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“For example, “Put your key in the ignition, and turn it to start the car.” Phil thinks, “Key”? “Ignition”? “Start”?”
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I grew up in a household that education was a priority. For my birthday and Christmas, I not only received toys but also an abundance of books from all my family. My father, mother, mamaw, and sisters would read these books to me from beginning to end. Questions were asked about the book (What is this letter? What sound does this letter make? What is this word? Can you make a sentence including this word in it?).
The first half of the article made me express sympathy toward children that did or do not have pre-formal instruction from parents. How can a parent neglect reading to a child? The lack of parental education during a young age puts a knot in the child’s learning ability during school. It didn’t make sense to me. However, then I took into consideration about different cultures, communities, lifestyles, nonstandard dialect, SES, and so forth after reading about the car example on page 128 – 129. The student, Phil, from Pakistan had an experiential difference when compared to the children from United States that were also in the driver’s education class. Phil doesn’t know anything about cars. “For example, “Put your key in the ignition, and turn it to start the car.” Phil thinks, “Key”? “Ignition”? “Start”?” I realize that this situation is not any different from a child that does not know anything about written language use (reading and writing). Phil, and even other children who don’t have a reading or writing knowledge prior to school, come from lack of actual experience. Therefore, instructors need to give Phil, Donny, and children that lack written language knowledge many experiences and not set them aside to the back burner. A teacher should not stereotype, but give each student, as well as parents (Jenny) an equal opportunity no matter race, gender, culture, DIALECT, income, power, etc. As a future teacher, I want to and will believe in all children that they can and will learn.
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I chose this article because it fits perfectly with my reaction to the reading. Some teachers do stereotype their students and even parents. However, teachers need to treat all children as equal learners.
References:
Newton, L. (2011). Do teachers stereotype students?. Retrieved from http://education.families.com/blog/do-teachers-stereotype-students
Purcell-Gates, V. As soon as she opened her mouth!: issues of language, literacy, and power. (pp. 122-139).
Growing up I received educational toys and books as well. Before having education classes in college, I believed that all students had this experience growing up. Now that my egocentric theory has been changed I also want to make a difference in my future classroom by giving students, that did not have this experience, the opportunity to gain a foundation of learning. By taking the time to teach students the foundation, they gain more confidence in their ability to learn.
ReplyDeleteI really like the quote you chose. It reminds me of when I tried to show orphans in Honduras how to make my computer play the songs they liked to listen to. I learned very quickly that words like "click the link" could be overwhelming on a student who has never touched a computer. I think that expirience really helped me to appreciate some of the basics of teaching and taught me how to use a childs past expiriences to help them learn
ReplyDeleteI really liked this quote. It acutally reminds me of my first experiences in Driver's Ed. I knew a lot more than Phil but, I was very embarrassed at first being the youngest person in the class and the only one that didn't have any driving experience.
ReplyDeleteEducation was also a priority in my family. I too recieved many books and was read to daily. I was even forced to do Hooked on Phonics! I am a strong reader but it is largely due to out of school practice. If all I got was the in school instruction I would probably have failed miserably. Until I was in 8th grade and volunteered in at Agape House in Baltimore (a community outreach in poverty stricken areas) I never understood how education at home could not be a priority. When I volunteered at Agape house I realized that a parent who is struggling to avoid eviction, trying to find their next meal, and struggling just to stay alive cannot afford resources to help their child. Honestly, when staying alive is a challenge I can see how education would not be a huge priority. -Alyssa
ReplyDeleteThe sad thing is that most of these parents would read to their children... if they could. Many students that come into school with little or no reading experience have none not because their parents neglect reading to them it is because they can't read or can only do so by struggling from line to line. The worst part is that this creates a snowball effect. The parent does little to no reading because of their educational experience and this causes their children to enter school with no experience. This we know can lead to the child struggling to read.
ReplyDeleteI'm thrilled that this discussion revolved around lack of experience rather than the values of parents! Each of you gave wonderful examples of how your personal experience is shaping you as a teacher!
ReplyDeleteI liked that quote because I hadn't thought of how hard it would be to learn a concept in which you had absolutely previous experience to go on.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the quote that you used. It's a brilliant metaphor for literacy and academics.
ReplyDeleteVery great blog it really shows that we as teachers can make a diffrence
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