In approaching this assessment on my group’s blog, I wanted to retain my personal bias towards what I believed our writing’s to be themed around, and allow the flow of our blogs to really shape this final writing piece. In reading the blogs again, it became evident to me that my perception of the blogs, is in fact a common underlying theme (or trend), that comes to surface in almost all of the writings. This being; the cultural significance that needs to be taking into consideration with not only the literacy in the classroom, but the way in which literacy is addressed according to the individual students.
I wonder at times if my interest in working with children and becoming a teacher stems from my deep appreciation for the cultural and social dynamics of the world we live in. I do not look at children as mere physical objects within in a classroom, but more as diverse creations with individual differences, that are influenced by their social surroundings. This makes the social dynamic not only interesting but difficult to teach. Our first blog posts this semester were focused around teaching in an urban settings, in which the student population is primarily made up of economically and culturally disadvantaged members of society (based upon race, economic status, and native language ESL’s). Kelly ended this particular blog with a wonderful comment in which she stated; “I think that whether our students are ELL”s or come from rough home situations, we need to learn about each individual in our classroom in order to assess them, educated them, and really help them grow”. I find this particular quote from Kelly more interesting than I did at the time she wrote it, because I blogged a week later, on an article titled Response-Centered Talk: Windows on Children’s Thinking. Kelly’s comment at the time, subconsciously struck a nerve (in a good way), because I later blogged how important the response-centered talks were in not only engaging students thinking, but learning more about the students. I think at times (and I can take fault at this) we read to students and have them write, to merely either fill time (or waste time). I’m not sure if Kelly was explicitly implying that these are moments in which we make it meaningful, but the blogs up to that point (and after), have opened up my understanding that these are the times in which we not only assess, but look through this window into the children’s thinking. This is in fact why I cherish the art of literacy so much, because it is intimate, and allows the opportunity to understand your students (on an individual level). This is not to say that after every meaningful reading and writing activity that we will learn more about every student, but creating this type of environment within the classroom will lead to a greater cultural understanding and appreciation of the students in the class.
The last week of February Kelly started our blog by commenting on her article Kindergartners Can Do It, Too!, which highlighted the importance of comprehension strategies for early readers. To draw again on the importance of understanding the cultural significance of each student, Kelly commented how frustrated she was that her teacher (in the first grade class) never takes the time to provide background information on the story, or allow students the opportunity to connect and discuss how the story is relevant to their own lives. Kelly and I both commented on how when reading we apply comprehension strategies such as; guessing what will happen next, connecting situations to our own personal lives, and summarizing things so that we understand better. Alice went on to comment;
“As teachers, we need to be aware of all of these factors and find ways to make sure the different needs and learning styles/profiles of our students are met. When planning a lesson, a teacher needs to make sure to build the students’ background knowledge. This can be done in many different ways, but just diving into the text doesn’t always provide the background that students need in order to gain a deep understanding of the book.”
To relate this all back to the influence of individual culture’s of each student, Alice noted the importance of knowing each student. It is not fair to rightfully assume or as Alice said “dive into the text”, without providing the students with the needed background information in order to successfully navigate the text. The background information, focus on individual vocabulary words, and allowing the students the opportunity to relate the text to themselves is so critical. Not only is it critical in their learning, but having a diverse group of students discuss how it is relevant to them, allows for students to learn from one another (creating a stronger community).
Everything I have noted thus far in this assessment of our blog can be contributed to how I have not only learned from the articles but from my Kelly and Alice as well. Although we did not spend much time disputing or challenging each other’s, we spent a lot of time complementing each other’s thinking, and relating it (and then expanding upon it) to our own experiences. I am privileged in that I have had other classes with both Alice and Kelly. I have a lot of respect as friends, fellow students, and also as professionals. I look to their insights a lot of the time and they further build my understanding in the arena of teaching. This is not to say that we have never come against each other in regards to our opinions, but in this blog we meshed well. Instead of writing individual blogs, our blogs drew upon each other’s insights, and created a web of understanding; which I feel is grounded in the cultural importance of teaching. This cultural importance being that each individual student must be understood, in order to educate them. Although our blogs may have not explicitly used the word culture, whenever we speak of needing to know who the students are, where they come from, their needs, etc., we are demonstrating our sensitivity to the importance of it. This blog experience further expanded upon my appreciation for the cultural differences and influence of students within the classroom, and also how much I have grown in my own understanding, thanks to the insights of my fellow bloggers.
