Concluding Post: A Journey of a Thousand Miles

          Looking back at my initial reaction and response to The Wire clips I know I looked at them from the perspective of my upbringing in a middle-class family and the students I teach, which are primarily white students who come from lower/middle-class families.  When I watched the clips from Mr. Prezbo’s first day with the students I initially judged him a little for not being more stern and tougher on the students.  Although I do feel he could have been better prepared, I don’t know that my initial thought of being stern is the best solution just because these students are tough.  I actually have more of an appreciation for the way Mr. Prezbo treated these students.  He was respectful and compassionate, which is something they might not get enough of in their life.

It is difficult for me to choose just one of the readings as a favorite from this course.  The Rosin article, Hey! Parents, Leave Those Kids Alone and Hunger of Memory by Richard Rodriguez were my two favorite readings this semester. When I think about the Rosin article in relation to The Wire clips I feel that the kids from The Wire were probably given a lot of freedom from their parents, most likely too much freedom, but in a different way than I interpreted it. The Rosin article suggests “that kids should face what to them seem like ‘really dangerous risks’ and then conquer them alone.  That, she said, is what builds self-confidence and courage” (Rosin 4).  When I think about the kids from The Wire they actually do have a lot of courage and self-confidence.  They are able to go against adult-direction and stand their ground against adults (the detention clip), which, to me, seems would require some courage and self-confidence. The Rosin article also states that, “Adults have come to the mistaken view that children must somehow be sheltered from all risks of injury.  In the real world life is full of risks and reasonable risks are essential for children’s healthy development” (Rosin 6).  I think the reasonable risks part of this sentence is very important.  The risks that the children on The Wire are facing are not developmentally appropriate, yet these children are learning very important survival skills for their livelihood.  Many of these children probably do miss out on the unstructured play opportunities that the article discusses. When I read the Rosin article I mainly applied it to my life, the middle-class families and students I teach, and how I would use the ideas from the article when I have children of my own.  In my cycle one post I wrote, “I have often thought about my upbringing compared to how I see children raised today, and it seems that children now spend a great deal of time in front of a screen or if they are playing with friends it is on a pre-arranged ‘play-date.’” Clearly I wrote my response based on the culture and upbringing in a middle-class family, but this is not the case for all children, such as the children in Mr. Prezbo’s classroom.  I am now left wondering if there is just as much damage to be had from taking the ideas of this article to the other extreme and giving children too much freedom, exposing them to too many risks and dangers in life.  I would think there is actually a pretty fine line. 

            When I think about the clips and Richard Rodriguez’s educational experience in Hunger of Memory I am even more impressed with the way Mr. Prezbo came to understand his students and their culture and integrated that into his teaching in order to reach his students.  It is a great reminder of all the different life experiences students bring into a classroom, culture being a huge part of it.  Unlike the nuns in Rodriguez’s educational experience, Mr. Prezbo did not try to eliminate any aspects of his student’s culture, but rather embraced them.  For example, he used what he knew about all of his student’s interest in dice to teach probability in math, and the students were instantly engaged in their learning.  I think it becomes most difficult when you have the majority of your classroom coming from one culture and just one or two students that bring diversity into the classroom, like Rodriguez. It is easy to want that one student to change and be like the other children in the classroom because that is the “norm.”  Even though Rodriguez doesn’t seem to have any regrets about what he gave up for his education, I still think it is very important to allow students to be true to who they are and their culture.  I might have a different feeling about Rodriguez's educational experience had the nuns not asked his family to stop speaking Spanish.  I think families put a lot of trust in educators, and the Rodriguez’s family probably trusted that the nuns knew what was best for their child.  Obviously, the nuns really just wanted Rodriguez to succeed academically, which, of course, is important, but at what cost.  All in all, I think culture adds a huge element to teaching and learning, one that I might not have looked so closely at prior to this course. I feel I will be more conscious of what each child brings to the classroom and do my best to embrace their differences.

Goal 1: By August 2, 2014

After reading Hunger of Memory I really started to think about the ESL students in my classroom and best practices for teaching those students.  I must say I was a little saddened by the lack of remorse Rodriguez had for completely abandoning his culture for the sake of academic gains, and I was saddened that the nuns asked his family to basically stop speaking Spanish at home.  It is their native language after all!  By August 2, 2014 I would like to research professional development opportunities I could possibly attend to learn more about teaching ESL students.

Goal 2: September 15, 2014

By September 15, 2014 I will be a couple weeks into a new school year.  At this point in the year I would like to have a really good understanding of my students and their families through interest surveys, learning style surveys, and from get-to-know-you activities.  It is always important for me to get to know my students, and this year I will pay even more attention to different cultural aspects students bring with them.

Goal 3: September 15, 2019

My final goal connects with my first goal.  As I mentioned I was very moved by Hunger of Memory and found a very personal connection to Rodriguez’s educational experience and a student I had in my class last year.  I will likely have many more students similar to her in my years as an elementary teacher.  At each elementary school in the district I teach in there is an ESL assistant who pulls ESL students by grade-level for 40 minutes four times a week.  This past school year the ESL assistants in my building kept quitting and the ESL students in my classroom went through many weeks without this additional support, as well as three different teachers.  I am also a bit frustrated that these ESL assistants are not certified teachers.  I would like to look more closely at the curriculum that is being used when ESL students are pulled to work with ESL assistants, as well as the kind of training and educational requirements necessary for this position.  Basically I would like to advocate for the families of ESL students who I feel are not getting the education they deserve due to lack of necessary training of general education teachers, and especially the lack of education and knowledge ESL assistants are required to have.  I have actually always been very interested in obtaining an ESL endorsement, so as part of my recertification requirement I would like to look into getting one.