Double Journal Entry #5

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“Teacher attitudes are often reflected in their behaviors toward students, the classroom environment, and perhaps even in student achievement.”  ("Teacher attitudes," 2009)

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Teachers with negative attitudes toward students with ethnicity and language variations have a harmful impact on their students’ learning.  Students are very perceptive to a teacher’s feelings toward them.  I know I could always tell by a teacher’s demeanor whether they wanted to help me learn something or if I was a nuisance to them.  Students who speak a first language other than English often feel like they are unwanted in the classroom; like they are an outsider.  Teachers often refer to these children as “those students” or “them.”  When the students are singled out as different from their peers they often feel isolated.  They begin to withdraw from the class; they are afraid to answer questions or ask for help because of their insecurity with the English language.  Teachers frequently have low expectations for these students, and these low expectations lead to a self fulfilling prophecy where the students don’t perform well.  They suffer a lower self esteem and are less eager to learn, which leads to their own negative attitude towards education.  I can understand why this happens; if I felt like I wasn’t a part of the classroom, I wouldn’t be very engaged and eager to learn either.  What would be the point of trying if nobody seemed to care?

There are some assessment pitfalls that come with a teacher’s negative attitude.  The first is where teachers make assumptions about a student’s dialect based on their race.  They make judgments before they even talk with the student or find out any information on their background and family life.  They just assume a student will have a dialect because they are a particular race.  This is a very bad attitude for a teacher to have; it’s stereotyping.  You can’t judge someone based on what they look like.  They may be from a different race, but grew up here, and have the exact same dialect as the teacher that is making the assumption.  The second assessment pitfall is discriminatory testing.  Testing that is given to determine if a child qualifies as special need doesn’t take into consideration linguistically diverse backgrounds.  If these children are being unfairly tested, then the results would be tainted; some children may be denied special education services when they need them and some could be misplaced in a special needs program when they shouldn’t be.

There are three approaches that can transform a students’ dialectal diversity into an asset.  The first is the awareness approach.  This approach allows the student to express himself in his native dialect, and focuses on comparing and contrasting the student’s native dialect to the Standard English dialect.  The second is the critical pedagogy approach, where students analyze the culture of their language and the attitudes that people have about their language.  The third is the critical awareness approach, which is a combination of the first two.  I don’t have any experience with any of these approaches; I don’t remember any of my peers in grade school or high school having a different dialect.  I do believe that following them would create a positive learning environment for the minority students.  They are still able to use their native dialog alongside learning Standard English, which I think would make the transition smoother.

I believe I am pretty well prepared to teach in a culturally diverse classroom.  I have a very positive attitude and I don’t believe I stereotype people based on their language or culture.  We are all unique and we all have something to offer and something to teach each other.  After reading these articles and the effects it has on students, I will make even more of an effort not to stereotype or be negative about a child’s linguistic diversity. I really liked the article's suggestion to learn a second language so that you can put yourself in a minority’s shoes.  I think that would be a great way to see how they feel when they are trying to learn English.

Source

Teacher attitudes. (2009, September 4). Retrieved from http://ecelinguisticdiversity.wikidot.com/teacher-attitudes

Double Journal Entry #4 Cultural Capital

Image Source

IAPC. (2009). Social status pictures. Retrieved from http://iapchem.org/conference/manager/social-status-pictures&page=3

Double Journal Entry #4 Cultural Deficit

Image Source

JadeLuckClub. (2011, August 22). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://jadeluckclub.com/embracing-failure-success/

Double Journal Entry #3

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“Mainstream America’s intolerance of language varieties extends to the classroom, where dialect is pitted against Standard English.  The classroom creates a dichotomy of good and bad, poor and proper, and correct and incorrect with home voices always falling short of the standard.”  (Epstein & Herring-Harris, 2011)

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I chose this quote because I have experienced it many times.  My dialect has been judged as wrong and uneducated, and I completely disagree with the notion that Appalachian dialect is bad and poor.  I don’t believe there is such a thing as a right way to talk.  You are going to talk based on your upbringing and the people around you.  The people that you spent the majority of time with in first few years of your life are more than likely going to be who you inherent your dialect after. 

One thing I learned from the article about teaching literacy development is to let students use their informal speech in class.  You should never tell them that their way of speaking is wrong or bad.  You could create a situation where the student has lowered self-esteem and is afraid to talk for fear that they will be judged.  A second thing I learned from this article was how to use code switching as a way to transition from Appalachian dialect to Standard English.  Students are more likely to learn Standard English if they can see the relationship between it and their own dialect.  A third thing I learned from the article was ways to help students identify dialect patterns throughout their community and the surrounding communities.  I think this is a great way to show students that everyone talks different depending on where they’re from, and that they shouldn’t be ashamed of how they talk.

In high school I had an English teacher who was very ineffective with literacy instruction.  A majority of our class assignments was to read a poem and story and then we discussed it in class.  She was constantly correcting grammar instead of listening to what students were saying. Personally, it made me very self-conscious and made me not want to speak in class.  She didn’t care what I was saying, just how I said it, and it gave me a negative feeling about literacy.

When I was a senior in high school I took a college English class.  The experience with that class and that teacher was completely different from my previous experiences.  That professor came in the first day and told us he was not teaching grammar and we would not be graded on it.  He believed we talk how we talk and we can’t change it; he was more concerned with what we had to say.  This was a very positive experience and motivated me to want to write.

I believe there is a relationship between the code switching strategy and inclusive practices.  Code switching is a process that everyone can participate in.  It gives students a sense of belonging because everyone is doing it and everyone talks like they do.  It  also gives all students a feeling of safety when talking or writing because the teacher has stated that no one’s dialect is bad or wrong. 

Resource

Epstein, P., & Herring-Harris, L. (2011, September 15). Honoring dialect and increasing student performance in standard english . Retrieved from http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/3655

Other Source

Below is the link to a blog post about how common core standards effect Appalachian dialect.

Blog

Resource

Crotteau, M. (2011, October 28). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://connect.nwp.org/english-language-learners-network/blog/7809/appalachian-english-speakers-and-not-so-subtle-messages-common-core-standards

Double Journal Entry #2 Part 2

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 “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…” (O'Brien, 2003)

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 I chose this quote from the Tall Tales of Appalachia article because I think a lot of people from West Virginia can identify with how this man felt; I know I have.  There are many people from outside of West Virginia who look down on us and think they’re better than us, because to them we’re just a bunch of hicks.  We are usually portrayed badly in the media, as uncivilized and uneducated.  There have been people who have made me feel like I wasn’t good enough because of where I come from, so I can identify with the man in the quote.

Reference

 
O'Brien, J. (2003, May 10). Tall tales of appalachia. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html

 Other Resource

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I chose this video because it really shocked me just how much students could be affected by stereotypes.  This video shows how students can internalize stereotypes, and they become self-fulfilling prophecies.  The part that really surprised me was the experiment with the brown and blue eyed students.  Their academic achievement changed dramatically from one day to the next, just by being told they were inferior to the other group.  It shows us as future teachers how careful we need to be not to stereotype our students.

 Reference

 StosselClassroom. (Producer). (2009). Stereotypes: Stossel in the classroom. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASDzcvyatgw

Double Journal Entry #2 Part 1

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“If we assume that Phil’s problem is due to a deficit, it is easier to write him off…if we assume…that Phil’s difficulties stem from a lack of actual experience…we can set about providing that experience.

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I chose this quote from the As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth article because I believe this happens a lot between teachers and struggling students.  A student has a difficulty because they lack the necessary experience, and instead of recognizing that and providing the experience, the teacher just writes them off as being unable to be successful.  I had this happen to me in a chemistry class in high school.  I wasn’t able to understand, and after explaining it a few times to me, the teacher just got frustrated and gave up.  I had to get help elsewhere.  That is why I think it is important that as teachers we recognize that students will struggle if they don’t have the experience, but we need to remember that they are capable of learning.

 Literacy knowledge is the basic concepts that children have about reading and writing before they come to school.  They may not know specifics, but they have an idea of what it means to read and write, and that words have meaning.  Some examples of print would be books their parents read to them or the back of a cereal box.  An example of non print would be a web page.

 Stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction because some teachers may assume that if a child comes from a poor family that that child will have difficulty reading and writing.  They assume that poorer families don’t have books or take the time to read to their children.  I believe this is completely false.  I have known many mothers who come from lower class who read to their children often, and their children excel at reading.

Schools and teachers contribute to poor literacy by stereotyping these children.  They have already judged how they will perform before they even get to know them. 

 There are also misconceptions between language and literacy.  If a student talks a different way, such as with an Appalachian accent, they are thought to be slower or less educated.   I’ve noticed this anytime I’ve traveled anywhere outside of West Virginia.  People have made rude comments about my accent and intelligence.  They assume I’m uneducated because of where I’m from and how I talk.  I don’t like the term “Proper English” because I believe there is no such thing.  Everyone in the world talks different depending on where they are from.  There is no “right” way to talk.

 Schools and teachers can improve literacy instruction by being non-judgmental and treating every student the same, regardless of their experience and language. They need to have the attitude that every child can learn.

 Reference

 Purcell Gates, V. (2002). As soon as she opened her mouth. In L. Delpit & J.K Dowdy (Eds.), In The skin that we speak: An anthology of essays on language culture and power.

 Other Resource

 

Reference

thefilmarchive. (Producer). (2010). Educating the children of appalachia documentary: The children must learn. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?

Double Journal Entry #1

Quote:

“Not every child has an equal talent or an equal ability or equal motivation, but children have the equal right to develop their talent, their ability and their motivation.”- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

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Inclusive Education consists of including all children of all diversities in the learning process.  No child or group of children should be separate from their peers because of their differences.  There should be a feeling of oneness, where every child feels like they belong and that they can be successful in learning.  I know from my experience in grade school, the classrooms where I felt like I was an important part of the group are the classrooms where I performed the best academically.

Inclusive Education benefits many types of students, including those with learning disabilities, behavior disorders, and students who have a high intelligence, but low performance.  Inclusive Education also benefits students of low socioeconomic status, ELL students, students with more severe learning disorders, and students with physical disabilities.

Inclusive Education benefits ELL students, who do not speak English as a first language.  There is a language barrier between these students and their peers.  By including ELL learners with their English speaking peers, they can better learn the language by hearing the other students communicating with each other.

Inclusive Education benefits students with behavior disorders who may be disruptive to the classroom.  A teacher’s first response may be to exclude them from the group because of the disruptions, but by including them, other students serve as a model for the appropriate behaviors in the classroom.

Inclusive Education also benefits students with physical disabilities who may have less mobility than their peers.  Instead of being excluded from the group, Inclusive Education gives them a feeling of oneness and belonging in the educational environment.

One characteristic of an inclusive school is a sense of community.  In an inclusive school, every child is respected as a part of the school.  Every child should feel like they belong there.  I can remember in school, the students who were the lowest performers and who struggled the most were the ones who always seemed to be off on their own, not really being involved in the class.  I noticed some teachers never called on them to answer.   Another characteristic of an inclusive school is one that supports co-teaching.  I observed how well this works in my clinical last semester.  There were a few students who had difficulty with math, and a special education teacher would come in a couple times a week to help them while the teacher was instructing. 

One strategy that helps students to become more responsible and effective is using students as problem solvers.  Students can serve as peer mediators or peer tutors.  We had peer mediation in my grade school and it was very effective.  Students would rather talk out their problems with peers instead of administrators.  Getting the students participating in school activities such as these teaches responsibility and accountability.

Reference:

Inos, R. H., & Quigley, M. A. (n.d.). Research review for inclusive practices. Retrieved from http://www.prel.org/products/Products/Inclusive-practices.htm

Related Resource:

I chose the video about co-teaching in inclusive classrooms because I really like the strategy the two teachers are using with their students.  They ask a question and then allow the students time to brainstorm their answer.  This way, every child is successful and the teachers can prompt struggling students.  I can identify with the anxiety students feel about being called on.  I get very nervous and flustered if a teacher expects and answer right away.  I do better if I can think my answer over first.  The environment these teachers have created is positive and more effective.

Co-Teaching in Inclusive Classrooms

Resource

Staff Development, B. E. R. (Photographer). (2011). Co-teaching in inclusive classrooms, grades k-6, part i: Whole group structures and strategies. [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek951kXTBzo&feature=related