Students' Growth

It was so great returning to my kindergarten main placement class today and seeing all the children again! Although it has only been two months since I've seen them, they have grown and learned so much! The students are becoming much more independent and responsible. They have become very familiar with the classroom routines and transitions; my cooperating teacher no longer has to bring them to the rug to re-group and re-direct nearly as frequently. The classroom community feels even stronger than it did in September. It is quite evident that students feel comfortable and that they are an important member of the class, they have learned much about each other and have developed strong relationships while I have been away.

I was impressed with how much the students have grown academically as well. In their reading workshop, students are learning a variety of tools to read tricky words, in writing workshop, they are learning to write small moments with details, and in math, they are learning how to read, write, count and make the numbers 0-10, all of which is so very exciting!

I could not be more pleased to be back! :)

High expectations, with room for mistakes

I felt that the video we watched in our Instructional Design class brought up some great points we have been discussing throughout our program. One of which I believe to be the most important being that as teachers, we need to believe that every class (and student) is gifted and talented; our students need teachers who believe they are capable of achieving anything. We must hold high expectations for every student.

Closely related to the idea of high expectations, another valuable idea the video touched on was the importance of showing students that we, as their teachers, are learning every day, too. As role models, we need to show students that it is completely okay to make mistakes and that when we do make mistakes, valuable learning opportunities arise. Students should be encouraged to realize that there are many ways to be intelligent and that there is always more than one effective way to solve a problem.

Bilingualism

One of this week’s readings I found particularly interesting was Lily Wong Fillmore’s article, “When Learning a Second Language Means Losing the First.” Wong Fillmore and a group of researches decided to carefully examine the rising phenomenon of “subtractive bilingualism” in the United States through careful interviews of hundreds of immigrant families. The researchers’ findings, and the subsequent implications, are quite concerning and disheartening.

Previously, I had not considered the significant consequences of a young English Language Learner being immersed in a school culture that speaks solely English, or very little of his/her native language. Because of powerful forces of assimilation, social pressures, a desire to fit in, a need to communicate, etc., as children spend more and more of their time in this school culture they begin to lose their native languages, creating a language shift within his/her family; although the phenomenon is present in other areas of the world, the United States appears to have a much higher rate of subtractive bilingualism because we do not especially value ethnic diversity. Losing a primary language can have far-reaching effects on a child and his/her family. In many cases, parents are no longer able to socialize or communicate with their child, nor share their values, beliefs, understandings and wisdom with them, all of which holds the potential of breaking a family apart. Children can experience educational difficulties as a consequence of losing their primary language as well. Often times, children give up their native language before they have become efficient in English and risk the chance of never fully developing either language.

As a future teacher, I am concerned and disheartened by what we have learned from Wong Fillmore and other researchers’ findings. Learning a second language should not mean having to lose the first. Thus, I completely agree that children should not be required to learn English before they have fully developed their native language, but is this idea even possible in our present education system? How can we transform our school cultures into more accepting places where it is easier for children to maintain their cultural identities? 

"Identities of Achievement"

As I reflect on this week’s readings, I am drawn to a particular point that Danny Bernard Martin makes in chapter 10 of Improving Access to Mathematics. Martin explains that people’s cultural and racial identities are so closely linked to their identity as learners. Because of this, it is so important that we, as teachers, strive to figure out how to develop an “identity of achievement” among African American and other minority students.

This, however, seems like such a difficult task to overcome when at the very heart of a student’s learning there can be such drastic inequalities in the opportunities available and accessible to them …

How a student identifies with his/herself directly influences his/her learning and through that learning, a student’s identity can either be affected positively or negatively. In the interviews Martin presents with Keith and Gina, both shared recollections of feeling as though they lacked opportunity, encouragement and support as young students in the education system. This struggle and social devaluation at such a young age negatively impacted their cultural and racial identity as well as their identity as a learner.

I feel that we, as a society and as teachers, need to do everything we can to address those inequalities that are still present in today’s education system and work to ensure that every student has the same opportunities available and accessible to them. We must never forget how closely tied a student's cultural and racial identity is to their identity as a learner.