Chapter 4 - Kathleen White

Creative Connector
Pg 61 - Michie talks about an influential professor who challenged him to rethink teaching.
I remember going through elementary school and struggling with class. I didn't like going to school so I started at a deficit and I also had trouble doing what other kids in my class had no problems with. If I could play with it, do an experiment, take it apart and put it back together, make it ... I could understand it. Memorizing math facts was not one of those things. Multiplication was hell, I would just put my head down and cry. I still count on my fingers. Band was also frustrating - memorizing scales and fingerings on my clarinet never came easily. I stopped practicing because I hated the frustration of not being able to get it. (I did, however, continue playing until I graduated...Although I was always last chair.)
It wasn't until college and education classes that I realized the issue. No one addressed that, even though I didn't have a specific learning disability, I needed help understanding certain things. I've learned ways to make connections in learning for my students so that gap can be bridged, and this is partially why I am interested in getting my Inclusive certification - I want to learn tons of ways to modify and look at learning so that all of my students can understand at a proficient level.

Pg 61 Mr. Michie talks about his lack of knowledge of Mexican American culture and how this impacts his teaching because he is not as able to engage students in the class because their worlds aren't easily brought into the classroom by Greg.
This made me think about a two of the campers that I've had over the last 3 summers: Esperanza and Jackie. Esperanza was born in Cuba and because of a tragic head injury and lack of proper medical care became severely intellectually disabled at age 2. Jackie is from Jamaica and was born with a moderate intellectual disability. Esperanza only knows Spanish and is non verbal and Jackie has limited verbal skills and a very strong Jamaican accent. I pride myself in the care that I give to my campers so it is frustrating when I don't know what to do to help people. Jackie can make her needs known but because I can't understand her speech its near to impossible for me to help her have the full camp experience. The reason for a behavior could be boredom but it could also be any number of other things. When Esperanza was at camp some of the counselors could speak Spanish and taught us songs that we sang. She responded, especially to the music, but I still felt helpless. The situation in the book is difficult, I couldn't help thinking though, what if Mr. Michie not only had little experience and knowledge of the Mexican American culture but also had limited/no knowledge of disabilities and curriculum modification. Those students would have little or no success in his classroom. Its a scary prospect to think of.

Pg 62 "They enjoyed the stories, but because of their difficulties in reading and limited vocabularies, we were muddling through in painfully slow fashion, and [the author's] poetic language and rich narrative were often lost." (He goes on to talk about how he decided to have people read the book out loud and record it for his class.)
What a cool modification! I really wish the chapter had addressed the effectiveness of this modification on the class. I feel like they would be able to do great things with it, listen and decode the message, build vocabulary from sight and sound and access new literary subjects that would broaden their understanding of what books can be about. I thought of the "Single-Stories" video that we watched in class while reading this. It wasn't a very profound moment but I just was aching for these kids to know that books aren't just written by and for old, rich white guys!!!

Pg 77 "They can say, 'My teacher lives in my neighborhood. She's lived here all her life. She's just like me."
I don't necessarily have a connection to make to this except my reaction to it as incredibly astute observations on this student's part. How nice is that to be able to relate to those who are in positions of authority? They have credibility, they understand where you are in life, they "get it". Its almost a catch 22: on one hand how wonderful would it be if this happened more? but if it did teachers and students would miss out on a valuable diversity experience, learning not only classroom knowledge but knowledge of each other's differences as well. Something to ponder!



Essence Extractor
Students need curriculum that relates to their lives for real learning.

Vocabulary Vitalizer 
Chanclas - Flip Flops

Como se llama en ingles? - "What is the name in english?"

Cooperative Learning - A teaching strategy that places students of varying abilities in groups to work together on understanding course material. Students are responsible for helping each other learn.

Whole language - A complex learning philosophy, focusses on meaning making in reading and writing, emphasizes learning whole words and phrases by encountering them in meaningful contexts rather than phonics exercises.


ESL - Englis as a Second Language

BD - Behavior Disorders

LD - Learning Disability

EMH - [Can also be EMR] Educable Mental Handicap [keep in mind that theses terms are from 1991 and are out dated]

KWL - "Know, Want to Know, Want to Learn" it is a chart used in classrooms as a tool for increased reading comprehension.

hermana del alma - soul sister