gives the child more than just right or wrong answers. The children learns why and how something might be the way it is, and what others think about it as well.
        This is culturally responsive teaching because the students are learning the information in a much more useful way. The students are able to actually take what they learn from the classroom and use it in their everyday life. As an educator that is what every teacher's goal should be, helping the students in life after the classroom.

Where I am From Poem

http://youtu.be/RL1NVXeZF-I

One of the biggest things that I learned of the relationship between Language, Literacy, and Power is that they all are very closely related, especially when dealing with the Appalachian region. Besides a select few the majority of the students around West Virginia are not going to understand the proper Standard English. So as an educator you are taught to adapt and shape your lesson plans around your students. Shaping how you may talk to the students is a vital part of your lesson plan. A teacher must be able to talk to the students in a way the children understand you, because if not the students will not get the information needed and will be labeled as illiterate. Without the right language the students will not get the information, and the teacher will not have the power to reach out to their students because they simply will not understand.

 Some children bring "literacy knowledge" to school with them. Does this mean that they already know how to read? How to write? No such literacy knowledge refers to the concepts children acquire during their preschool years, during the years preceding the beginning of formal literacy instruction, in kindergarten, and first grade, in reading, writing, and printed language.
(Purcell Gates, 2002)


Schools can be accepting to how children may speak, even if it is not the Standard English. For example, I know first hand of teachers in the southern part of the state, being more accepting to their students using Appalachian English because that is how the students are brought up. The teachers and schools must take a look at where they are and how the community is and accept what may be the norm in that society. Instead of fighting with the way a student may talk and look at it as a cultural deficit and punish them. A teacher needs to understand that it is just a cultural difference and while accepting the way they may talk, try to teach them the Standard English of what they may have just said. Go ahead and start teaching off what they already know and understand, rather than trying to teach them what they know is wrong and you will get a lot farther with them.
               
 Linguists have been arguing for years that all languages and dialects are equal. Hamilton (2005) summarizes the views of several linguists working to end language discrimination in the U.S. as arguing that language discrimination is the result of Americans’ negative attitudes toward non-standard dialects of English. (Rowland & Marrow, 2010)


As stated in the previous paragraph to overcome Cultural Deficits a teacher must be accepting in how the students may talk. Do not downgrade a student for how they may talk, but rather take into consideration how a child knows how to speak and build off of that. It is a must for teachers to accept the students as they are and what the children are into. After you know what the children are into then you can shape how you teach things they are interested in. This teaching approach will overcome any type of cultural deficit that may be out there, because you are speaking in their "lingo".

Use activities that "involve students as thoughtful learners in socially meaningful tasks."
(Moll, 1992)

To help students who are non-Standard English to get information is to use "Funds of Knowledge". The students are non-Standard English, so speaking in Standard English would get you absolutely no where. Getting to know the students and what community they live in will help you get understand what they are around everyday. Bringing people into the classroom from the community teaching them different jobs and using the language they are used to, will increase the student's chances of grasping the knowledge. Your strategies in teaching the children must be solely focused on how they speak or how they understand information. By doing this, then a teacher can put their own twist on it to insert information of Standard English that they will pick up on.

The teaching of writing should assume students will begin with the sort of language with which they are most at home and most fluent in their speech. The language may be dialect of English or even a different language all together. (NCTE, 2008)


 The Where I Am From Poem was allowing the students to express themselves and show their peers what their backgrounds are. This strategy gives the students the opportunity to bond with another child they may have not known if it weren't for the video, because they could possibly connect on a familiar hobby or interest. So these videos encouraged the students to know and listen to their fellow classmates, to get to know each other more. It also teaches students to learn and appreciate other students heritages because they expect the students to respect their own heritage they present to the class.


I plan on teaching students in the language they understand and what they are into. I feel you must treat the children as human beings and not as just a student. Give the kids respect and more than likely the students will give you respect. Yelling your head off at the kids won't get you anywhere. My strategy is on the first day start to learn from the students what they are into and what they would like to learn. Take that information and then shape your teachings around subjects that are relevant. Also just like in the Funds of Knowledge article, bring people in from the community and have them talk about what they do. Personally I learned a lot from being hands on and from field trips so I would try to do as many hands on/field trips as I possibly could.

Where I Am From Poem

I am from Jeep Wranglers, Realtree Camoflage, and Titleist Golf,
From the house where you will see us sitting out by the fire in the summer telling lies.

From the Jones' and the rolling hills of West Virgina,
and the Martino's who came from the coast line of Sicily.

The big family Sunday dinners, where you are made to eat, even if you just did.
From the competitive golf matches and fishing tournaments that you cant live down if you lose.

Always being taught to do the right thing, and protecting your name.

The cross that I wear around my neck, and from the cathedral I go to every Sunday for mass.

From the belief you can't have spaghetti and meatballs without having fresh Italian bread.

From the service of my grandfathers in which they gave our country. One being a fighter pilot in WWII and the other serving in the Korean War.

Cultural difference/ Cultural deficit

         The first video reflects more of a cultural deficit perspective. Cultural deficit means the language they speak is an inferior language and is not acceptable. The reason I say the first video is a deficit because the teacher was trying to eliminate the way the kids talk. Saying "ax" instead of "ask" is just the tip of the iceberg in his battle to get the students to speak Standard English. In my opinion the teacher in the Ebonics video was not open to allowing any form language besides Standard English. That's why I feel it's an example of cultural deficit.
        The code switching video was an example of cultural differences. Cultural difference is a more accepting view of different languages. The code switching video understood the importance of speaking in Standard English, but they also realized that people in different cultures communicate differently. Being understanding and open to different forms of language is important because if you go into some cultures and just speak Standrad English you might as well be speaking Chinese. The speakers in this video were talking about how kids may have to learn first in their "slang" language before learning Standard English. The people in this video felt that it was ok to talk in their own version of language when they are among their peers, but when they are in a business or professional setting it is important to speak in the Standard English. This is why I feel this video is a better example of cultural differences because they didn't think other forms of English were inferior.