Double Entry Journal #10

Chapter 3: Language and Identity at Home

1. What are the features of the forms of language that are spoken in a home environment that align with academic varieties of language?
In Jennie's case, the features are repetition and parallelism, story-telling, figurative language, and sympathetic fallacy.

2. What are features of Leona's specialized form of language?
Leona uses repetition and parallelism when telling her story in class. She also organizes her thoughts by comparing and contrasting the different patterns. Gee says, "She is interested in creating a pattern out of language, within and across her stanzas: a pattern which will generate meaning through the sets of relationships and contrasts which it sets up, like the multiple relationships and contrasts..."

3. Why is Leona's specialized form of language not accepted in school?
Gee states, "They stress linear step-by-step events or facts organized around one topic expressed with no poetry or emotion."

4. Explain the contradiction between the research conducted by Snow et al. (1998) and the recommendations made by Snow et al. (1998).
Gee mentions that poor readers are usually associated with certain ethnic groups, poor neighborhoods, and rural towns. Gee also states, "...the test scores were going up at a time that integration was also increasing."

5. What other factors besides early training will make or break good readers?
Another factor that will make or break a good reader is the need to have a variety of academic language and/or belong to a particular social group. 

6. Why do some children fail to identify with, or find alienating, the "ways with words" taught in school?
Gee states, "Children cannot feel they belong at school when their valuable home-based practices (like Leona's) are ignored, denigrated, and unused. They cannot feel like they belong when the real game is acquiring academic varieties of language, and they are given no help with this, as they watch other children get high assessments at school for what they have learned not at school but at home."  

Student Observation & Interview

I chose to interview two students during my clinical placement at Bridgeport High School. Both students come from the same class and one is a struggling students and the other is a high performing student. Below are their responses to the interview questions...

Struggling Student:

1. Do you enjoy school?
     No
2. What kind of student are you?
     Like...A's...mostly...
3. What do you do for fun outside of school?
    Spend time with my friends.
4. How would your classmates describe you?
     Friendly
5. Who are you friends with? What do you and your friends do together?
    Courtney, Ashton, and Jenna; Go to the mall.
6. Tell me a good memory you have about school...
     (after some thinking) When I got a "A" in math (last 6 weeks)
7. Tell me a bad memory you have about school...
     When I failed this test and got really upset.
8. Describe a "good" teacher or tell me about a favorite teacher you had in the past.
     A teacher that helps you and wants you to succeed.
9. What is one thing you wish your teacher knew about you?
     (thinks for a while) That I don't like answering questions...

High Performing Student:

1. Do you enjoy school?
     Yeah, I do.
2. What kind of student are you?
     Hard working.
3. What do you do for fun outside of school?
     Music, mostly...
4. How would your classmates describe you?
     Humorous, politically involved
5. Who are you friends with? What do you and your friends do together?
     Bobby, Zach, Jared, Tre; We discuss a lot of things (politics), go to sports events, and hang out.
6. Tell me a good memory you have about school...
     A lot of band memories that really stick with me.
7. Tell me a bad memory you have about school...
     Ont time a teacher was upset with me about something during my freshman year. 
8. Describe a "good" teacher or tell me about a favorite teacher you had in the past.
     Jenny Dorsey was truly concerned about our school and our achievements. 9. What is one thing you wish your teacher knew about you?
      I have a life outside of politics. I'm not always serious.

Double Entry Journal #9

Chapter 1: A strange fact about not learning to read.

1. What is the strange fact about not learning to read?
It seems that children in the minority have more trouble learning to read then children raised in the middle to upper class.

2. Why is this fact so strange?
I find this strange because those same "minority" children don't usually have the same troubles in other activities (i.e. sports, video games, music). I think a lot of it has to do with the enforcement on education in the home, but I won't get into that...

3. What is it about school that manages to transform children who are good at learning things like Pokeman into children who are not good at learning?
I think it is either the school's lack of knowledge or understanding about the students culture.

4. What is the difference between a traditionalist approach to learning to read and more progressive educators? 
Traditionalists believe learning to read is an instruction based process while progressive educators believe learning to read is a more natural approach.

5. Is learning to read a natural process like learning to speak a language?
No. I believe learning to read is something that has to be taught; just like learning how to zip up a jacket, button a coat, or tie your shoes.

6. What is the difference between natural, instructed, and cultural processes and which process should reading be classified under?
A natural process is something we do instinctively as humans. Instructed processes are were the child is being taught information (i.e. school). Cultural processes are those we learn based on the culture around us.

7. How do humans learn best? Through instructional processes or through cultural processes? How is reading taught in school?
I think that students learn through both ways. They learn by an instructional process while at school and a cultural process while at home or out of school.

8. According to the author, what is the reason for the "fourth grade slump"?
Fourth graders have a very difficult time reading in the content area.

9. What is a better predictor of reading success than phonemic awareness?
Observing how well a student does with language before entering school.

10. What is the difference between "vernacular" and "specialist" varieties of language? Give and example of two sentences, one written in the vernacular and one written in a "specialized variety," about a topic in your content area. 
Vernacular is the way that one speaks to another on a daily basis. Specialist language is a more proper and refined language.
A vernacular sentence could be taken from the movie "Wizard of Oz"; "There's a storm blowing up Silvester; A WHOPPER! To speak in the vernacular or the peasantry."
A Specialized example is, "There is a storm coming this way. It looks to be very large!"

11. What is "early language ability" and how is it developed?
Early language ability is developed at an early age and it is when the child has been introduced to vocabulary, phonics, and other means of speaking and reading before they reach the Pre-K or Kindergarten level in school.

12. According to the author why and how does the traditionalist approach to teaching children to read fail? 
It fails because children are more accustomed to hearing language in their own vernacular. At school reading is more on an academic basis which may not be comfortable for most students.

13. Are parents of poor children to blame for their children's inexperience with specialized varieties of language before coming to school?
I believe the parents are to blame! Teachers can only do so much in a school day. We aren't super heros! we can supply the students with everything they need to succeed, but if it's not reinforced at home then it makes all of the teachers efforts a bit worthless. I know some may say "Well, what if the parents didn't receive a good education?" If this is the case then I would have to point the blame at the parents of the parent. If I were in that situation, I would look at my parents and their life and ask myself one question: Do I want better than them? If the answer is yes, then i feel that any person would strive to get better.

14. Did you struggle with reading this text? Why? Are you a poor reader or are you unfamiliar with this variety of specialized language?
I'm in the middle... I can read and comprehend well, but I just find the book very boring. As I mentioned in my previous journal entry, I have a hard time reading books that do not catch my interest. I am trying to get through as best as possible. 

Double Entry Journal #8

Situated Language and Learning: A critique of traditional schooling

1. What is the main challenge being addressed in this book?
I feel that the main challenge in the book is based on the various ways people talk. Is it educated language or just everyday jargon that a lot of folks are used to speaking on a day to day basis; in the vernacular you might say...

2. What does the author mean by the phrase "ways with words"?
The author means words that are used in a particular fashion. These words can be considered "jargon" and "academic language."

3. What is the core argument being made by the author of this book?
People can learn there "ways with words" in and out of the school building, but only when they find it most convenient or compelling.

4. Give an example of a specialized variety of a language or "way with words" you have learned outside of school?
I have heard many students talk within their cliques or groups, but I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary when speaking aloud. I have, however, noticed a "way with words" when people, mostly teenagers, text on their phones. Words like "LOL", "ROFL", and "BRB"  have a deeper meaning, but some may not know what these letters imply. For the "older" generation these letters have no meaning what-so-ever, but they are everyday phrases used into today's society.

5. According to the author, how do people learn a specialized variety of a language or "way with words" best?
The author suggests that people learn best when they have more experiences outside of school that may pertain or be more important to their futures.

6. If people are to be successful in the 21st century, what must they become?
To be be successful, one has to learn to and be able to adapt. If one is to achieve a particular goal or objective he/she must learn to understand and be able to "shape-shift" into whatever the situation calls for.

7. The author states that learning academic language is NOT sufficient for success in modern society? Do you agree? Why or Why not?
I do not agree with Gee. I think you have to have a little give and take when it comes to learning academic language. I think that one has to be able to adapt or "shape-shift" to their surroundings in the modern society, but I also believe that a person must have a certain level of professionalism. As a future public school teacher I feel that when I go into my first job interview I would give the impression of a well-mannered, upright citizen, and carry a high level of decorum.

8. What do you think about this author's "way with words"?
In all honesty, I'm not looking forward to reading the rest of the book. I enjoy reading very much, but only if I can "latch" onto the book or story. I'm having a hard time with this one right now. Gee states in the book that he can change his "way with words" and perhaps if he does that may benefit me. For now, I'm in that black hole he mentions...

Double Entry Journal #6

According to the introduction of Teaching for Meaningful Learning the dominant paradigm is teacher instruction and teacher reliance on textbooks as a primary source of knowledge acquisition through discussion and reading.

Project-based learning is a dynamic approach to teaching in which students explore real-world problems and challenges, simultaneously developing cross-curriculum skills while working in small collaborative groups.

Problem-based approaches to learning have a long history of advocating

experience-based education. Problem-based learning (PBL) is an instructional method in which students learn through facilitated problem solving. In PBL, student learning centers on a complex problem that does not have a single correct answer. Students work in collaborative groups to identify what they need to learn in order to solve a problem.

Learning by design is based on children learning deeply by being asked to design and create an artifact that requires understanding and application of knowledge.

I think that these different strategies can be spread all over the content area due to their association with inquiry-based practices. A downfall, one might suggest, is that the inquiry levels are different with each instructional method. 

Judging by my own school experience, I would have to say that an instruction that relates to the outside "career" world. I find it pointless, in some cases, to spend 4 years of high school studying a foreign language that you will never use once outside the school walls. I'd rather have some meaningful to take with me on my life walk.


References

Why teach with project-based learning?: Providing students with a well-rounded classroom experience. (2008, February 28). Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/project-learning-introduction

Hmelo-Silver, C. (2004). Problem-based learning: What and how do students learn?. Retrieved from http://thorndike.tc.columbia.edu/~david/MTSU4083/Readings/Problem- and Case-based ID/hmelo.pdf

Barron, B., & Darling- Hammond, L. teaching for meaningful learning a review of research on inquiry-based and cooperative learning. Edutopia. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/pdfs/edutopia-teaching-for-meaningful-learning.pdf

Double Entry Journal #5

"In an ideal classroom everyone treats what is to be learned with a reverence that generates mutual respect among teachers and students" (Woodruff 2001, 192).

I agree with this statement because I believe in the value of not only teaching and learning, but retaining information. I'm a musician and I want to share my knowledge with my students and want them to have the same respect that I do for music and the disciplines behind it.

1. What is reverent listening and how can it support culturally responsive teaching?

The article mentions that "Reverent listening is certainly not a panacea for the concerns and problems of our schools, but it is part of a simple act of paying regard and attention to others that is too often ignored in today’s schools." Many teachers ignore or pay less attention to students who come from broken homes or rough neighborhoods or even because of the color of their skin. Like the quote states, this is a SIMPLE act and solution. If only more teachers would pay attention to this...

2. Give an example from your own schooling experience of what this quote means:

    Reverent listening is not to be confused with humiliation and domination by others who force us to listen, and even less so, with the kind of incompetence that wants to be told what to do.

I know of some times in high school when teachers would ask a student for an answer to a controversial question.  The majority of the students would just stare and stutter around their "true" answer and say what he/she thought the teacher wanted to hear. I can't really relate to that. I have been taught since I was a young boy to be honest and speak my mind, within reason of course. 

3. What is meant by a "laundry list of value ethics"? Give an example from your own schooling experience. And then explain how this approach to character education can be NON-culturally responsive.

I cannot recall a point in my schooling that dealt with a "laundry list of value ethics"

4. Have you ever had a teacher that at one time or another exhibited the traits of a reverent teacher? What did they do? How did they make you feel?

Alongside my music classes I'm taking at FSU I have been studying American Sign Language. I have always wanted to learn it and as a teacher I'm sure it could come in handy sometime. Ruby Losh, one of my sign language professors, treats her classes with seriousness, but doesn't make it stuffy. She encourages learning and doing your best. If you struggle she is more than happy to work with you one on one until you understand the material. I felt very secure under her teachings and it made me learn very quickly.

5. What factors contribute to a "toxic" school culture?

A school culture can be "toxic" when a lack of leadership leads to a lack of reverent listening. 

6. Find a quote in this article that you would like to incorporate into your own philosophy of education and explain how it fits or changes your philosophy of education.

"Beyond all other considerations, reverent teaching understands the need to listen and respect students, parents, custodial staff, secretaries, and principals."

I already base some of my teaching philosophy off of this quote, but it is a constant reminder that I must not judge my students based on any of their personal choices. I must respect them and give them reasons to respect me as their teacher. I want to reach out to my students and their families. I was that the key to having success in your school it to make friends with the two most important people in your school - the custodian and the cooks! I have found that this is a true statement. It leads to extra food and a clean room!

7. Find a strategy/activity conveyed in a video, blog posting, lesson plan, or online article that will help you become a  teacher who cultivates a reverence in their classroom and school community.

I found this video on Youtube and It really "hit home" for me. In the first minute and twelve seconds of this video Professor Rosemont, Jr. talks about the values, consequences, and interpretations of reverence.

Double Entry Journal #4

1. Describe 3 things you learned about teaching and literacy development.

I learned that teachers are beginning to consider different forms of testing that adhere to the people in rural Appalachia. I was also curious when I read that some teachers were thinking about the possible improvement if writings were rooted in the students dialect. I find it interesting that there has been a sudden thrust forward in the area of literacy development. I feel like I have not heard much about it until now...

2. Give 2 examples of how the strategies for literacy instruction presented in this article reflect Culturally Responsive Teaching.

One example would be when Clark said, "By using their own words to describe these patterns, students move from what they intuitively know about language to an understanding of language variation and how it works in different settings and with different audiences." Another one would be in the words of Phillips. "I know my kids as individuals, and this is who they are. It's my responsibility to teach the learning standards, but not to change them or take away their dialect."

3. Give 1 example of literacy instruction from your own schooling experience and explain how it reflects or does not reflect Culturally Responsive Teaching.

I honestly cannot recall a time when literacy was an issue in my schooling. My teachers always corrected us if we spoke in correctly and we never thought anything of it. We realized we spoke improperly and we fixed it. I do remember an instance when some people had the same pronunciation for the word "Color" and "Collar". The teacher corrected the student and that was the last of it.