Last Visit

Just an update:

Today was my last visit to E.W. Flynn, and I now realize how special this experience was to me.
When I walked into my classroom, all the students (18) had made me a card thanking me for my help. They were all decorated and you could tell that the kids put a lot of work into them. I felt so touched and special, I couldn't believe they remembered that it was my last day. The teacher told me later that while they were making the cards, each kid remembered what I had specifically helped them with. One boy said that I helped him with science, another with writing. They didn't write this in their cards because they were too excited about coloring and decorated, but she wanted to let me know that when children remember exactly what you've helped them with-that's a good sign. She said that I have impacted their lives and I'm gong to be a great teacher. I was beaming from head to toe. At the end of class, I gave them my gift, sparkly pencils and stickers. They loved it. When I got home I read all the cards, some made me laugh; a little girl wrote, "I hope you graduate from college and have a good life." Some cards surprised me too. One card was from a little boy who gets in trouble a lot, and I remember helping him but not sure if I was getting through. He wrote that I helped him with writing and that he was "thanking me." He also asked if I would come back and visit. This card means so much to me because I never knew if I had really helped him, and I never expected him to thank me after all the times I corrected his behavior problems in class. I truly loved all the kids that I tutored, and I can't wait to see what great kids they turn out to be!

SL Blog 6 Prompt #7

As Kahne and Westheimer wrote in In The Service Of What? "...such service learning activities seek to promote students' self-esteem, to develop higher-order thinking skills, to make use of multiple abilities, and to provide authentic learning experiences" (2). My Service Learning Project experience has not only taught me intensive teaching skills and abilities, but has also shaped my teacher identity in many ways. After each visit to Edmund W. Flynn, I wrote in a journal to record important moments that occurred throughout my visit. In this post, I will take one moment out of each visit and explain how it has shaped my teacher identity.

On my 1st visit I observed the different physical, socioeconomic, sociocultural, ethnic, and linguistic characteristics that make up Edmund W. Flynn. When the kids went outside for recess, they were brought to an empty lot with a wire fence around it. This made me realize that all sociocultural characteristics effect how children learn. These students appreciate going out for recess, even if it is an empty lot with no playground equipment. This is something that White, upper-class, children would not stand for, because they take recess for granted. Delpit writes, "Children from middle-class homes tend to do better in school than those from non-middle-class homes because the culture of the school is based on the culture of the upper and middle classes-of those in power" (25). This experience has shaped my teacher identity because I now know that most textbooks and curriculum's are made for upper-class White students. As a teacher, I will have to make and teach lessons according to my student's cultural characteristics.

On my 2nd and 5th visit, I was confronted with a lesson that I was unsure how to explain to the struggling students. It seemed that every time I went to explain the directions of how to do fractions, I just confused the students more. I needed the teacher's help and this shaped my teacher identity because I realized that I won't always have the answer to everything. I also won't be able to always explain something, so there is always room for learning. If I ever get into a situation like this in my classroom, I will use resources such as textbooks and other, more experienced teachers to help me. I will always want to learn more skills that will help me teach my students.

On my 3rd visit, I listened to the way the teacher spoke to her students. Since I have always worked with younger kids than 4th grade, I seem to shorten big words to simplify what I am saying. The teacher used the word "paraphrase" and I found it interesting that the 4th graders knew what that word meant. This is similar to Delpit's theory in, The Silenced Dialogue. She writes that working-class children, and children of color, misinterpret what their teacher is saying because he/she is uneducated on how to speak to these kids. Therefore, not only was it interesting to listen to my teacher's vocabulary and tone of voice, but I also realized that my linguistic skills are a huge part of the classroom. I will have to know how to talk to all of my students in a way that they can understand, which will usually be a direct command.

On my 4th visit, I walked into the classroom and found that the desks were being moved into rows. The reason for this was to make the classroom more strict, and decrease the amount of unnecessary talking between the students. In Peterson's piece, Getting Your Classroom Together, he writes that the placement of desks determines the feeling of the entire classroom's environment. From this experience, I learned that I will have to create a classroom environment that is friendly, safe, and pleasurable to the students.

On my 6th, 7th, and 8th visit, I learned that personal experience will help shape your teacher identity. I saw one of the teachers telling a student that she didn't like him and that he was a bad kid. In this situation, I learned what not to do, because I would never say that to a student. I know what is appropriate to say to a student, and what is not. I also learned not to make assumptions about students, because every student has a personal history that will effect their learning.

In the end, I feel like this SL Project has really benefited me and helped shape my teacher identity. I want to be a culturally competent teacher and I hope that the skills and experiences I have gained from this SL project will help me do that. I still have to visit one more time at Edmund W. Flynn, but I know that whatever I encounter will help shape me teacher identity.

SL Blog 5, Prompt #4

When I am a teacher, I realize that my personal history and sociocultural characteristics will effect my students. I grew up in a school system that ranks well above other Rhode Island schools in performance of math, reading, and writing. Scituate Elementary school ranks proficient with distinction. According to 476 students at Scituate High School, only 5% of students get free lunch, and 84% of students report their ethnicity to be White. (http://www.infoworks.uri.edu/)

Unfortunately, I never experienced going to a diverse High School, and never experienced what it was like to live in poverty or struggle in school. This is similar to Peggy McIntosh's opinion on her schooling, "My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor, as an unfairly advantaged person, or as a participant in a damaged culture." All of these sociocultural characteristics (White & Upper-class) will challenge me as a teacher in my classroom. I will never be able to relate to my students on what it is like to have sociocultural characteristics affect me negatively. Johnson wrote, "Being able to command the attention of lower-status individuals without having to give it in return is a key aspect of privilege." As a teacher, I will have power over my classroom that will have lower-status students in it, even if I have never experienced what it is like to be lower-class. However, I realize that I have privilege, and therefore I will give respect and the power of privilege to my students. Until now, I have never learned about diverse students and their learning abilities. Although I would rather have personal experience to back up what I have learned, I am glad that I am learning how to be a culturally competent teacher now.

While sociocultural characteristics may effect me negatively in my quest to become a culturally competent teacher, my personal history will give me an advantage in the classroom. I do not fit into SCWAMP when pertaining to religion, and I grew up in a school system that was sheltered from individuals who do not fit into SCWAMP. Therefore, I know what it feels like to not have privilege, and I can relate this experience to my classroom. I will recognize that personal characteristics affect how a child learns and I will treat all students equally, no matter their personal history or sociocultural characteristics.

During my visits to my SL Elementary School, I have been confronted with many things I am not used to. Edmund W. Flynn had an ethnicity of only 8% White students, and 85% of students receive free school lunches. Compared to the ethnicity and poverty level that I grew up in, these statistics are very different. I have also been confronted about different misconceptions that I have held about diverse cultural groups. Edmund W. Flynn educates many students that live below the poverty level. I always thought that those who have nothing would be unwilling to give up what they have worked so hard for. This was proven wrong however when the students in my classroom wanted pizza for a Friday afternoon snack. A little girl in my classroom offered to pay for the class to have pizza out of her allowance. She has nothing and she offered to help her classmates have pizza.

I have learned so much from these students and their culture, and although I know that my sociocultural characteristics may affect me, I am determined to be a culturally competent teacher. Delpit writes, "The answer is to accept students but also to take responsibility to teach them." As a culturally competent teacher, I will accept my students' sociocultural characteristics and take the responsibility to teach them.

SL Blog 4, Prompt #3

My SL teacher is very culturally competent because she assesses her students with the knowledge of the linguistic, ethnic, and sociocultural characteristics that each child has. On my 3rd visit to Edmund W. Flynn, the students were being tested on basic Geometry skills such as angles, polygons, and rays. The teacher gave them a test taken out of a textbook because she wanted to see how well the students would do.

As a side note:
The ethnicity of her classroom is African American, and this ethnicity makes up 22 % of the entire school. (www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu) The children also come from poor families, 85% of the students at Edmund W. Flynn receive free school lunches. (www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu) Lastly, only 62% of the children speak predominately English at home. (www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu)

With these statistics in mind:
The book in which the Geometry test was taken out of was made be White, upper class, English speaking individuals. Therefore, the teacher realized that this test would be unfair to asses her students on. The way that the math lesson was taught in the text book was very different from the way the lesson was taught in this culturally diverse classroom. The children cannot relate to a test that is not similar to their personal ethnicity's and language. Most of the children had trouble reading the large, "fancy" English words given in the directions of the exam. This is similar to Delpit's theory in The Silenced Dialogue. She claims that students cannot learn, never mind be tested on a curriculum made by individuals who are unfamiliar with the student's culture, and has never experienced the student's level of privilege. She also writes, "In this country, students will be judged on their product regardless of the process they utilized to achieve it " (38). Delpit is saying that students will always be judged on their test scores, no matter the underlying circumstances that may affect their scores. The judges don't care how or why the scores were achieved, they only care about the way the scores compare to set standards. Therefore, teachers of underprivileged students must realize that they need to accomplish their student's best product. Most of the time, the set curriculum is a curriculum that these underprivileged students cannot learn from, which is something to be concerned about. Therefore, it is the teachers' job to create tests that will result in an acceptable product for their students.

Back to my experience:
After the test is given and the result is struggling children, the teacher announces that she will not be grading this test. Instead, they will be reviewing it together. The students are relieved because they felt overwhelmed by this test that was arguably different then what they had learned.
The teacher tells me that she never assesses her students from the tests given in books because there is no comparison in the curriculum's'. Instead, she assesses her students based on their hard work, participation, and sometimes tests that she personally makes. These tests match the curriculum and learning abilities of her culturally diverse classroom. Delpit would love what my SL teacher is doing because she states, "The answer is to accept students but also to take responsibility to teach them" (38). My teacher not only accepts her student's sociocultural differences but she also chooses to teach and asses them according to these differences.
My teacher also mentions that Edmund W. Flynn is aware of how she assesses her students. They agree that the tests given in such textbooks are unfairly made for their school that has underprivileged students because of their ethnicity, language, and sociocultural characteristics.

In my opinion, this 4th grade teacher is extremely responsive to her student's sociocultural characteristics. This is not only because of the way she assesses her students, but also the way that she specializes her lessons so that her students can be successful. Without specializing and adjusting her lesson plans, her students would become extremely unsuccessful due to their learning disabilities that are present because of sociocultural differences. These characteristics include differences such as income level, and the parent's educational level, among other characteristics that effect a child's learning. I think she is doing a great job teaching these students and using her power appropriately. Delpit is very specific about issues of power enacted in a classroom. She writes, "The power of the teacher over the students; [and] the power of the publishers of textbooks and of the developers of the curriculum to determine the view of the world presented... determine another's intelligence or "normalcy." "(25).
My SL teacher has the power over her classroom and uses it to help her students learn in a way that is successful for them. She chooses to asses her students based on important factors such as hard work and participation because this is the way that her children learn. Teachers have so much power over their students. They influence their students in every academic way possible by choosing what view of the world to present. Therefore, it is obvious that this 4th grade teacher uses her power to achieve the most imperative goal: that her students learn. She does this by being a culturally competent teacher. Also according to Delpit, the authors of textbooks have power over students (seen in my experience at Edmund W. Flynn). I am just glad that my teacher realizes that this power present in the curriculum of the textbook is not always useful to underprivileged students. She chooses to use her power to create lessons that are responsive to the ethnicity, linguistic, and sociocultural characteristics of her students.

SL Blog 3 Prompt 2

From what I have observed, Edmund W. Flynn consists of students who speak both English and Spanish. In my classroom, English is the only language spoken by the teacher and it is also the language predominately spoken by the students. According to www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu , 62 % of students at Edmund W. Flynn report that English is the language that they most often speak at home. 28 % of students report that they speak Spanish at home. These results were reported from the 2007- 2008 Salt Survey which was taken by 212 students.

Within my classroom, all of the student's ethnicity is African American. However, results from the 2007-2008 Salt Survey reported that of the many ethnicity's found at Edmund W. Flynn Elementary, 7% of students are White, 22% of students are Black/ African American, and 51% of students are Hispanic or Latino. (This survey is found at www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu). Therefore, I can conclude that compared to my classroom, there are many more Hispanic or Latino children that attend Edmund W. Flynn.

There are many sociocultural characteristics that affect the education of these students. From what I have observed, these children's culture values hard work and survival. As we read in Delpit's, "The Silenced Dialogue", working- class children expect their teacher to act as an authority figure because they have earned this title. On my first day at Edmund W. Flynn I learned very quickly that I would have to earn my label as an authority figure and the children will not look at me as such until then. Other sociocultural factors that effect these student's education is their families income level. As mentioned in an earlier post, the elementary school is set in an environment that houses poverty-level families. In fact, according to www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu , 85% of students receive free school lunches and 7% receive reduced-price lunches.

Cultural Capital is a way of explaining what students achieve in their education due to their culture. The cultural capital that the children at Edmund W. Flynn bring into the classroom is wide in diversity. This is a result of their race (predominately Hispanic/Latino), gender (53% of students at Edmund Flynn are female) * www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu *, and family standing in society (working class). Due to these student's race they learn through experience because their race values skills that can help them survive in the culture of power. Therefore, these students bring their stories into the classroom and thrive on learning that can be connected with these experiences. Due to these students living in a poor environment, these children value hard work and understand that learning requires determination. The children always bring smiles into the classroom and are eager to learn something new.

According to the colleges who are developing the Rhode Island Teacher Education Renewal project, The culturally competent teacher should be able to account for, demonstrate awareness of, and respond to the sociocultural distinctiveness of her and his students, families, and communities when planning for and delivering instruction.
I think that there are many assets that can be developed in order to strengthen this goal. According to Delpit, teachers need to know how to give instruction without making it sound like a suggestion. This is because students who are from a culture where directions are given as commands, misunderstand the teacher and do not do as they ask If the teacher was aware of the sociocultural distinctiveness between his/her students, then he/she would be able to give instructions in a way that is non-confusing to these students. Another asset that can be developed is the creation of lesson-plans and curriculum's that benefit students with sociocultural distinctiveness. Delpit argues that these children of color cannot learn from a curriculum made by white upper class individuals. Lake in "An Indian Father's Plea" also argues this theory by writing, "If you don't have the knowledge, preparation, experience, or training to effectively deal with culturally different children, I am willing to help you with the few resources I have available or direct you to such resources." I see this developing asset in my service learning classroom. The teacher knows each one of her student's personally so that when she makes lesson plans, she creates lessons and instructions that are specialized to the needs of her students.

Lastly, another asset that could be developed to not only strengthen the culturally competent teacher, but also society, is to educate individuals on the culture of poor or children of color. If people understood the different characteristics and values within this culture, they will become more culturally competent. As Delpit argued, if teachers were culturally competent, they may recognize that each student comes into the classroom with different background information. White, middle-class children come into school knowing the alphabet, while poor-Black children know the skills of survival.

SL Blog #2 (Prompt 1)

When I first drove up to my SL Project elementary school, I noticed that the school was set right in the middle of the city. Buildings are in very close confinement to one another, and the elementary school is set in a lower class neighborhood. I also noticed that there was trash and litter outside of the school, even on the steps that led to the main office. There was also no landscaping.

The space and structure of the school was very unfamiliar to me, the configuration was huge, extending three stories high. However, there was no playground for the children to play in. When recess came, the children used a space that could pretty much be summed up as an empty lot with a fence around it.

When entering the classroom, I immediately felt welcome by the teacher and students. The space in the classroom was well used, the walls covered with mathematical vocabulary words and children's art work. The desks were separated into groups so that the students could network with one another while taking advantage of the space in the classroom. When teaching lessons the teacher used the over-head projector. For example, when learning how to measure angles with a protractor, the teacher drew different angles and displayed them to the class using the over-head projector.

The children in the classroom were predominately Black and were diverse in their academic abilities. Some children had IEPS and needed help with their daily class work, while others, could have been in the gifted program. Unfortunately, the gifted program had been removed from the school due to lack of funding. I also learned that some of the children's academic abilities differ due to a strained home life. One child was a selective mute, which made it difficult to communicate with him, because of experiencing a traumatic incident earlier in his life. All of the students however, had trouble staying in their seats and concentrating on one subject for a long time. As we read in Susan Engel's argument, What it Takes to Become a Great Teacher, factors such as low socio-economic levels (which is seen in the school's neighborhood), and poor family life can all influence the way a child learns.

The teacher was very friendly and explained her reasons for why she taught each lesson the way that she did. All of her lessons depended on the academic ability of her students, and how long the students could concentrate on that subject. In order to create these specialized lesson plans, the teacher personally knew each student and their learning disabilities as well as specialities. This gave me a great feeling about the school, knowing that this teacher put so much time into making her students understand what she was teaching. Making the students feel comfortable enough to learn was definitely something valued in her classroom. For this classroom teacher, the value of knowing that her students were learning in a stable environment ranked higher than the value of high test scores.

Unfortunately, according to www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu , this elementary school ranks below the state's target index score in Mathematics and English language arts. However, due to this 4th grade teacher, and the elementary school's value of having their students attend a stable, comfortable environment, this has increased the attendance of most students. According to www.infoworks.ride.uri.edu , this elementary school ranks higher in attendace rate than the state's attendance target.

About Me (Blog 1)

Hi ! My name is Jennifer Dinerman and currently I am in my second semester of freshmen year at Rhode Island College. This semester seems to be going pretty well (still hard to tell though because it has only been two weeks). At the end of these 15 weeks I hope to apply to the school of Education. Last semester, I seemed to have a harder time adjusting to the college atmosphere and difficult schedule. When I'm not in class I love to hang out with my friends, family, and pets. But, most of the time when I am not in class, I am studying for my next class. It seems like a never ending schedule, but I know all of my hard work will pay off. Thanks for reading!