Double Entry Journal #2

" As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth"

Quote:

“Jenny was down at her son’s school constantly.  She would go down to tell them that neither she nor his dad could read so please don’t send notes home, but to call if they needed to talk to her. She would go down to try to tell them that Donny did not know enough about reading to be passed on to second grade” (Purcell-Gates,131).

 

I choose this quote because it inspires me to see a parent caring so much about her child’s education. It also saddens and sort of angers me to see that the teachers and principal could care less about this child or his parents.  Jenny was trying so hard to be a good parent and take part in her son’s life in school.  She wanted to be informed about her son’s education, but because she couldn’t read she needed to be called.  No one took the time to call Jenny or her husband, instead they sent notes home that could not be read or a response could not be returned.  I was shocked that no teacher or any of the staff tried to help Jenny or her son and dismissed them because of her lack of education.  The staff of the school should be more willing to communicate with her and proud that she wanted to be involved in his education.  Some parents could care less about how their son/daughter is doing in school or if they aren’t reading to be passed onto the next grade.  I think Jenny is a caring and responsible mother for trying to stand up for her son’s education.  I look up to Jenny and would wish to see all parents as involved as Jenny tried to be.        Children begin to learn literacy knowledge, reading and writing, by observing parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc.  Children know that in order to read, your lips need to be moving and you need to be speaking.  Also, they know if you have a pencil and paper and you write on the paper then you have written letters, words, and/or sentences.  This means that someone will be able to read what has been written.  Therefore, literacy knowledge is the understanding of the basic first steps to begin reading, writing, or listening.  Some examples of the basic steps are: identifying symbols or shapes of signs and knowing what they mean, reading from left to right, listen to others read, and be able to tell the story through the illustrations.  A child can identify symbols or shapes such as, an octagon that is red and has white writing means “Stop” or the golden arches “M” stands for McDonalds.  These are a few of the beginning steps needed in early childhood in order to progress and succeed to read, write, and listen. A few examples of print literacy knowledge are: knowing the sounds that letters make, knowing how to write the letters, and using the letters to write a word, such as their own name; non print literacy knowledge examples are: knowing shapes or symbols and listening to others while they are reading or speaking.

Stereotypes interfere with literacy instruction because teachers and staff of the school have the impression that students from a low-income family are not going to succeed as well as students from a middle-class family.  Therefore, students who come from a low-income family do not have the same opportunity as the other students.  Teachers tend to pay more attention to students who are not struggling and who understand the material, when in fact it should be different.  Students who are struggling need help because if they do not receive the help they need they will quit and not have the will to learn.  Stereotypes can keep children from learning and turning into bright young adults if no one cares about the student and does nothing to help them.    
School and teachers contribute to poor literacy instruction in the school by not listening to parents and stereotyping.  Just like the mother and son in the article, the teachers would send notes home to the parents even though the mother repeatedly told the teacher that neither she nor her husband could read.  It took a person who had a doctorate degree to call in and take up for a young boy for the school system to actually listen and take action.  Schools and teachers put a label on students and families who come from low-income families and dismiss them because they think they are not worthy and do not have a good enough education.  The students are the ones who struggle and are not given the proper instruction in school because of their background.  This needs to change in the schools and all students need to be treated equally not matter their socioeconomic status, race, gender, etc.  All students have the right to a fair and engaging education.      
Based upon the research conducted by Purcell-Gates and Dahl, studies showed that the there is a direct relationship between language and social class.  Children who are from families/homes that are considered to be in the socioeconomic level of poverty showed to have less knowledge of written language and how reading and writing worked than children who came from a middle-class family/home.  Children who are from poverty homes have very little experience of reading and writing from the people in their lives.  While I do agree with this statement, I don’t believe that this is true for all instances of children coming from homes in poverty.  Research also shows that students who experienced reading and writing from family members while they were younger are more likely to be successful readers and active learners than children who were not as familiar with the practices of reading and writing.  While working at a summer reading program, I experienced an opposite result to this research.  One student ,who was from a middle-class family, struggled with reading even though he had been experienced with reading and writing through his family before he entered school.  He was in 3^rd grade and hated to read by himself or at all, so we would take turns reading.  I could see a big improvement in his reading by the end of the summer and could see he had more confidence.  So even though the research shows that students from middle-class students are more likely to succeed this is not always the case.  I think that children need to see how excited their teacher is about reading and have the opportunity to read inside of the classroom in order to succeed in reading.  The denial of educational opportunity also has a relationship with language and social class.  Research has proven that students deny learning at school if they have come from a low-income family because they don’t understand the concept of reading or writing.  The child was not around any print as a child and therefore did not know that reading or writing even existed.  They do not feel the need to learn to read and write because their parents never did and they grew up not knowing the life-changing experience reading would bring to their lives.  Also, teachers deny the education to the student because of judging the background of the student and not giving them a chance to learn. Therefore, language, social class and the denial of educational opportunity have a relationship related to each other.  A child can still succeed in reading through their educational journey even if they have not experienced the joy of reading and writing while growing up because of their parents’ social class. They need a role model in their lives to help guide them and to help them succeed in the most important skill of reading and writing and this will be the job of the teacher.  
One misconception about the relationship between language and literacy are the fact that when we read, we are reading in our language or dialect that we know.  Even when we write, our language that we speak shines through our writing.  If teachers force a child to speak and write differently than their original language then this affects the students learning because they are so focused on changing their dialect that they can’t fully grasp the content of reading and writing. Another misconception is that people are judged to be inferior or uneducated by the way they speak because of the social class they are placed in.  These are all problems dealing with language and literacy in students and parents.    
Schools and teachers can accept all students as learners no matter what their socioeconomic background may be.  Also, they need to accept and build upon the language that the students speak.  Use the same language that the students use in order to teach them how to read and write and to better their education.  Teachers accept the individual ways that students talked and their pronunciations of the sounds the letters made.  Children can learn how to read if they sound out the word in their language instead of listening to phonics. The last thing teachers can do is realize that students talk and write in the appropriate formal register depending on the type of situation or social context they are in.  All of the ideas above are ways schools and teachers can improve literacy instruction. 
I do believe that “Proper English” should be used when writing letters, talking to a professional, or used while completing a job interview or resume.   When speaking with friends or family, I do not see the need for “Proper English” to be used.  Families have their own certain language that they use to speak to each other.  “Proper English” is a very important skill to be learned, but I do not feel that it needs to be used all of the time.   There are certain situation and circumstances when “Proper English” should be used and students should be taught when proper English is required to be used.  But when you are in an informal setting, I do not think that proper English should be required.      

Tall Tales of Appalachia

“This mythology has even been accepted by the people living here. Not long ago, one of the student counselors at West Virginia University told me that the most persistent problem she encounters is a lack of self-esteem. Bright, capable, young men and women do not think they belong in college because they are hillbillies” (O’Brien).

I choose this quote because I was surprised that students’ self-esteem at WVU was low because they think they are hillbillies and do not belong in college.  This statement shocked me because I personally have never felt that I did not belong in college because of the stereotype placed on West Virginia.  In 10^th grade, I attended a madrigal concert at the Benedum Center in Pittsburgh, PA.  We had attended every year to sing in the lobby before “The Nutcracker Ballet” and during intermission.  One of the guys who worked at the Benedum Center was showing us to the restrooms and asked us where we were from.  One of the people in the choir told him we were from West Virginia.  The guy replied “I am surprised all of you are wearing shoes then, since you are from West Virginia”.  I was so offended by this statement; this was the first time I had ever felt like I was being judged personally because I was from West Virginia.  Therefore, I can see the students’ point of view, but I have never thought that I wasn’t good enough to attend college just because of the state I am from.  One day I hope to get away from being described as “hillbillies” because of the state we are from.  

   I choose a video that describes the Upper Big Branch mine explosion that took place in 2010. I only watched the first five minutes of this video because I thought it explained and showed how people in West Virginia come together and help each other during times of tragedy.

West Virginia

Sources:
Purcell-Gates, V. (n.d.). "..as soon as she opened her
        mouth!": Issues of language, literacy, and power. In 
         (pp. 122-140).
 O'Brien, J. (2003, 05 10). Tall tales of appalachia.
         Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2003
         /05/10/opinion/tall-tales-of-appalachia.html

       (2012). explore: West virginia- hillbillies, coal miners,

                treehuggers & god. (2012). [Web Video]. Retrieved from        http://news.linktv.org/videos/explore-west-virginia-hillbillies-

             coal-miners-treehuggers-god