Why Can't She Remember That? By Terry Meier
1. "Many children in multicultural, multilingual classrooms are not used to an adult asking them questions for which it is obvious that the adult already knows the answer." p. 245
I think that this quote is important to the text because it shows how the children are confused when adults ask them questions that are obvious. The children have different cultures from one another and some of them may find it a waste of time, or find it silly to answer a question that is so obvious.
2. "Unfamiliar with the book readig routines many teachers assume as common knowledge, children who have not been read to at home may find these routines aversive, puzzling, or simply boring." p. 245
I think this quote is also important to the text because it shows that the children aren't used to some of the rules that apply to this society in regards to ready anyway. Some children have never been read to, they can either be very excited about it or they can find it boring and tiresome. If they do find it boring then it is sort of like setting them up for failure, the children don't find reading fun now and in the years to come they will feel the same way.
3. "Many youngsters develop the impression that books are not about them, their families, or communities, but rather always about "the other." p. 247
I think this may be one of the most important quotes in the text, just because it shows that children are easily amused as long as the subject relates to them. Children love books that they are familiar with, if they feel they can connect to the main character, or of different scenarios in the books, they will enjoy the book that much more, often asking the teacher to re read the book. But some children (like the Asians and Hispanics in this text) feel that the stories that are read by the teacher are about the "other children" (meaning whites and blacks) this may cause the children to feel like they aren't good enough to have a book written about them, or they may feel left out. Leading to them disliking reading time.
I really enjoyed reading this text, I think I learned from it even if I may not be teaching in an elementary school setting, I feel I can still use the lessons that are in this text in my own classroom. I feel that everyone, not just children, like to read books or read anything that they can connect with, so its not only a matter of finding the right book, but it is also about making the books come "alive" for the students. So while it is important to read aloud and have a "reading time" it is also important for the teachers to do activities that involve the book as well. But beware that the activities aren't taking over the reading time, the activities and the reading time must be separate. The subject of asking "obvious questions" is something that we can do without, some children may be amused by it, but there are also children who aren't. These children are the ones who don't understand why the question is being asked because there is no point to it, the teacher assumes that these children don't know the answer to the question and come to the conclusion that the child needs more help when in fact the child is not being challenged enough. To make sure the child is getting the most from reading time, we can do without the obvious questions and pick more books that the children can connect with, and also make the books "come alive".
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 15, 2010
Talking Point #1
Amazing Grace by Jonathan Kozol
1. "Have you read about George Washington? ...I don't even know the man" (p. 4)
Here he is having a discussion with Cliffie, who says that his role models are Michael Jackson
and Opera. I think this quote is a good one to use as an example because the children in these
areas don't seem to understand the significance of history, but then again should they? It
definately doesn't seem like George Washington has a profound influence on him, and people like Oprah and Michael Jackson do.
2. "Somebody had power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people-
that is my idea of evil" (p.11)
I thought this quote went well with Johnson's reading about those who have power, but don't
acknowledge it.
3. "My teacher says, "We came here in chains and now we buy our own chains and we put them
on ourselves, every little store sells chains. They even have them at check cashing.." (p.12)
This was a very strong quote, I felt that this showed how the black society was trapped,
even if they are "technically free" in this area, they don't have the resources to succeed,
therefore they are stuck "buying" their own chains, living in misery.
I truly felt that this piece was one of the saddest that we have read this semester, almost every story that we encountered in this short essay was gut wrenching to reach, I can't image what it would be like to live it. I felt that there was tragedy after tragedy, and that these people had nothing to look forward to. This and many reasons is why we can't break the cycle of poverty and racism.
This mostly reminded me of Johnson's piece of white power, and those who have power and ignore it or don't acknowledge it. But those who don't have power, suffer everyday and know the extent of their powerlessness. I felt that if those who did have power, could lend a hand that everyone would be better off.
1. "Have you read about George Washington? ...I don't even know the man" (p. 4)
Here he is having a discussion with Cliffie, who says that his role models are Michael Jackson
and Opera. I think this quote is a good one to use as an example because the children in these
areas don't seem to understand the significance of history, but then again should they? It
definately doesn't seem like George Washington has a profound influence on him, and people like Oprah and Michael Jackson do.
2. "Somebody had power. Pretending that they don't so they don't need to use it to help people-
that is my idea of evil" (p.11)
I thought this quote went well with Johnson's reading about those who have power, but don't
acknowledge it.
3. "My teacher says, "We came here in chains and now we buy our own chains and we put them
on ourselves, every little store sells chains. They even have them at check cashing.." (p.12)
This was a very strong quote, I felt that this showed how the black society was trapped,
even if they are "technically free" in this area, they don't have the resources to succeed,
therefore they are stuck "buying" their own chains, living in misery.
I truly felt that this piece was one of the saddest that we have read this semester, almost every story that we encountered in this short essay was gut wrenching to reach, I can't image what it would be like to live it. I felt that there was tragedy after tragedy, and that these people had nothing to look forward to. This and many reasons is why we can't break the cycle of poverty and racism.
This mostly reminded me of Johnson's piece of white power, and those who have power and ignore it or don't acknowledge it. But those who don't have power, suffer everyday and know the extent of their powerlessness. I felt that if those who did have power, could lend a hand that everyone would be better off.
Saturday, February 13, 2010
My First Visit
Let me start off by saying that I am horrible with directions, so naturally my morning started off bad. I made it to the school around 9:25 (mind you, I was supposed to meet the adviser at 9:30am). Once I got to the school I realized we were right next door to a hospital, parking was an absolute mess. I ended up parking a block away from the school and had to literally run to try and make it on time. When I got to the school, I had no idea how to get in! Every door I approached had a sign that stated "This door is locked, visitors must enter through the main entrance and obtain a visitors pass" but it didn't tell me which direction the main door was! I circled almost the whole entire school before I happened to find the main entrance, and once I entered I realized that I was the last student there, all the other students/volunteers were already signed in and waiting for our adviser to show up. Luckily, they were nice enough to point me in the right direction and I got situated pretty fast.
When our adviser picked us up, she brought us to the location where we should meet every morning. There, she gave us a brief introduction of herself and soon launched into the details of our purpose there. She walked us through out paperwork, told us we would be working individually with a group of 2-3 children, showed us the activities that we would be doing with our kids, and gave us some helpful tips. What I liked about my school was the fact that we got a sheet of "feathers", our adviser quickly explained the significance of the feathers (they are sort of like money). When a student is doing exceptionally well they are given a feather, but they aren't just handed out, students must earn them. At the end of every week, the school sets up a sort of store, where students use the feathers to purchase items they want. I haven't seen the store but I assume that it consists of things such as pencils, pens, candy, and little toys, my school had a store like this also, and I remember looking forward to every Friday to see what I could get next.
Anyway, after we went through the logistics of our purpose there, and the goals that the program has for the us and the students, our adviser took us on a tour of the school. The school was fairly small, and she told us that it was a circle. There was a bathroom set up one for boys and girls, but I found it peculiar that the sink was placed outside. It was one of those hideous foot operated sinks, the circle ones that only turned on when you pushed your foot down on the petal, eww. Anyways, everytime we passed by, sure enough there were a few boys and girls that shyly waved to us.
She took us to three different classroom, I think it was grades K and 1. The first classroom was the classroom that I would be working in, when we entered the kids were having storytime. All of them were sitting on a rug while the teacher was reading a book. The kids were excited when we got in, most of them saying "Hi!" and standing up, the teacher had to put her foot down and told the children to behave.
The second classroom we went to the children were having playtime and snacktime. When I first got into the classroom, a girl ran up to me and gave me a hug! She didn' t bother to say hi or introduce herself, but she gave me a hug then moved onto the next person. She gave almost everyone a hug but stopped at the only boy in our group. I assume that the girl thought the boy had cooties, because she looked at him for a split second then ran off to play with the computers. She was so cute! There was a case of fruitcups sitting on a table, the students ran up and helped themselves, from what I could see it consisted of slices of pineapple and apple. The kids were located at different part of the classroom, some were playing on the rug with blocks and some were playing on the computer. We were introduced to a "small girl with a big mouth" as they said, she was tiny but had loads of energy, they often placed her on the computer when they wanted her to "be quiet."
The third and final classroom we visited was pretty much the same as the first two classrooms. The students were sitting at their desks working on a particular lesson that I can't really remember. But they were polite, and surprisingly quiet.
After our quick tour we headed back to our "meeting place" where she informed us that next week was winter break so we did not need to meet that Tuesday. She then signed our papers and walked us out. Before leaving, I had to stop by the office to log out, and record how much time I spent at the school that day.
I'd have to say that I had a pretty successful first meeting, even though I didn't get a chance to work with any of the students, I'm sure that when I do get the chance I'll have even more fun. I enjoyed seeing the classroom and the different children, I loved how they were all so friendly and welcoming. I feel that I'm going to have a great time each and every time I visit.
When our adviser picked us up, she brought us to the location where we should meet every morning. There, she gave us a brief introduction of herself and soon launched into the details of our purpose there. She walked us through out paperwork, told us we would be working individually with a group of 2-3 children, showed us the activities that we would be doing with our kids, and gave us some helpful tips. What I liked about my school was the fact that we got a sheet of "feathers", our adviser quickly explained the significance of the feathers (they are sort of like money). When a student is doing exceptionally well they are given a feather, but they aren't just handed out, students must earn them. At the end of every week, the school sets up a sort of store, where students use the feathers to purchase items they want. I haven't seen the store but I assume that it consists of things such as pencils, pens, candy, and little toys, my school had a store like this also, and I remember looking forward to every Friday to see what I could get next.
Anyway, after we went through the logistics of our purpose there, and the goals that the program has for the us and the students, our adviser took us on a tour of the school. The school was fairly small, and she told us that it was a circle. There was a bathroom set up one for boys and girls, but I found it peculiar that the sink was placed outside. It was one of those hideous foot operated sinks, the circle ones that only turned on when you pushed your foot down on the petal, eww. Anyways, everytime we passed by, sure enough there were a few boys and girls that shyly waved to us.
She took us to three different classroom, I think it was grades K and 1. The first classroom was the classroom that I would be working in, when we entered the kids were having storytime. All of them were sitting on a rug while the teacher was reading a book. The kids were excited when we got in, most of them saying "Hi!" and standing up, the teacher had to put her foot down and told the children to behave.
The second classroom we went to the children were having playtime and snacktime. When I first got into the classroom, a girl ran up to me and gave me a hug! She didn' t bother to say hi or introduce herself, but she gave me a hug then moved onto the next person. She gave almost everyone a hug but stopped at the only boy in our group. I assume that the girl thought the boy had cooties, because she looked at him for a split second then ran off to play with the computers. She was so cute! There was a case of fruitcups sitting on a table, the students ran up and helped themselves, from what I could see it consisted of slices of pineapple and apple. The kids were located at different part of the classroom, some were playing on the rug with blocks and some were playing on the computer. We were introduced to a "small girl with a big mouth" as they said, she was tiny but had loads of energy, they often placed her on the computer when they wanted her to "be quiet."
The third and final classroom we visited was pretty much the same as the first two classrooms. The students were sitting at their desks working on a particular lesson that I can't really remember. But they were polite, and surprisingly quiet.
After our quick tour we headed back to our "meeting place" where she informed us that next week was winter break so we did not need to meet that Tuesday. She then signed our papers and walked us out. Before leaving, I had to stop by the office to log out, and record how much time I spent at the school that day.
I'd have to say that I had a pretty successful first meeting, even though I didn't get a chance to work with any of the students, I'm sure that when I do get the chance I'll have even more fun. I enjoyed seeing the classroom and the different children, I loved how they were all so friendly and welcoming. I feel that I'm going to have a great time each and every time I visit.
About Me
Well as you all know, my name is Thanhsobaghnha Iv (soooo long, I know. Think of how much fun I had learning how to spell my name! No doubt I was envious of all the other kids in school who had such shorter, easier names.) but I go by Thanh. I am a Junior at RIC and am just now realizing that I want to be an English teacher. I am taking four other classes besides this class, three of them being English, (and let me tell you, it is definately not fun) and the other is a Tech class that I'm taking in order to fufill the Tech requirments. My free time consists of homework, homework, and homework. I also work part time as a caller at New England Tech, I basically just make appointments for students to come and tour the school, I can get some pretty bizarre people on the phone sometimes. But other than that, I enjoy reading, baking, spending time with my family (which is huge by the way), and spending time with my boyfriend. Hm..I guess I'll end this entry here. See everyone Tuesday! :)
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