November 17

My final project is going well. I am observing at Kingsley Junior High approximately eight hours a week and writing my observation reports. I also have the opportunity to teach parts of lessons, and the teacher and I work together quite nicely. Over break, I will begin connecting my reports to the readings we have done in class.

Kuma's chapter 11, Ensuring Social Relevance was my favorite reading this week. He talked about the politics of language, being aware of all contexts that the language is being taught in (international, national, ethnic, political, religious, etc.), as well as English as a global language, the home language's role in the classroom, and the use of appropriate teaching materials. It is important to know the role English plays on a global level so that we avoid the standardization that he describes in detail. At the end of all of the talk about how a language gets standardized, he says, "Standardization is essentially a political act over which teachers may not have direct control...The least teachers can do is to recognize the rich linguistic and cultural heritage the learners bring with them and use them as resources to build bridges between what is known and what is new" (249).

He also talks about the use of the L1 in the classroom, which I thought was extremely interesting. This is something I have observed at KJHS and I was very confused about. He says that it is actually beneficial and in most cases not used to its potential. We can see how in the episodes he lists. They show instances of using the L1 to recognize their own cultural differences, making the students feel more comfortable by encouraging them, and more (see list on p. 254). He quotes Elsa Auerbach when he says, "...both research and practice show that the use of the L1 in early L2 classes is critical not only for later success but also to a smooth transition to the target language" (254).

The final point in chapter 11 is the use of appropriate teaching materials. He says that textbooks are not a neutral medium and talks about the use of materials that represent both the local and global cultures rather than the culture of the target language community. This chapter was so helpful for me. I learned so much about best practices and how to make sure the pedagogy of possibility is upheld in the classroom.

November 10

As we discussed in the lobby of the theater, the movie was obviously very well made with very wealthy contributors, etc. Therefore, it was pretty convincing, however, I believe it was extremely one-sided. Afterwards, I was left with a lot of questions...some of them I cannot even remember now - I wish I would have written this earlier - but overall, it was simply an attack on the public school system and teacher unions that "keep jobs locked into place after 2 years." Although the cute children and loving parents who wanted more for their children tugged at my heart strings, I know this is not what the entire public school system is like. In order for our nation's education system to change, the change must occur at a much deeper level...at the level of families and communities and hopefully, eventually, we will have some sort of societal level wake up call that will make us realize that if we don't improve our education system, we are going to suffer as a nation. The change this movie suggested, disbanding the unions and closing public schools with replacements of what I am not really sure - charter schools? is not the answer to the problem. Obviously there is not one answer to the problem...which is why this movie is extremely misleading. It leads us to beleive that there is this simple solution - that all public school teachers need to go and we need to start over by starting these private fascilities - which is not a reasonable, justifiable, or long term fix to the problem. So what is? This is the question. It is obvious that we need reform...but how and what do we do next?

In Kuma Ch. 10, we take a look at the four language domains of reading, speaking, listening, and writing. It is obvious that we should not be separating these skills when it comes to teaching English Language learners. We should be providing them with a classroom environment that integrates all of them into well prepared, engaging activities. Kuma gives tons of examples of activities that are successful in doing this, and once again, I am really grateful for this book and all of the ideas. It seems to be something so obvious, but reading about it and breaking it down will really make it stick with me and be an important factor when I am planning for class.

November 3 SLAM

Wow! This was definitely a very good experience. It is amazing to see how talented people are on campus. I wish I was able to write poetry! This event got me thinking about all of the different strengths and interests my students will have and further reminded me to think in this light. I have actually never been to a poetry reading before, and this was extremely powerful. The diversity in the types of works was really interesting to me. I loved the rap. I felt like I knew that young man after his reading. I also really liked the Who is You poem. This would actually be great to use in the classroom, because I think a lot of immigrants or sons/daughters of immigrants could relate to her words.

One thing I noticed and was a little shocked by was the host of the show and his sense of humor. I will admit, I definitely laughed and found his jokes funny, but it got me thinking about the way we handle stereotypes and dealing with diversity. For example, after "Who is You," he said something along the lines of her bad grammar, and if a black person would have written that, they would have never gotten away with it, but she was Asian. Is this the best way to change the horribly prejudicial world we live in...by laughing about it and at it? I feel that sometimes we do this to try to diffuse the situation, but when I caught myself laughing, I felt really terrible inside. I wonder how she felt after spilling her guts to a room full of strangers about her identity crisis...

As for the last performance, I was actually pretty disturbed. It is amazing how different people can be affected by different works of art/literature/etc. It was really interesting to see the room emptying out, and as much as it pained me to do so, I didn't think I could stand much more. I actually had nightmares that night!

All in all, it was an experience that really got me thinking about pretty much everything. So I'd say it was successful!