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"!