Entry #9 How did I learn vocabulary?

 "Students develop concepts, learn one or more meanings of words, and make associations among words through these activities (Word Study Activities p.238, 240). None of them require students to simply write words and their definitions or to use the words in sentences or a contrived story." (Tompkins, 2017, p.241)

As  I read Tompkins' (2017) explanation of what is not good vocabulary teaching, I relived in my mind what I do remember about learning vocabulary in school.  We had spelling lists each week and one of the activities we were required to do was write each word in a sentence. If I remember correctly I believe we also had vocabulary lists with definitions. If these are ineffective ways of learning vocabulary, how did I expand my vocabulary?

I loved to read as a kid. I read in bed, read under trees, and read at the library. Tompkins (2017) explains how independent reading of books that students can choose at the appropriate level, along with teaching strategies to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, gives students an opportunity to learn new vocabulary. (p.243-244)  Giving students a say in what they read and providing students with "textual lineages...texts that are meaningful and significant in our lives," (Muhammad, 2020, p.147) will make independent reading more enjoyable and more likely to expand students' vocabulary. 

Tompkins (2017) also discusses how with teacher assistance, student use of dictionaries can be an effective strategy to use in figuring out unfamiliar words. (p.243) I can still hear my Dad's words in my mind today: "Look it up in the dictionary." I can picture the worn out red cover of my high school dictionary.  

Along with the childhood experiences which I feel affected my vocabulary learning, I see how the methods shared by Tompkins (2017) in Chapter 7 and the metalinguistic awareness of Zipke's (2008) riddles could be engaging ways to teach vocabulary today, even though I never realized that my Dad's bad jokes were actually teaching me vocabulary! 

 

Entry #8 Deficit Mindset

 Both Cassidy and Thalia referenced Muhammad's discussion of the problem with choosing literature that only focuses on the oppression and struggles of Black people.  It seems like such an obvious idea; who would want to only read about the bad things that have happened to their people and see people like them only looked at with pity or sympathy?  No one! However, I had to read Gholdy Muhammad to see that obvious issue that I need to pay attention to when choosing materials for my students to interact with.  It is vital that we choose texts that tell more than one story like Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie talks about in her Ted Talk and allow students to identify with what they are reading. Giving all students the opportunity to see the success stories of people who look like them will inspire them to see their own future. Finding texts that show people of all races and religions in authentic ways and demonstrating that they do have a place in our society will bring the joy of literacy to all students and will help all students to expect minorities to be a part of their schools and communities and as characters in their stories.

This topic raised for me the question of how we as teachers can change the deficit mindset that we hear so often when teachers discuss English Language Learners and how we can use literacy to change that perspective for the students. Situations like a teacher who tries to correct children when they refer to the teacher as Miss or Mister instead of Ms. Name and Mr. Name or teachers who see students, from some cultures who may not speak up out of respect, as lazy. Punishing children for cultural differences can only increase their confusion and set back their education. I feel that the more educated we become about our students and their cultures the more we can accept their cultural practices and use them to strengthen their learning.

In a class discussion once someone mentioned how silly it is that we look at ENL students as behind because they don't speak perfect English when they are actually ahead because they speak one language and are learning another.  Along with this thought is how US students who study foreign languages are commended but people who already speak one and come to a new country and learn English and the US culture are no treated with respect. 

Once the issue is raised it is easy to see the deficit mindset all around you but it's just as easy to start to see the opportunities to value students' cultures and language and to develop the criticality and identity of all students.

 

 Adichie, C. N. (1254877200). The danger of a single story. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story

 

 

 

Entry #7 The Importance of Connected Text

The value of exposure to authentic texts is woven throughout the  "Everything you want to know about phonics (but were afraid to ask)" article by Stahl, Duffy-Hester, and Stahl, and the Tompkins chapter on "Cracking the Alphabetic Code," amidst their exploration of phonics and reading instruction. Even at the youngest age or earliest skill level, connecting phonics and the use of the letters and sounds that make up words to meaning is crucial to inspiring readers. "Thus, children should be reading and listening to connected texts before they know, and as they are learning, the names of all of the letters of the alphabet." (Stahl et al., 1998, p.341)  This idea makes sense in light of the consensus surrounding the value of reading to children throughout early childhood and even before birth, however it may not be expected in connection to the sequential nature of phonics based instruction. 

The thought of teaching phonics skills along with read alouds and other connections to real text ties into the emphasis in "Cultivating Genius" of connecting joy to skills and intellect. According to Gholdy Muhammad's (2020) explanation of the history of the skills aspect of her Historically Responsive Literacy model, .."literacy was identified as cognitive acts of reading, writing, and speaking skills - as being able to read and write print independently. Finding meaning in language and the construction of meaning was the central goal for their literacy development." (p.57) Demonstrating the relevance of reading to even our youngest students can spark a lifetime search for meaning and a respect for and love of literacy from the beginning of their time in school.  

As a future ESOL teacher, I can certainly appreciate the importance of learning phonics and the alphabetic principle. I value the many ways that Stahl and Tompkins demonstrated to teach the basic building blocks of reading and writing, however I also find great value in exposing children to authentic reading and listening materials to both practice their skills and give them a purpose for their reading. I believe that phonics certainly has a role to play along with connected texts in a balanced reading program. 

 

Entry #6 Emergent Literacy

"Literacy is a process that begins in infancy and continues into adulthood, if not throughout life."  (Tompkins, 2017, p.110) This statement clarifies a misperception held by educators who previously believed that children weren't ready to read and write until first grade. Both Tompkins and Beauchat explore the many ways that children begin their literacy journey long before they reach school. 

As I explored Beauchat (2009) and Tompkins' (2017) writings on early literacy, I was drawn to the concept of emergent literacy, referring to the development of literacy prior to traditional schooling. This led me to question how I, as a future ESOL teacher, can tap into the varied reading and writing experiences a child brings with them to school to use as a foundation for their continued literacy development. I was interested in what emergent literacy means for students from different cultures.  

After reading Cline and Nicochea's (2003) article "My mother never read to me," I began to see early literacy development as much more than the obvious influence of parents reading to their young children and having books in the home. "As we work to honor and respect what other cultures have to offer, it behooves us to add not only storytelling but also music and singing to the list of activities that promote literacy within the families and communities that we serve." (Cline and Nechochea, 2003, p.123-4) From their experiences, these other influences along with their family's hopes and dreams for them led them to be readers and writers just as much as the books in my home and trips to the library as a young child did for me. 

Tompkins also explores early influences on writing. "Children's understanding about the purposes of reading and writing reflects how written language is used in their community."  (Tompkins, 2017, p.115) This chapter goes on to explore how both a child seeing writing used as a tool in a household, as well as a child seeing their parents read the newspaper and literature for enjoyment, can have an impact on their writing development. Knowing that not all families have bedtime stories and magnetic letters on their refrigerators but yet are still exposing their children to influential literacy practices inspires me to find ways to access that background literacy knowledge. 

As a starting place, Tompkins (2017) discusses how classroom teachers can use writing in different ways. Giving children opportunities to try out different ways of writing such as journaling, labeling items in the room, and writing messages to friends (p.115), young students from a variety of backgrounds will be able to connect with what is familiar and learn from what they haven't yet been exposed to. Incorporating different types of reading, storytelling, and songs would have the same benefit. This only scratches the surface of the types of emergent literacy activities that students have experienced and that I as a teacher could use in my classroom. I continue to wonder how best to make use of student's background experiences to strengthen their literacy development and that of their classmates as well as my understanding of literacy. 

  

 

Entry #5 Half Way There

 Dear Dr. Jones, 

    Hello!  It's hard to believe that we are halfway through the semester already! I have been enjoying our class meetings.  Going in to the class I was thinking that the class would be mainly about literacy teaching strategies.  I was surprised by but gained so much from the analysis of our own literacy development.  I don't think that I have thought about literacy from that perspective before. I have also appreciated the deeper dive discussions that we have started because we can learn so much from each other and it is nice to engage with the material in a discussion format as opposed to reading or reflecting independently. It is often interesting to see how a conversation may lead somewhere unexpected.  

    As a student returning to graduate school after a long time away from the classroom, I have found that with the many responsibilities in my life pulling me in different directions, it is difficult for me to focus and retain information from long scholarly readings.  I have found that I need to take notes in some form or another to maintain my focus on the material.  I have also found that the more we discuss a topic the more I retain information on that topic.  As a future teacher, it will be important for me to remember the struggles that students may have when learning to read and to use that as an incentive to work hard to find literature that is relevant and engaging, as well as meeting content goals.    

    I have been very interested in learning about how to choose appropriate books for a multicultural classroom.  It has been impactful to learn of the different ways that race and culture can be addressed in children's literature and how choosing the right approach can have a greater impact on the children reading the books. As a White person, there is so much that I never thought about before since I had a wide variety of books to choose from as a child and didn't need to search for books that reflected my experiences or interests.

    I enjoyed the opportunity to participate in the Liz Kleinrock presentation.  Fermata Thin Air was a great way to begin the program and I was impressed by their choice of music and their sincerity. I appreciated Liz's openness and honesty.  In the beginning of the program, Liz Kleinrock said "Never take for granted the power that you hold."  That was a powerful reminder for me of the importance of doing our jobs as teachers in the right way because the impact on the students is immense. I felt that not letting the least engaged person in the building set the agenda for anti-bias work and making a plan you can defend when going to the administration to push for greater anti-bias work in schools were important tips. I also appreciated her thought related to book choice that "No one wants to be defined by the worst thing that people have done to them." That certainly connected with what we read in the Moller article. Her comments regarding taking care of ourselves and stepping back when we need to so that we can continue to do anti-bias anti-racist work is an excellent reminder related to all of the important work we do in our lives.

    As the semester continues, I need to continue to work on self-analysis.  I have found that self-reflection can be difficult for me. Time management is also always a struggle with the many things I am balancing.  I am looking forward to spring break when I can hopefully take a breath!  Following the break, I am interested in learning more about methods of teaching literacy to strengthen my literacy tool bag for my future teaching.

Thank you for sharing your literacy knowledge with our class. I look forward to our discussion in class this week!

Jen

Entry # 4 3-2-1 on Principles and Frameworks

3 Ideas to Ponder

As someone with little classroom experience as an educator, I am wondering how much room is there in the curriculum in school today to apply the ideas we are learning in graduate school? Is there opportunity to put our own stamp on our teaching and on the school communities or are there pre-determined curriculums and methods that are required?

How do we overcome the deficit language in education when students are required to meet standards?  I have heard teachers refer to students as "low." In Chapter 2 of "Cultivating Genuis," Gholdy Muhammad (2020) discusses the danger of using labels. How do we meet standards and school expectations and avoid negative labeling?

After reading Chapter 1 of Tompkins' "Literacy for the 21st Century," (2017) along with "Cultivating Genius,"(Muhammad, 2020)  I am questioning how we can take all nine principles, the various education theories, and Gholdy's framework and combine that into one way of teaching.  I imagine for experienced teachers a system develops over time but as an education student it seems overwhelming.  

  2 Quotes of Inspiration

Culturally responsive teaching acknowledges the legitimacy of all children's cultures and social customs and teaches children to appreciate classmates' diverse heritages." (Tompkins, 2017, p.8) I found this quote to be relevant because culturally responsive teaching has been a part of every course that I have taken in graduate school and has risen to the top as one of the most important ideas to focus on as a future teacher. As humans we all want to be validated and for a student whose culture and primary language are different than the mainstream at school, demonstrating that they are valued must be the first step for them to be able to learn. I think that this also applies to any student who isn't part of the majority weather they are Black or Latinx and attend a majority White school or have mostly White teachers.  I have learned that as a White teacher, I have to recognize the privilege that comes with being White and be sure that I am making the effort to seek out the differences in all of my students and recognize the strengths that they bring to the classroom community.  In addition, as Dr. Ladson-Billings (2013) discusses in her lecture regarding culturally relevant pedagogy, for the students who are part of the majority, it is just as important that they learn cultural competence as well. 

"Nothing about cultural competence speaks to eradicating, replacing, or denigrating students' home culture." (Ladson-Billings, 2013)  After listening to Dr. Ladson-Billings and Gholdy Muhammad, I recognized the important nuanced difference between teaching everyone according to mainstream standards and teaching students how to be successful in both their family and home community culture and the mainstream world of school and business. Teaching a class of diverse students by seeing the value that each student brings and encouraging them to share who they are will improve the education and self-worth of every student as well as equipping them with the tools they need to thrive in a multicultural world. 

1 Commitment for the Future 

The most important commitment I can make to my future students and to myself is to be open to learning.  If I am able to recognize and be honest about what I don't know, then I will have the opportunity to learn from my students and other members of the school community and I will have the confidence to seek out those who can provide me with what I need to be a supportive and effective teacher of English Language Learners.  I have learned a lot over the past couple of years both from the awakening in our community about racism and from the engaging discussions in my education classes.  Once I am in a school environment on a regular basis, I hope that what I have come to recognize will be enhanced by my experiences in the classroom.  As I learned about how important it is for students to have teachers who look like them and are able to speak their language, I questioned if my becoming an ESOL teacher was the best thing for my students.  In talking with one of my professors who also works as an ESOL teacher, I came to recognize that a student who walks into a school where they have a teacher who cares about them, recognizes their value, and is open to learning more about them, is walking into a school where they can grow to feel safe and be successful.  

Entry #3 - Early Literacy and Me

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