Margi's Blog

Resisting Reading Mandates (pages 1-90)

mfought — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:08:08 +0000

Unbelievable!! This is truly an eye opener. It has amazed me as to how the National Reading Panel Research could be so flawed. But what has been even more amazing is that school systems are being drawn to their conclusions. After under going restructuring because of No Child Left Behind, I am so sick and tired of hearing the words “scientific researched based”. It seems like every move we make we’re asked if its scientific researched based. There are times I just want to scream. I truly believe schools are losing their focus. Schools are no longer focused on the children. Everything they do, is not in the children’s best of interest, I believe. Schools are instead driven by NCLB. What a SHAME!!!!! If only school districts would stop and listen to those on the front line. If only they would stop and read Elaine Garan’s “Resisting
Reading Mandates How to Triumph with the Truth”.

Another aspect of this research that has amazed me is the lack of classroom teaching experience in the members of the panel. Keeping this in mind, why in the world is so much attention and believability placed on this piece of research? Let’s be real! How many of us would let someone operate on us just because they are on the Surgeon General Committee? NO! We’d look to see if they have a M.D. behind their name, if they come highly recommended, years of experience. You’re getting my drift, right? Let’s just hope the school districts come to their senses.

Literacy with an Attitude (pages 109-207)

mfought — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 17:24:08 +0000

Patrick J. Finn had some very interesting things to say. I was very intrigued to read about Freire’s method for teaching powerful literacy. I thought his method sounded very effective. Freire wasn’t bold in his approach but instead he started out small and built upon it. He drew the people in without telling them what they should do and how. He wanted these working class individuals to work together and reflect on their place in society, discuss about what others think and brainstorm new ideas and exchange them. He wanted the working class to understand it wasn’t one person verses many but it was all of them working together that could make the difference.

I like the quote on page 153 – 154 “…teachers need support of one another, administrators, parents, the community and the nation, and they don’t get it.” I think a lot of the teachers feel overwhelmed by everything they are told they HAVE to do, what they HAVE to use and when they HAVE to have it completed by. I believe many teachers would love to approach teaching as Bigelow and Christensen did. However, I think they shy away from it because of tight control by administrators as well as the government and their laws and mandates and because they don’t want to get in trouble and in the long run possibly lose their job.

I believe the school districts and government agencies need to start feeling the heat from parents. Teachers in working class school have worked hard from their end to get things changed. They have advocated till they are blue in the face for what is best for their students but have been met by cold shoulders. I truly think that if working class parents are insistent, determined, a bit forceful, daily “nags” and not afraid to unite together to see to it that things are changed for the benefit of their children, we would start seeing “LITERACY WITH AN ATTITUDE!!”

Literacy with an Attitude pages (1 -109)

mfought — Mon, 05 Mar 2007 00:54:09 +0000

I found myself quite interested in this reading. After reading Ways With Words, this seemed to be a “lighter” read. I really enjoy the author’s style and voice in his writing of this book. He makes his points clear with providing examples from his own teaching experience as well as from other peoples experiences and/or observations.

What caught my attention was the difference between the immigrant minorities and the involuntary minorities. I work in a school that is very diverse. There are Hispanics, Asians, African Americans, Caucasians, etc. After reading chapter 4, it is obvious which students in the classroom would fall into these two categories. I’ve always been impressed by the Asian students and parents and their drive to excel. They encourage their children to do well and be an active participant in their school but they still hold onto their family beliefs and traditions. They would fall into the category of immigrant minorities. On the other hand, a large majority of the Hispanic and African American population of students are just the opposite. The older they get they tend to develop the “throw in the towel” attitude. There seems to be no desire to do their best anymore. They seem to have an “I don’t care attitude”. But the sad part is that the parent also have the same disposition. It just seems to be a vicious cycle. The more these students and parents display this attitude the more frustrated as educators we become. Sometimes I think they go home at night and laugh at how angry they were able to make us and that they continue this behavior as their way of “pushing our buttons”.

I am very interested in continuing reading this book and learning more.

Ways With Words (pages 236 – 369)

mfought — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 03:05:48 +0000

The townspeople seem to be very schedule orientated as well as school orientated. It seems to me that you could set your clock to them because everything takes place at a particular time. Advance degrees and higher level jobs is a common focus of the townspeople. Children are exposed to books and writing tasks from an early age which is an advantage for when they enter school. The townspeople expect that everyone sees their way as the natural way. However, this is very unlikely for those of Roadville and Trackton.

I found the next two chapters quite interesting. I applaud the teachers who went out of their way to help their students achieve in a structure where they were less than successful. How many of us teachers only wish we could do the same. It’s as if we drag this ball and chain behind us. We no longer have the time to stray away from the curriculum. Many of us have tried to alter our teaching to best meet every student learning needs. But we find ourselves backed into the corner by NCLB, AYP, new curriculum, GLCE”S and the list goes on and on.

Now that I have read this book in its entirety, I have a new perspective on the students within my own school building. I find myself agreeing fully with Shirley Brice Heath, “…unless the boundaries between classrooms and communities can be broken, and the flow of cultural patterns between them encouraged, the school will continue to legitimate and reproduce communities of townspeople who control and limit the potential progress of other communities and who themselves remain untouched by other values and ways of life.” (369)

Ways With Words (pages 149 – 235)

mfought — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 22:20:50 +0000

Trackton and Roadville are both oral and literate communities. Their differences, however, are distinct. In Trackton, stories are exaggerated, facts are hard to distinguish, and they need to hold the audience’s attention. In Roadville, stories are made up of facts, are meant to teach a point, usually about behavior, and are told by certain members of the community. As for reading, in Trackton, reading material is limited, it is a group function, and for the children, it is reading to learn what is needed to know before their formal education begins. On the other hand, in Roadville, reading material is in abundance, parents read to their children, and children practice reading.

I find it very easy to make connections to the Roadville community. I look around my house and see books shelves stuffed with books for my sons. I see the magazine rack by the couch overflowing with reading materials I have yet to read. On the dining room table are the ABC booklets my sons were just working in. I have even told stories to my sons about events that happened to me as I was growing up and the lesson(s) I learned. It is very easy for me to relate and understand the people in Roadville.

In my last blog, I wrote about how the reading made me think about Ruby Payne’s book Understanding the Framework of Poverty. Again as I was reading, I found myself saying “That’s what Ruby was talking about in her book.” Also, it started to make sense to me why students are able to read some things (ex. food labels, restaurants, etc.) but not others. I realize now that it is because they are dependent on visual imagery and anything out of this domain is foreign to them (words in books). It is interesting to read about these two communities.

Ways With Words (pages 1 – 148)

mfought — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 02:06:48 +0000

The main idea of this read is the acquisition of language in children of two neighboring communitiies. It so the intention of Shirley Heath, the author, to compare and contrast Roadville and Trackton, two communities so close but yet so far apart.

As i was reading the chapters on Trackton, I remember back to my senior year of high school when I went to Mississippi with my church youth group. We workrd all week on giving a house an “extreme make-over”. I remember seeing younger children being toted around by the older children in the neignborhood. Also, I was able to make connections to Ruby Payne’s book Understanding the Framework of Poverty. One of the connections was the last paragraph on page 82. Shirley describes the child’s adult interaction and the loud enviroment. These are characteristics of poverty Ruby Payne talks about in her book.

On the other hand, I was able to identify with the Roadville folk. Right away on page 113, I was ablt to make a connection. In fact, I can remember my own “stork shower”. The other connections are: the desire for a small family. I am happy with having two sons. I have already told them my desire that they go to college. I have to remind my sons to remember their manners. And yes, I baby talked when my sons were infants. So there is a strong identification with the community of Roadville.

I look forward to reading the rest of this book.

mfought — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 14:52:00 +0000

This was an interesting reading as well as a difficult one. I found myself having to reread on numerous occasions to understand the author’s intent. I put together a mental list of my daily interactions with literacy. I was not surprised to see that I am surrounded and immersed in different forms of literacy. However, it did get me to thinking. I am part of my school’s kindergarten assessment team. The school at which I teach at is made up mainly of low income families. As I assess each child’s knowledge of concepts about print, I am amazed at the low scores. So my thinking has always been “It’s obvious these kids are not exposed to literacy.” But now that I have read this article and this quote, “Few children are initiated into the schooling expereince without some knowledge of literacy. The nature of these events and the degree to which the children have directly participated in them,…may vary.” (211), my thinking has changed. These children have had exposure, just not the type of exposure I was thinking of. Their exposure probably comes from videos, video games, fast food menus, gang symbols, etc. I neglected to take into account the multiple types of literacy out there. Therefore, instead of sitting around and complaining about how low our students come to school every year, as educators we should be planning the “many paths to becoming literate” (220) that we will take our students down.

Mosiac of Thought (pages 123-218)

mfought — Sun, 28 Jan 2007 04:07:46 +0000

These chapters talked about strategies to improve reading comprehension. There were so many good thoughts and ideas that my head is still spinning. One of the strategies that I enjoy teaching is using sensory imagery. I love watching my students as they experience reading through the use of their senses. Many students today are so detached from their reading because their only goal is to rush and get through it. They don’t take the time to get involved. They don’tstop to take in the smells the author is describing or become emotionally drawn in. Everything is hurry, hurry,hurry!!! On the other hand, I struggle with teaching inferring. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s because I work with many English Language Learners and/or students who are trying to keep their lives together because they are not only a child but acting as the ”parent” for their siblings too. It’s a challenging concept. However,I introduced this past week-synthesis. to a few of my advanced readers. Granted it was just a few modeling attempt but I think it went well. I look forward to incorporating more of these concepts during the rest of the year. Hopefully?!

Mosiac of Thought (Pages 73 – 121)

mfought — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 22:04:28 +0000

WOW!!! These chapters are amazing. This is about the third time I have read this book. But each time it is like reading it for the first time. I learn something new everytime. As I was reading these chapters, I was drawn back to Debbie Miller’s Reading With Meaning. Debbie is a phenomenal educator. I am awestruck with what she accomplishes with her students. As I was reading my attention was drawn to the discussion on page 82 about competent readers. I have a handful of students who are competent readers. However, when it comes to telling me about what they’ve read, they struggle. I need to shift my instruction for them away from the reading strategies and more toward the comprehension strategies. I need to get them to ask more questions before, during and after their reading. I need to get out those sticky notes and model for them what good readers do. The only hurdle to get past is TIME. My day is already filled with required curriculum and materials.

I also noticed my students struggling with asking questions. My first graders recently took a test in which they had to write questions based on what they had just read. They couldn’t do it!! I am now struggling with how to squeeze in mini lessons on questioning into my schedule. The new Houghton Mifflin reading materials I am required to use do not have stories that allow for quality questioning lessons. The questions given are not meaty to get them thinking about their reading. So here are my questions WHEN? WHERE? HELP?!!!

Mosiac of Thought (pages 1-72)

mfought — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 04:16:15 +0000

I really enjoy reading Mosiac of Thought. This is not my first time reading it. However, each time I read it, it makes more sense to me. The first 73 pages of this book addresses how we, as teachers, need to walk our students through the process or steps proficient readers use when they comprehend. The art of comprehension goes well beyond the comprehension questions asked to students. It involves modeling, modeling, modeling!!!. In my opinion, modeling is the key to teaching comprehension strategies. In Mosiac of Thought, Debbie Miller’s classroom is mentioned frequently. We read about how she models in depth to her students. We read about the responses by her students. Some of the comments make me say’ “Wow! I wish my students would respond like that.” These chapters, once again pulled me into the reality of what I witness in my class. I have a great bunch of readers and I am proud of them and the hard work they do. However, I am frustrated when as I am reading with them, I have to pull out of them information about the reading. I can rememeber the first time this year when I was reading the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar, I stopped to tell them about how my two sons found a caterpillar. My sons were fascinated with the changes that took place over time. I wanted so desparately to make this a text to world connection and draw the students in. But they seemed disinterested. I realize that my students had very little experience with making connections or taking “mind journeys”. In fact, I bet most of my students are seldom read to. Therefore seldom given the opportunities to make any kind of connections.