Freire Letter 2…
Two things came to my mind while reading this letter. The two things that seem most difficult in my life right now is my EdS program and one of my students in my classroom. The “difficulties” I see with my EdS program are not negative just various. For example there are readings I struggle with and find difficult, balancing school, work, and my family, and the confidence to write like an EdS student. The other “difficulty” I struggle with is one of my students in my class that I am finding very difficult to connect with. I am losing my patience with him and having a hard time to find strength to keep going and I feel like I am trying EVERYTHING to support him. I know I need to keep persevering and I am trying but his behaviors are overwhelming me and at times making me question what I am doing everyday and if this is where I need to be. Can one child do this?
My favorite quote from the chapter that seems relevant to both my difficulties is, “When faced with fear of any kind, one must first objectively ascertain whether there are real reasons for that fear. Second, if those reasons do exist, one must match them against the available possibilities for overcoming them successfully. Third, if an obstacle cannot be overcome right away, one must determine what steps to take toward becoming better capable of overcoming it tomorrow.” This brings to me a question of how am I responding to these difficulties and to keep persevering and not give up. Things are not getting worse so I must be attempting to find steps to overcome my fears in some manner. To know there is always tomorrow…
Finally, I do need to agree with Freire about group reading and the results of comprehending can be far more positive. We have read so many things together and I have learned many things from all of my EdS friends and that is one thing that is really supporting me through this program. I enjoy are book clubs and book groups as well as reading the same articles and discussing all of our ideas and thoughts. We are becoming critical readers, an author’s dream come true.
Blog Reponses | Comments (3)Silencing Teachers…
I am still trying to figure out why someone would be asked to leave for trying to build an academic community and helping our students learn. The quote “I had been forced out of the school where I had worked enthusiastically for more than five years because I had challenged required instructional practices that I believe interfered with teaching and learning” makes me feel a little lack of respect for a teacher as a professional. What is it going to hurt to let a teacher use the knowledge that they know to branch out a little for what actually seemed like the better. Because now what is the new buzz word? “Differentiated Instruction” She is probably thinking, “I told you so!” If they respected Jaeger as a professional they would have let her explore these areas of literacy and trusted her teaching and I will say professional instead of teacher because that is what we are. We are professionals in the area of teaching!
This article also makes me think of our conversation about philosophies and finding schools that match our philosophy of thought for our students and profession. I know this has nothing to do with literacy and may not seem important but to me it is part of my belief system as a teacher. On Friday we received a Friday take home letter from our principal. On the letter she mentioned how there will be no Valentine’s Day party and please do not send in treats. As a Kindergarten teacher and a parent I was saddened by this thought. It is not like we party all day for Valentine’s. We take about 30-45 minutes at the end of the day to pass out valentines and have a cupcake. If the administration would trust that we are having quality academic time then I do not think these 30-45 minutes should make a difference. These are the little things that may help keep our kids going. What else are we going to take away? Maybe it is my play class coming out :). Some of my own personal memories of elementary school include Valentine festivities and making my Valentine bag, etc… I also want my own children to experience these small rituals. I know Valentine’s Day is not the most important celebration in any-one’s life including my own but it is the point that my philosophies are starting to change against hers with various topics(including her ideas of what a literacy coach should be doing) and I have been asking myself do I stay in the school because it is easy, do I stay and try to speak out and fight, or do I find somewhere else to go? Like we discussed with Michelle’s quote, it is scary to me and how do you find the right school? Is the grass going to be greener? Risky to me! I am so proud of Jaeger and am thankful we have professionals like her that are not afraid to speak their mind whatever the consequence. She believed in it and she was going to fight for it! We need to continue to be advocates for our students and for our profession.
Question for all: Would/Do charter schools make a difference with flexibility?
Thank you Teresa for your background info on Jaeger!
Blog Reponses | Comment (1)Chapter 3 Teaching To Change The World
This chapter was a review for me regarding the history of education and all of the changes that have happened with education and the philosophies of education. As I was reading I was trying to find which philosophy I was most similar with. I thought “maybe a little of this a little bit of that” as I continued to read. I think it was best said towards the end of the chapter, ” Each day American teachers confront and win the curriculum battle, as they engage students with rich and powerful ideas that touch their lives. That is one reason they return to school each day.” I think teachers are winning the curriculum battle because we are utilizing bits and pieces from a wide variety of philosophies and incorporate this diversity to the benefit our students. As teachers we need to stand strong and confident not be told what is best for our students (NCLB). We should always remember the above quote and the importance of engaging the child to touch their lives and help them grow as a child.
The true stories/examples throughout the chapter were interesting to me and intriguing to read. I like having real life examples to help me connect with the text. Two of the stories that most interested me was the story about Halloween and Dia de los muertos by the first-year bilingual teachers and the story by Chang, the first grade teacher. Both stories brought in the relevance of the home/school connection in the classroom. I have actually heard teachers in my school tell their Spanish speaking students,”Do not speak Spanish in school-tell me in English and talk to your friends in English.” I want to run and hide of embarrassment for that teacher. The diversity of all of our students brings such richness and learning opportunities to our classrooms. How sad for a child not to have the opportunity to share their personal identity with school and make those connections not only for students of the same culture but all students. I’ve realized that I also need to let this happen more in my classroom and bring in MORE home/school connections than I do now. All year I kept saying I would love to ask some of my bilingual moms to come in and teach Spanish and share the Spanish culture to my students but I still have yet to do that. Why did I wait and keep putting that off? Does it go back to the curriculum dilemma of not having time for something like that and the administration feeling that is not an important part of the curriculum at this time. Back to winning the curriculum battle…
Blog Reponses | Comment (1)Freire Chapter 4
After our past experience with Freire’s letters I am feeling much more positive about his book. I have enjoyed the forward and the preface and getting some background knowledge about the book and Freire. It helps me put the readings in perspective and understand where they are coming from.
This fourth letter was my most enjoyable letter so far. I really could relate to these qualities and how they are all necessary for the educational world, not only teachers but everyone who is working with our children. How nice would it be if the entire human race would endure all of these qualities? What a world we would live in. After reading about some of these qualities I ask myself why are some of these so hard for people to portray at times including myself?
My husband is an archaeologist and he was at a Native American conference this week with Native Americans from all over the country and they were meeting to discuss cultural preservation, cultural sensitivity, etc. He was discussing with me the different perspectives of religion and culture that the Native Americans were discussing and he was sharing with me how the meeting and the discussions stressed how important it is that we are not judgmental of people’s religions, customs, and history, because that is a significant part of their group identity and we need to respect the different cultural views that people hold onto and believe. And our discussion went on and on –how is his world falling into my critical pedagogy world? Because these qualities are not just for education, they are worldly qualities and are important issues to consider in regards to how people from different backgrounds relate to each other.
There are two virtues that have really played a role in my life recently in work and my personal world. The first virtue is “lovingness”. I have a student this year who seems to be trying to take away my lovingness toward teaching every day. I chose this student as my critical child project because I want to see him change and see my attitude change towards him. After reading this letter I realized I need to really work on the lovingness for him and my other students and continue that fight for him to make things better in both of our worlds.
The other virtue I found relevant at times is the virtue of tolerance. Of course I have always been taught to be open to everyone and everyone’s differences and for the most part I am confident that I hold to that value. But it wasn’t until my special needs daughter was born that I really learned the word tolerant. When Maya was born she was different from the beginning and my entire family had to head down an unknown road. After Maya was born I remember driving in the car, going to stores, being at the mall and saying to myself and my husband,”Everyone is different!” I would just stare and look and make myself feel better and just say this to myself over and over. While enduring stares of people towards Maya I would just say under my breath and still do “everyone is different –what are you looking at.” After many discussions with my husband we have tied together intolerance with the unknown. Are people being intolerant or is it an unknown world to them and it seems they are being intolerant?
I felt I too have a story and could connect with all of the qualities in the letter and enjoyed it!
Blog Reponses | Comment (1)Response for 1/24/08
Response to articles “You’re Asian, how could you fail math?” and “Taking a chance with words”
Both of these articles were very interesting to me and I found myself thinking that I have heard and thought some of these same stereotypes toward Asian students. One point that really opened my eyes was the discussion of the variety of diversities found in Asia. Asia is a continent of billions of people from different countries, cultures, as well as economic status. The stereotype that all Asians are smart would be like saying every white person is the same, every African-American is the same, and every Hispanic student is the same. As a teacher we need to be open to all differences a student has and who they are as an individual.
There are some countries in Asia where the educational system is very strict and emphasizes math and science and this may be where some of our biases have originated from. We cannot assume that just because a student is Asian that this alone determines their intelligence level or propensity towards learning. Asian-American students, who have been raised and educated in the American school system are a product of the American culture and school system and therefore face the same challenges that other minority groups may face.
My father-in-law is a math professor who teaches students abroad from Asia and has noticed silence in the classroom which he feels is due to the differences in expectations in the educational systems. Some Asian students from abroad are not used to the interactive educational system we have here, where they are more used to sitting and listening to the professor and absorbing all of the thoughts and ideas. This silence, which could be interpreted by some teachers as comprehension and understanding, may indicate cultural differences towards learning instead.
Getting to know our students, parents, and community is a strategy that will help us all in understanding a person as an individual and maybe more insight into their actions in our classrooms.
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