"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.