The service learning experience was a great lean into the world of educating. It was a true test of my patience and taught me things that would not have been possible to fully grasp by just taking a college course. Overall, the process was somewhat frustrating at times, mostly in the beginning, but each week became more comfortable. For all the times I felt lost and stuck for an idea to make Maggie or Nikko understand, the moment when they did finally make that link and suddenly understand was so worth every minute of frustration. I remember there was a day I was trying to teach syllables to Nikko, and he kept getting stuck on “tion”. I wanted him to get it on his own rather than give him the answer right away so I kept writing a few letters in front of the word until we hit one he recognized. On the third or fourth try I put the letters “vaca” in front of the syllable and Nikko smiled for a few seconds before exclaiming “Vacation!” and from then on he has pronounced “tion” with no problems. It may be a minute story but I could tell in his eyes how proud of himself he was, and I was very proud as well.
Another thing that really stuck with me was the constant yelling coming from multiple rooms in just the hallway I tutored in alone. I understand that children can be hard to handle at times, but I thought they took it too far at times. After being in Eli Elementary for a few months now, I decided that being stern is going to be essential at times, however I never want to be like these teachers who have to scream at children in order to gain control and respect. There are many other approaches to gaining respect and positive participation that are just as if not more successful than demanding authority by yelling and screaming at children, who often aren’t trying to be a nuisance but actually do not understand what is expected of them.
After directly interacting with students while presuming a role similar to that of their teacher, I believe even stronger than before how important it is to get to know your students personally, and how much more of an impact the lessons will have on them if it incorporates things they can relate to their cultural background and personal interests. Ira Shor writes in her article”Education is Politics” that “Learning cannot be reduced to purely intellectual activity. It is more than a mental operation and more than facts or ideas transmitted by books or lectures. Education is a complex experience of one kind or another”. Shor pushes the argument that if students have a negative opinion about school and teachers in general, they will not put forth the effort it takes to really grasp and comprehend the basic foundations of education needed to build upon and get the best education they can. The teachers at Eli Elementary were going about discipline the wrong way because by yelling at the students for everything they do, they are obviously going to build a negative opinion of the teachers, and thus their lessons, rules, and everything else that comes out of their mouths. Furthermore, these kids who are acting out against teachers in elementary school, may grow up to be negative and defiant towards all authority figures later in life and end up experiencing seriously rough lives as a result of the consequences.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Demolishing Linguistic Barriers in Schools
Language barriers are a serious setback in many inner city schools because if a child cannot understand the lessons in which the teacher is trying to convey, they will be completely lost and fall so far behind that it will be near impossible to catch up later in life. Throughout my service learning experience at Eli Elementary school, I myself did not experience a communication hurdle because both Nikko and Maggie spoke fluent English with only small accents which did not seem to affect their learning in a substantial way.
On one occasion, I was able to observe a portion of a lesson where Ms. Leslie incorporated Spanish into a reading lesson. The children were reading along to an audio story spoken in English. Some of the dialogue communicated by the characters was verbalized in Spanish, but the English translation of the word was made very clear. This approach was effective and caught my attention because it taught the non-Spanish speaking students some new Spanish words, while also bringing in some native culture for the children who are accustomed to speaking Spanish outside of the classroom. This must make these students feel so much more comfortable and hopefully proud of their linguistic and cultural background.
Personally, I asked both of the children I work with regularly which language they speak at home. I feel that in order to be an effective teacher to them, and form a relationship of trust and respect, I must get to know important things about them, where they are from, and what their interests are. They also are entitled to ask questions about me and my life, getting to know more about me than merely my name and career goal. As soon as I opened up to Nikko and Maggie, they immediately felt more comfortable around me and more enthusiastic about the lessons and activities I brought for them.
One theorist which instantaneously struck me as relatable to the above points was Johnson and his theories on silenced and marginalized voices. Johnson stresses the importance of celebrating difference and brings to light the tendencies of humans to be apprehensive of the unknown and prejudiced toward those different from ourselves, or the majority population in a setting. He states that “As participants (of systems of privilege), we usually find that the easiest path is to do what is expected of us, and so long as most people do what they are expected to do most of the time, they dynamic relationship between people and social systems will produce the consequences that make up the history and everyday details of racial privilege and oppression”. Here Johnson is outlining the idea that if society is teaching children that they are only supposed to be speaking English, however another language is being spoken in their households, they will most likely feel as though their culture is the “wrong” one, thus being oppressed.
On one occasion, I was able to observe a portion of a lesson where Ms. Leslie incorporated Spanish into a reading lesson. The children were reading along to an audio story spoken in English. Some of the dialogue communicated by the characters was verbalized in Spanish, but the English translation of the word was made very clear. This approach was effective and caught my attention because it taught the non-Spanish speaking students some new Spanish words, while also bringing in some native culture for the children who are accustomed to speaking Spanish outside of the classroom. This must make these students feel so much more comfortable and hopefully proud of their linguistic and cultural background.
Personally, I asked both of the children I work with regularly which language they speak at home. I feel that in order to be an effective teacher to them, and form a relationship of trust and respect, I must get to know important things about them, where they are from, and what their interests are. They also are entitled to ask questions about me and my life, getting to know more about me than merely my name and career goal. As soon as I opened up to Nikko and Maggie, they immediately felt more comfortable around me and more enthusiastic about the lessons and activities I brought for them.
One theorist which instantaneously struck me as relatable to the above points was Johnson and his theories on silenced and marginalized voices. Johnson stresses the importance of celebrating difference and brings to light the tendencies of humans to be apprehensive of the unknown and prejudiced toward those different from ourselves, or the majority population in a setting. He states that “As participants (of systems of privilege), we usually find that the easiest path is to do what is expected of us, and so long as most people do what they are expected to do most of the time, they dynamic relationship between people and social systems will produce the consequences that make up the history and everyday details of racial privilege and oppression”. Here Johnson is outlining the idea that if society is teaching children that they are only supposed to be speaking English, however another language is being spoken in their households, they will most likely feel as though their culture is the “wrong” one, thus being oppressed.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Parental Interaction Is Essential for Sucess
After having been in the presence of the children in Ms. Leslie’s classroom for several weeks now and looking at the information on Eli Elementary on Infoworks, I can conclude that many of the children come from low income homes where one or more of the parents probably have to work very hard in order to support the family. One of the challenges that I may face as a teacher in a school such as Eli Elementary is the possibility that the parents may not be highly educated and may not have even a high school diploma. Another hurdle that would probably arise would be the linguistic barrier created when a child’s parents do not speak English because I speak very little Spanish. It would be difficult for these parents to help the children with homework when they need it. The students will need to practice speaking, reading, and writing outside of the classroom in order to master the skills required to excel in each subject.
Although I do not speak another fluent language other than English, I would do my absolute best to communicate with each and every student’s guardians. On the Infoworks website, statistics shows that at Eli Elementary school, o% of students receive ESL or bilingual education services, meaning that if necessary, a child would be a helpful translator when parents have questions about material being learned in the classroom. I would explain to every parent early on in the school year how immensely important it is for the children practice their studies at home, and not merely in the classroom, and encourage them to assist their children while doing homework and practice outside reading at home, before bedtime for example. I would certainly promote meetings with parents if they have the time to discuss their child’s status in the classroom, even for students at the top of the class. This way, the parent will be sure that I care about their child and acknowledge positive behavior and academic success, rather than only notifying them when there is a problem. A child’s ability to learn is not determined by their ethnicity or social class, but rather by their enthusiasm. This level of enthusiasm is vastly dependant on the quality of their teachers and involvement of their parents.
An example of one of the small ways in which parents could help their children improve reading and writing would be to make regular trips to the local public library. Access to their books and computers is normally totally free to the public and the change of scenery would be interesting to the students. For many of the parents of students at Eli Elementary however, finding time to make these trips may be hard to come by as many of these parents must work late into the night in order to produce the funds necessary for their families to survive. A second proposal may be to get the child enrolled in a free afterschool program to keep them occupied and safe. Many of these programs also offer tutors to help with homework assignments and reading practice.
Although I do not speak another fluent language other than English, I would do my absolute best to communicate with each and every student’s guardians. On the Infoworks website, statistics shows that at Eli Elementary school, o% of students receive ESL or bilingual education services, meaning that if necessary, a child would be a helpful translator when parents have questions about material being learned in the classroom. I would explain to every parent early on in the school year how immensely important it is for the children practice their studies at home, and not merely in the classroom, and encourage them to assist their children while doing homework and practice outside reading at home, before bedtime for example. I would certainly promote meetings with parents if they have the time to discuss their child’s status in the classroom, even for students at the top of the class. This way, the parent will be sure that I care about their child and acknowledge positive behavior and academic success, rather than only notifying them when there is a problem. A child’s ability to learn is not determined by their ethnicity or social class, but rather by their enthusiasm. This level of enthusiasm is vastly dependant on the quality of their teachers and involvement of their parents.
An example of one of the small ways in which parents could help their children improve reading and writing would be to make regular trips to the local public library. Access to their books and computers is normally totally free to the public and the change of scenery would be interesting to the students. For many of the parents of students at Eli Elementary however, finding time to make these trips may be hard to come by as many of these parents must work late into the night in order to produce the funds necessary for their families to survive. A second proposal may be to get the child enrolled in a free afterschool program to keep them occupied and safe. Many of these programs also offer tutors to help with homework assignments and reading practice.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
First Impresssions
Pulling up to Eli Elementary School*, I observed that this school was definitely different than the school I attended back when I was a child. The school is located off a main road not far from the city. All of the windows are closed and barred, while a chain link fence strategically borders the small cement playing area. To be honest, I was a little nervous upon entering the school by looking at the outward appearance. This feeling was probably attributed to the fact that this was unusual to me, having grown up in a school system with big open windows letting in the fresh air blowing from the large green, grassy playgrounds with swings, slides, basketball courts, and baseball fields.
On the inside, the school feels more typical and inviting. Bright paintings and posters of smiling, multicultural children align the walls, and most of my initial hesitance is lifted away. The classrooms are about the same size as all I had been exposed to, but it seems the school is short on rooms because I noticed some rooms are shared by multiple teachers at different points in the day.
I work with two teachers, one being the school’s reading coach, Ms. Mary*, and the fourth grade classroom teacher, Ms. Leslie*. Ms. Mary is very helpful and organized. Her room is where I go to gather all of the materials and activities I will be using with the children that afternoon. Ms. Leslie’s room is arranged like a typical elementary classroom. There are bright posters scattered across the walls, along with weekly vocabulary words on the board and a chart listing the outspoken and punishable student’s names. The students seemed very excited when I came into the room. One little girl, Anna*, came running right up to me, complimenting me on everything from my hair to my shoes. She then slowly sulked back to her seat when she learned that I was not there to tutor her.
There are two students that I help, each twice a week. Nikko speaks very good English with only a small but noticeable accent. He seems to be on a good track with reading, just a step behind the other students, but he is fun to work with. Maggie, the young girl I tutor seems very quiet and less social than all of the other upbeat girls in the classroom. She seems very uninterested in learning and like many of the other students are toward Ms. Leslie, Maggie has an attitude toward just about everything I ask her to work on.
It seems the school is very set on attempting to get the children to behave and listen. I observed my very first day that Ms. Leslie seemed to be spending more time reprimanding the children and trying to get them to focus and pay attention than she did actually teaching the lessons. She raised her voice several times, however it never had much of a valuable impact on settling the kids down.
On the inside, the school feels more typical and inviting. Bright paintings and posters of smiling, multicultural children align the walls, and most of my initial hesitance is lifted away. The classrooms are about the same size as all I had been exposed to, but it seems the school is short on rooms because I noticed some rooms are shared by multiple teachers at different points in the day.
I work with two teachers, one being the school’s reading coach, Ms. Mary*, and the fourth grade classroom teacher, Ms. Leslie*. Ms. Mary is very helpful and organized. Her room is where I go to gather all of the materials and activities I will be using with the children that afternoon. Ms. Leslie’s room is arranged like a typical elementary classroom. There are bright posters scattered across the walls, along with weekly vocabulary words on the board and a chart listing the outspoken and punishable student’s names. The students seemed very excited when I came into the room. One little girl, Anna*, came running right up to me, complimenting me on everything from my hair to my shoes. She then slowly sulked back to her seat when she learned that I was not there to tutor her.
There are two students that I help, each twice a week. Nikko speaks very good English with only a small but noticeable accent. He seems to be on a good track with reading, just a step behind the other students, but he is fun to work with. Maggie, the young girl I tutor seems very quiet and less social than all of the other upbeat girls in the classroom. She seems very uninterested in learning and like many of the other students are toward Ms. Leslie, Maggie has an attitude toward just about everything I ask her to work on.
It seems the school is very set on attempting to get the children to behave and listen. I observed my very first day that Ms. Leslie seemed to be spending more time reprimanding the children and trying to get them to focus and pay attention than she did actually teaching the lessons. She raised her voice several times, however it never had much of a valuable impact on settling the kids down.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
A Brand New Year
My name is Chelsea and I am a sophomore at Rhode Island College studying Elementarty Education with a concentration in English. So far I love it here, the campus is great and I've made so many awesome friends. I don't do any sports for the school however I have been a dancer almost all my life and in highschool I cheered for a few years but never got to serious about it. Due to the fact that I do not do any sports for RIC, I have alot of free time on campus to hangout with friends and thats why I've gotten so close with so many of them. I am really excited to get deeper into the classes that really focus on my major and start working with the actual elementary students, teching and tutoring them weekly. I have always loved children and enjoyed spending time with them and helping them learn new things.
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