1.23.2009
"I had done axed you when he was being funeralized...on tomorrow, on today, or on yesterday? Was it from the tortealya tacos or cuz he was detoxicate
My title is a combination of words I hear from professionals daily. I thought it fit nicely with this topic.
After reading the article from Dowdy, I had to step back for a moment. She blamed her mother for her being forced to speak “white”. I can understand how she felt. This took away part of her identity. It made me think about what we do to students in school now. As educators we are responsible for teaching Standard English. But at the same time, are we punishing students for speaking and writing in their own language? I am currently grading writing tests for a first grade class. One of the key differences from being a level 3 or a level 4 is that they are moving away from oral language to formal language. But first graders write the way they talk. Even the oral language is grammatically incorrect. How am I ever going to get them to write in formal language? I think it is so important as educators, for us to model correct Standard English. But I do not think we need to punish students for using their own language.
I have a few students in my class now who can “switch” back and forth. When they speak to me it is, “Ms. Feinman, may I please go to the bathroom,?” and when they speak to their classmates it is, “Yo, I’m is going to the bafroom.” I am amazed that first graders can switch back and forth like this. I even had a classroom discussion about it. We wrote down some of the things they hear at home that they never hear at school (minus the curse words). Then we wrote the correct Standard English way to write it. I explained that there is “school talk” and “home talk”. I also told them that when they speak at home, they can speak however they want. But at school, it is expected to be said like this. I am glad that Dowdy was able to use her ability to switch back and forth in acting. In the end, it provided her with wonderful experiences. I am also glad that she was able to show her true identity when she was a prefect. It is so important to embrace cultures, and keep them alive. I hate that her mother pushed her culture away from her.
The thing that stood out most for in Smith’s article was his hatred towards the “boojze”. In my mind I can clearly picture who these people might be at my school. And yet, I know they also have the ability to turn proper English off and on. I have heard them do it in professional settings and social settings. And yet, when I hear a professional educator say things like, axed, funeralized, pacific (specific), bolded (bold print), liberry and so on, I cringe. I also laugh. These same people are wondering why our students are not passing EOGs dealing with written passages and writing. What happens when they come to the word specific? How are they supposed to know what that means when all they have heard their teacher say is pacific. As educators we need to model correct Standard English, and explain WHY it is important to do so.
Another thing that struck me in his article was the lack of black professional role models. To me this makes Obama that much more important. My students can now look up to someone and see that it is possible for them to be anything they want to be, no matter what they look like, or where they have come from. I thought it was interesting that his manner of speaking hurt him so much in school, but provided him much success on the streets. This goes to show that we cannot stifle the cultures that are coming into our schools. Because ultimately we are stifling the success of that child.
After reading the article from Dowdy, I had to step back for a moment. She blamed her mother for her being forced to speak “white”. I can understand how she felt. This took away part of her identity. It made me think about what we do to students in school now. As educators we are responsible for teaching Standard English. But at the same time, are we punishing students for speaking and writing in their own language? I am currently grading writing tests for a first grade class. One of the key differences from being a level 3 or a level 4 is that they are moving away from oral language to formal language. But first graders write the way they talk. Even the oral language is grammatically incorrect. How am I ever going to get them to write in formal language? I think it is so important as educators, for us to model correct Standard English. But I do not think we need to punish students for using their own language.
I have a few students in my class now who can “switch” back and forth. When they speak to me it is, “Ms. Feinman, may I please go to the bathroom,?” and when they speak to their classmates it is, “Yo, I’m is going to the bafroom.” I am amazed that first graders can switch back and forth like this. I even had a classroom discussion about it. We wrote down some of the things they hear at home that they never hear at school (minus the curse words). Then we wrote the correct Standard English way to write it. I explained that there is “school talk” and “home talk”. I also told them that when they speak at home, they can speak however they want. But at school, it is expected to be said like this. I am glad that Dowdy was able to use her ability to switch back and forth in acting. In the end, it provided her with wonderful experiences. I am also glad that she was able to show her true identity when she was a prefect. It is so important to embrace cultures, and keep them alive. I hate that her mother pushed her culture away from her.
The thing that stood out most for in Smith’s article was his hatred towards the “boojze”. In my mind I can clearly picture who these people might be at my school. And yet, I know they also have the ability to turn proper English off and on. I have heard them do it in professional settings and social settings. And yet, when I hear a professional educator say things like, axed, funeralized, pacific (specific), bolded (bold print), liberry and so on, I cringe. I also laugh. These same people are wondering why our students are not passing EOGs dealing with written passages and writing. What happens when they come to the word specific? How are they supposed to know what that means when all they have heard their teacher say is pacific. As educators we need to model correct Standard English, and explain WHY it is important to do so.
Another thing that struck me in his article was the lack of black professional role models. To me this makes Obama that much more important. My students can now look up to someone and see that it is possible for them to be anything they want to be, no matter what they look like, or where they have come from. I thought it was interesting that his manner of speaking hurt him so much in school, but provided him much success on the streets. This goes to show that we cannot stifle the cultures that are coming into our schools. Because ultimately we are stifling the success of that child.
1.22.2009
After reading "Insights from Teachers Who Analyzed Transcripts of Their Own Classroom Discussions"
1) How would you describe the kind of classroom conversations/discussions you have with your students?
After reading this article, I know exactly what kinds of questions I ask. During Shared Reading, or Teacher Directed Reading, I use a lot of retrieval questions- things that students can easily find in the text.I also use a lot of prediction questions while reading the text.I do use connections, but not within the text it self.I use connections to their life.I know that I am not using very many relating, explaining or inferring questions. I rarely use evaluation questions during Shared Reading.During this time, I am supposed to be teaching a specific skill, and sometimes I feel as though this limits me. During Read Aloud, I use a lot more evaluation questions.I try to get them to make judgments about the text, or situations that are happening in the text.I also probe students a lot more during read aloud.During Guided Reading, because of its nature, I only ask retrieval questions.Sometimes I feel as though I am limited, especially as a first grade teacher.During this guided reading time I feel like I can only ask the most basic questions, because I am teaching decoding.
2) What are some key ideas for you as a teacher in this article?
The key ideas in this article are the types of questions and coding that this professor had her students use.These are very helpful for me in understanding, with examples, what the questions are really asking.Also, the fact that the professor had her students do it twice was really important.I think you need to know where you are at now, and what you need to do as an educator to move forward.
3) What are some questions this article raised for you about classroom conversations? About this method?
The biggest question that popped into my head were, why can’t I ask different question types during Teacher Directed Reading and Guided Reading.Who is stopping me?It’s great if they can read the text in a leveled reading group, but more important than that, what can they take away from the text?I really like this method, and I am very excited to use it.I have already spoken with a 3rd grade teacher, and I am going to use sliderocket.com to do a read aloud, for black history month.She has a flip camera, and is going to videotape my lesson.I feel this is better than audiotape because I am not familiar with the students.
4) What strategies do you think you use most during class discussions?
There are several strategies that I use during classroom discussions.I have “magic cards”.Each student has their name on a magic card.I use the cards to call on students.In this way, I can make sure that every student is called on, and that I am not answering the same 4 students over and over.I also watch my wait time.Very early on, I learn which students take longer than others.I can also read their facial expressions. I try to probe for answers, but if I know they are lost, or just don’t know, or are too shy to answer, then I ask them if they would like to pick a friend to help them answer.This has proved to be very effective in my room.During guided reading, I do not let students raise their hands.Because we are in a small setting, they may choose to speak whenever they like.However, when we are doing TDR or Read Aloud, they do have to raise their hands.I encourage them to ask me questions too about the text if they are not understanding something.
After reading this article, I know exactly what kinds of questions I ask. During Shared Reading, or Teacher Directed Reading, I use a lot of retrieval questions- things that students can easily find in the text.I also use a lot of prediction questions while reading the text.I do use connections, but not within the text it self.I use connections to their life.I know that I am not using very many relating, explaining or inferring questions. I rarely use evaluation questions during Shared Reading.During this time, I am supposed to be teaching a specific skill, and sometimes I feel as though this limits me. During Read Aloud, I use a lot more evaluation questions.I try to get them to make judgments about the text, or situations that are happening in the text.I also probe students a lot more during read aloud.During Guided Reading, because of its nature, I only ask retrieval questions.Sometimes I feel as though I am limited, especially as a first grade teacher.During this guided reading time I feel like I can only ask the most basic questions, because I am teaching decoding.
2) What are some key ideas for you as a teacher in this article?
The key ideas in this article are the types of questions and coding that this professor had her students use.These are very helpful for me in understanding, with examples, what the questions are really asking.Also, the fact that the professor had her students do it twice was really important.I think you need to know where you are at now, and what you need to do as an educator to move forward.
3) What are some questions this article raised for you about classroom conversations? About this method?
The biggest question that popped into my head were, why can’t I ask different question types during Teacher Directed Reading and Guided Reading.Who is stopping me?It’s great if they can read the text in a leveled reading group, but more important than that, what can they take away from the text?I really like this method, and I am very excited to use it.I have already spoken with a 3rd grade teacher, and I am going to use sliderocket.com to do a read aloud, for black history month.She has a flip camera, and is going to videotape my lesson.I feel this is better than audiotape because I am not familiar with the students.
4) What strategies do you think you use most during class discussions?
There are several strategies that I use during classroom discussions.I have “magic cards”.Each student has their name on a magic card.I use the cards to call on students.In this way, I can make sure that every student is called on, and that I am not answering the same 4 students over and over.I also watch my wait time.Very early on, I learn which students take longer than others.I can also read their facial expressions. I try to probe for answers, but if I know they are lost, or just don’t know, or are too shy to answer, then I ask them if they would like to pick a friend to help them answer.This has proved to be very effective in my room.During guided reading, I do not let students raise their hands.Because we are in a small setting, they may choose to speak whenever they like.However, when we are doing TDR or Read Aloud, they do have to raise their hands.I encourage them to ask me questions too about the text if they are not understanding something.
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