"Teaching Standard English" and "Untracking English"

            I just wanted to say, since taking this course; I have found the readings so intriguing and useful.  I enjoy reading everything we have been assigned.

            As soon as I read the title “Teaching Standard English: Whose Standard,” I thought the same thing when I read the title.  What is Standard English and where did the “standard” come from?  The first paragraph shocked me!  I can’t believe a teacher would do that to her students.  As a teacher, you should never embarrass your students.  We are not teachers to embarrass students, we are teachers to help and build confidence in our students.  I can relate to not saying words correctly, one word that sticks out in my mind that I ALWAYS say incorrectly is wash.  I have always pronounced it “warsh” (putting a “r” in it).  This is the way my father and grandparents have said it and it’s something I picked up on too.  I try to correct myself but I still feel like I’m saying it incorrectly. 

            I love the part on page 101, when it talks about the kind of teacher to be.  As a teacher, I do not want to see my students struggle the way I struggled.  I want to help my students, just like my teachers helped me to succeed.  It is important for teachers to “know when to correct and how to correct” (101).  If a teacher does not know how to do this the right way, it could hurt the student more than help them. 

            Students often do not take the risks they need to.  They play it safe because they do not want to fail.  I want my students to take risks to push themselves to higher levels.  Students grow this way and that is what I am looking for in my students.  I want them at a new higher level of thinking when they leave me to go into a different grade.  An issue many students face as to why they play it safe is because they are afraid they will be devalued, as mentioned on page 101.  We want students to talk about what they feel.  We want them to have a voice and to keep that importance, otherwise what is the point.  For these students, it is much easier for them to think of something they know and can relate to.  This is how you get them to write, to write about what they know and what is familiar to them.  Students are often intimidated and unsure what to write about. 

            The section on page 102, “but eventually they write. They write stories. They write poems…,” this reminds me of reading and watching “Freedom Writers”.  That was such an inspirational movie that I wrote a letter to the Freedom Writers and actually received a detailed letter back.  I was so surprised to hear back from them.  The encouragement and motivation Erin Gruwell provided is how I want to be towards my students.  I realize that it will probably be a different teaching experience but I can still take what she did and never give up on any student.

Once you have the students writing, the class needs to hear these writing.  It is essential to allow every student to have the opportunity to share, an example of this is a read-around circle.  It is good to hear what everyone has to say and everyone can learn from others experiences.  Students can come to realize they relate to others experiences and make connections.  By this, students become more open and share/write more.  As a teacher, you must create a comfortable and safe sharing place, where you go over with your students what is expected of them.  If there is an environment where students make fun of each other, students will be humiliated and shut down.  Teachers have to remember this because humiliation is the worst thing that can happen to a student that sets them from success and failure. 

When teaching the “standard”, it must be done without embarrassment from anyone.  It is through student’s experiences reading articles, stories, poems, etc. in “Standard English” that they will learn.  We, as teachers, must TEACH them.  It is important that a student knows not to let go of “who they are” while learning the “standard” because that is what makes them an individual.

Once reading “Untracking English: Creating Quality Education For All Students,” a few things just came to mind right away.  Everyone is capable but when assumptions are present, it changes all of that.  Teachers need to realize it is possible to teach a diversity of students and succeed at it.  Yes, it will take changes and adaptations to do so but it is worth it in the end.  We do not want our students thinking they are put into a category because they have nothing going for them.  I do not see how some teachers expect their students to fit into the same “cookie-cutter” mold.  They are unwilling to change for the students’ success and to recognize differences in learning.  I want to be the teacher who makes a different in a student’s life.  I want to differentiate for the success of each and every one of my students.  Not let them fail when there is a change I can make to stop that from happening.  My number one priority is to recognize each student for who they are and meeting their goals in succeeding.

One strategy I really liked from this article is the dialogue journals.  I feel like this is a less intimidating concept for students at all levels.  They are able to have prepared questions and go to their small groups for discussion.  Then they are prepared for large group discussion after feeling rehearsed. 

***To continue from the last blog, concerning graphic novels.  There is a website called ToonDoo that allows you to create your own cartoons.  It is an excellent website for both teachers and students.  I highly recommend it!!!

http://www.toondoo.com/