Why Can't She Remember That?

1. "Despite such culturally influenced differences,however the findings of this body of research clearly underscore the fact that children from every linguistic community learn to use language in highly complex and that provide a strong linguistic foundation for teachers to build on in literacy instruction."

When, I first read this statement from this article I strongly disagreed with it. I disagreed with it because yes, they may of a good foundation for literacy, but it's in their own language so when this children try to learn English it just puts them back more. I say this because English is such a complex language that it's difficult to learn and if these kids already have mastered another language then it makes it almost impossible for a positive success rate. However, as I kept reading I saw what Meier meant by this statement. Children at home that learn from their parents or surroundings are extremely intelligent even at such a young age that instead of thinking they are so far behind, we should have a mind set that these kids are smart. People like me that come in with that wrong mindset make wrong assumptions about these children and maybe thats where the problem is or at least thats where it starts. It's truly unfortunate.

2. "From these book reading experiences, many children acquire an extensive book-based vocabulary and absorb important cultural lessons about things like gender roles, family relationships, and the nature of friendship."

You know it's amazing how true this excerpt from this article is. I remember as a little kid learning so many words or applying what happens in a book like "Where the Wild Things Are" to my everyday life. As a youngster the books that you read are your biggest influence aside from your parents. The books are your role models and by reading this article it looks as though that same mind set still takes place even today. I love how something so little such as a storybook has such a large impact on someone's life. I mean in a way that puts a lot of pressure on those children book authors because what they write can literally change a child's life. Yet at the same time it's awesome because these books can be a positive foundation for children. The books are their lives.

3. "The teacher's likely assumption in this case was that Gabriela did not know the answer to the question, possibly leading to the conclusion that she needed more simplified instruction, or perhaps more English-language vocabulary, rather than more interesting questions."

After reading about Gabriela and all of the other children that were used as examples, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. These children most of the time are probably more intelligent than we expect and they are so intelligent to point that in their mind we look like the non-intelligent ones. In a way it sounds a little bizarre, but it makes complete sense. The examples that Meier provides after this piece is a great teaching strategy. If we make the books come to life or we as educators ask to our students more interesting rather than repetitive simple ones the truth will show. This quote is definitely one of the more eye-opening statements I've read. It leads back to the discussion by the various authors like Delpit that discuss discrimination in the classroom. It's not cool man..

Overall, this whole article was probably the best one that I'v read all semester. It didn't pick sides on race or try to display racism, it simply gave facts and backed up those facts. Meier did have a lot of great strategies in the classroom and I admire his willingness to take different outlooks on situation in the classroom. I was extremely interested with this reading because it's amazing how something as little as a storybook can have such a huge impact. One question that arose to me was how often do wrong assumptions take place in a classroom? We should seriously re-look how we teach certain things as educators. This reading reminded a lot of all the readings that we have read because each presents a piece on discrimination in the classroom and this article exploits that exact issue. Truly the best article so far.

My First Day :)

My First Day

I left RIC on Friday with a lot of anxiety, I didn’t know if I was dressed all right or if the teacher and students would like me. I mean it was a nerve-wrecking time for me. I arrived to the school on time, and met right away with the reading coach about what we were going to do with our kids and how we were gonna go about it. She was very helpful and she had a lot of really good ideas especially reading fluency Candy Land which was my favorite board game as a kid, well the regular version. After we discussed some other procedures she told us who are teacher was and what kids we’d be working with. What was really funny for me was as she was walking me to my classroom I met a teacher who had heard that my last name was Haggerty and so was hers. As a result of this we spent a good 10 minutes trying to figure out if we had any relation to one another. She named her grandfather and we tried to put the piece’s together because she said the Haggerty family was so big. She left me with a homework assignment to figure out I had any relation to her grandfather so that’s what I plan to do and who knows maybe I found a long lost cousin. But anyways I eventually made it to the fourth grade classroom where I met the teacher Ms. Alice and she was an extremely nice lady. She didn’t have her regular class in there at the time because she was teaching other fourth graders science. So I mingled amongst my peers and helped them dissect a seed. There was girl that really loved to talk, right away she said what’s up dude? And I was like ummm hello haha, but other than everyone was very open and loved talking to me about anything really. This one kid asked me to help him draw a replica of the seed in his notebook so I helped him with that. After about 15 minutes the classes switched back into their regular classroom in a very orderly fashion and I got to hang with some of the kids I’d be partnered up with as a reading buddy. It was the Friday before vacation and Valentines day was on Sunday so they had a mini Valentines party. I helped pass out the cupcakes to the various kids and introduced myself along the way. One girl even gave me a Valentine and started to blush when her friend said that she liked me/ That made me smile haha I forgot what it was like to be in the fourth grade again. So after I finished passing out the cupcakes the kids took a quick spelling test and then we go to chat and get to know each other a little bit. I got to know my reading fluency kids and the whole class really. It was easy to see, which kids were trouble makes or the class-clowns. Who had a crush on who as far as what guy liked which girl. Another thing that really stood out to me was the kids that really kept to themselves, didn’t really talk much to anyone. It made me so sad to see this because I remember being an overweight child and neglected or made fun of by lots of people. It truly is the worse feeling to see that with your own eyes once again. Ms. Alice did a very nice job with her class keeping them organized and making sure they still had fun because everyone truly needs a break every once in a while. Right before the kids were going to start grabbing their coats I said my good-bye’s to everyone and told them that yes indeed I’d be coming back. I left Cosgrove school that day very excited about the opportunity to help these kids grow in areas that need improvement for them. The kids that I will be tutoring are very nice and polite kids that look like they want to improve and learn. well, I guess thats all for now I’ll keep you updated in a week or so on how my second visit goes, I’m sure it will be wonderful. :)

Talking Points 1 (Amazing Grace)

1. "At the elementary school that serves the neighborhood across the avenue, only seven of 800 children do not qualify for free school lunches. Five of those seven, says the principal, get reduced-price lunches, because they are classified as only poor, not destitute."

This excerpt from Amazing Grace honestly put me into shock. How can 793 kids be in that situation. How can we as people allow something like that? It's so unfortunate that in a way it's embarrassing for Americans, we are supposed to be a country that provides opportunity and a better life. By the statement above it's the complete opposite. There has to be something that can be done in order to help these people. In conclusion, this is honestly probably one of the most disturbing statistics I've ever read.

2. "A former cocaine addict who now helps addicted women and their children, she tells me that more than 3,000 homeless families have been relocated by the city in this neighborhood during the past few years."

When you sit back and examine this statement it takes a second for you to realize how ridiculous this really is. Not 3,000 people, but 3,000 families that is approx. 12,000 people that are homeless and relocated. That's the population of Syracuse University and imagine every student there being homeless and relocated. It's truly a sad situation, we as people have to make the extra effort to help people in need. This reminds of me relating back to article written by Johnson when he uses the dogs as an example of us being the most capable species on the planet yet we can;t even get along. Well, if we are the most capable species how do 3,000 families, homeless ones get relocated? We as people need to be better.

3. " Maybe five or six in 25, she says, have some legitimate employment. Another five or ten are selling drugs or doing prostitution."

If you do the ratio out it's about one out of every five people have a legitimate job. If thats a result of the poor economy than that is pathetic. If it's a result of people being lazy than as a person the need to take responsibility and get a job. Opportunities should be given to these people to improve their work status in order to help motivate them to get real jobs instead of resorting to the quick dollar with selling drugs or prostitution. We need to come together as people and help each other, motivate one another so that we can improve our living situations. These statistics are honestly depressing.

After reading Amazing Grace, all the information that was presented by Kozol was truly eye-opening and depressing. How can we let these problems get this bad? This reading really keeps bringing me back to that Johnson piece where he discusses how in-capable we are as humans. The statistics presented truly backs up that statement. This whole article proves how pathetic we are. I mean another example of this is the guy that got shot in the head outside of the club, like what makes us resort to that sort of thing? It's dumfounding to me. One question that is asked in the piece that needs to be thought about is how or what is like for children to grow up here? How can you raise a family in these situations? I really enjoyed this piece and I'm glad it really made me think about reality.

Me

The name is Mike Haggerty, I'm a freshman at Rhode Island College, my favorite hobby is playing basketball. My favorite teams are the Lakers and Syracuse. My intended major is Phys Ed and Health Ed. Any my favorite cousin is Meghan :)