Student interview

From day one I got to start teaching. So there was never a time that I was there where I didn't get to talk one on one with a student (both advanced doing fast forward with them or just helping behind students read/write). I also got to give the students the Dibbles test for ending sounds.

I interviewed all the students but I didn't ask them the same questions and I didn't do it on the same days. With the more advanced students, I asked them questions like "what's your favorite subject" "Do you have a lot of books at home" "Do you read a lot at home" "what other educational things do you do at home"? They all said they get read to all the time and they play on iPads (apps and stuff), computers, and work puzzles.
With the struggling students, I asked questions like "what are your favorite things to learn about and read about" "what fun things do you do at home"  Most of them said they play outside or video games. No one mentioned getting read to at home. The one boy said he loved science and molecules (which he knew a lot about surprisingly) so I tried to get books on science on his reading level to help him read! He said he enjoyed reading that much more!

Think quest

Main website:
http://www.thinkquest.org/pls/html/f?p=52300:30:2773714554544524::::P30_CATEGORY_ID:CPJ_ARTS_ENTERTAINMENT

What I would like to use: Photojournalism
http://library.thinkquest.org/05aug/01585/

Kids will love this, taking pictures and writing stories about the pictures they took.

Best practices blog and culturally responsive teaching

http://elschools.org/best-practices/approaching-common-core-tollgate-elementary-school

“We take our students into all sorts of situations that are outside of their comfort zone—snowshoeing, high-ropes courses, hiking 14,000-foot mountains.” This is a great way to be more culturally responsive when teaching. The students are exposed to all kinds of different situations that the teachers can incorporate into the classroom to help students learn and teambuild!

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

“Learning expeditions are a perfect way to teach science. My students use real-world information from original scientific research, newspapers, and the Internet to solve real-world problems. They understand the purpose for their work, and they view the hard work of research and skill-building as an opportunity to solve important dilemmas.” Learning expeditions are wonderful for kids. They will learn about the outside world and their neighboring  areas. This will get them involved in real world situations and know what is going on in the world.

http://elschools.org/best-practices/standards-movement-spirit-expeditionary-learning

“REALMS has always prided itself on creating strong fieldwork projects in which students are involved in authentic, ongoing studies of local habitats. These kinds of projects were central to our school’s founding mission, and over time they have become the driver of much of our curriculum. We engage students in the hands-on work that professionals in the field engage in, knowing that these kinds of authentic projects lend themselves to high-level learning.” Fieldwork (going out into the field and working) is a great way to get the students out there into the community and working for something in their school.

http://elschools.org/best-practices/more-just-motto-nobody-eats-alone-harborside

“When Harborside academy opened, the motto “Nobody eats alone at Harborside” was merely a set of words – a nice way to think about community. Five years later, the phrase has come to mean “Nobody should be left alone to solve any problem.” It stands for the value of getting to know others well and creating a school climate that celebrates both student academic growth and character development.” This is a great thing the school is doing so the students can get to know each other and their own ways of life. They work together and get along to solve problems.

Where I am From

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4-wN7yJbhA&feature=youtu.be

YouTube Video

Culturally responsive teaching should be second nature, but for most teachers it is not. It’s not fair for the students to not get all that teachers, schools, communities, and families have to offer. Closed mindedness of teachers is hurting students and their learning. We as a society make the connecting between power and literacy. If you speak in perfect English, then you can hold a position of power because you sound smart. In turn, that makes people who speak differently “stupid” or stupid sounding. But they are not a cultural deficit; it is a deficit in the way we think should be proper. As an Appalachian teacher, you have to be aware of the different dialects and embrace them. Let your students know that it is okay to talk and sound like this. Just because they don’t speak in perfect English, do not dismiss them and judge them. “But I also know that whether we interpret differences among children-or adults- as deficit or difference depends primarily on our preconception, attitudes toward, and stereotypes we hold toward the individual children’s communities and cultures” (Purcell Gates, 2002, p. 130). Teachers need to ignore their bias’ and stereotypes and use a culturally difference strategy.

“Most teachers believe students need to learn SAE so that they will have the communication skills which will enable them more opportunities in the future, and there are numerous studies that support this position (e.g. Carlson and McHenry (2006) who found that speakers with a heavy, non-standard English were less likely to be hired (80)). It is from this belief that many teachers have developed a negative attitude toward minority dialects as forms of incorrect English” (Rowland and Marrow, 2010).

 

Teachers can overcome their culturally deficit perspectives, by understanding that all children can learn no matter what their background or culture. There are vast amounts of knowledge out there just waiting for students if someone would take the time to ask and go get it. “Once this knowledge is uncovered and mobilized for learning, they can become a social and intellectual resource for the school”, (Moll, 1992). It is powerful for students to make real connections with the outside world, and these connections will be engrained with them the rest of their lives.

 “Children come to school with different experiences. The experiences they have as young children are culturally driven. Within this, I see literacy use as cultural practice. It is cultural practice because reading and writing are woven into everyday experiences of people, and these everyday activities, attitudes, and beliefs help define and distinguish among cultural groups” (Purcell Gates, 2002, p. 128).

Teachers need to honor students and their differences. They should be proud of their cultures. Stop correcting them every time they talk, this will give them a fear to speak and write. If always corrected for what they say, they will stop talking in the classroom altogether. That fear will follow them their whole lives. Students will always feel and even go as far as saying that the way they talk is wrong. “When we encounter linguistic prejudice, some of us dismiss it while others adopt the stereotypes attached to our dialect. Those speakers will even go as far as to call their own speech patterns 'bad' or 'incorrect,' particularly when speaking to someone they perceive as well-educated" (Epstien and Herring-Harris, 2011). Based on funds of knowledge, this strategy of honoring their cultures and backgrounds works well with incorporating their communities and getting students connected to the outside world. The cultural capital in the schools, communities, and states are abundant. Teachers just need to facilitate these in the classroom.

Where I am from project supported culturally responsive teaching because I got to see other students in this class’ backgrounds with their digital stories. With all the readings I got to get a feel of what culturally diverse students go through. The Funds of Knowledge reading built a bridge of meaningfulness between home and school experiences because of the learning the students got from their families and communities. The teacher was not afraid to teach a unit on a subject she didn’t have much background in but what the students were interested in learning. I feel with the digital stories we got to know and listen to each other. Although we physically didn’t ask each other questions, we got to know each other by watching the stories. I really enjoyed the where I am from project.

I believe that teaching non-standard English speakers to be very important. I don’t want to correct them every five minutes because they aren’t speaking perfect English. I also want to make it personal to the students. Have them give their historical background to each other. Have the students pair up and do an interview type of question answer session. Then have their partners introduce each other and their histories. This will also help with getting to know each other and team building. I would also like to do heirloom geometry activity; this activity allows students to bring in an artifact from home with both cultural and geometric significance, discuss the significance of their artifacts with the class, and potentially work with the patterns on the artifacts.

References:

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

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.

Moll, L. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to

connect homes and classrooms. (1992). Theory into Practice, 31(2), 132-

41.

Rowland, J. & Marrow, D. (2010). Dialect Awareness Education: The importance of Watching Our Words. USC Undergraduate Research Journal vol 3.

Where I Am From...

I am from a Goofy stuffed animal, from Disney and Cinderella’s Castle.

I am from a home full of love, from a family full of randomness.  

I am from the line of turkeys in my yard, the bird feeder full of cardinals.

I am from family game night and happiness, a part of a family rock band, from Bob and Cheryl and From my baby sister Sara.

I am from the uncontrollable urge to laugh and never grow up.

I'm from Fairmont. I am from my two beautiful dogs who love unconditionally.

I am from the love of the Mountaineers and the obsession of the Atlanta Braves.

From “family is the most important thing” and “love no matter what”.

I am from Christ alone, where the will of God will never lead you where the grace of God will not protect you.  

From the grandpa who taught me everything I know, the loss of him, and the sadness he left behind. From the Grandma who still talks of him and the way he loved.

From the cool grandma who always makes me laugh and gave me the love of the Cleveland Browns.

I am from a beautiful mountain side, from baseball games. From the place where memories are made and dreams come true.  From Aunt Charlotte and Uncle Jim’s house. I am from my sister’s Jack Russell. From my cousins, my best friends.

I am from true love doesn’t have a happy ending because true love never ends!

I am FRIENDS, I am FAMILY!

Cultural difference/deficit

Fox News and Black English- "Speaking correct English, It isn't about selling out it is about gaining clout." Whatever! "African American community is losing children everyday due to incorrect speaking of English." That is kind of sad for him to say that. Why is it so wrong to speak how you want and how you grew up if you are with your friends/family etc. One kid said no one is correcting them because no one knows the correct way themselves to be able to correct them. I feel children will learn a lot more and easier if books and lessons were done the way the students read and write. "People are losing out on opportunities everyday because of the way they speak."  So he is pretty much saying they have a deficit that is counting them out of a lot of advancement opportunities and that they are intellectually inferior to others. I feel they are looking at this as a cultural deficit.

What Matters: Code Switching- I feel this one is about Cultural difference. They aren't blaming the students for the way they speak, they are just letting them know there is another way of speaking when in a proper situation. I like how they coined the term "naturally occurring interaction in people's lives." In the video, someone was talking with co-workers and she got a phone call where she started talking in Ebonics. The others looked at each other and said "which one is real?" It is funny because they are both real, but in a very different situation. I think there is nothing wrong with the way people talk. In fact, I love the differences in people's language.

I also like when you told us that an Appalachian-speaking man spoke at an award ceremony and did not switch to proper English and won the hearts of the audience. Yes, some people are seen as dumb or stupid because of the way they talk, but most of the time (if given the chance) will shine even talking the way they do. Both videos were good and worth watching, eye opening

Buckwild

I did not see the MTV show Buckwild, but after reading about it and asking people what they thought of the show, I don't think I am going to watch it. Most people said that they were ashamed to say they were from West Virginia after watching it. It is sad our nation laughs at "mountain people" in the Appalachian region. I want to tell the country "Grow Up Peter Pan"!