literacy with an attitude

Extended Comments: Vanessa Blog

I chose to center my blog on Vanessa's because I agree with her thoughts on how a teacher should be and act. Most of the teachers I feel like my generation had didn't really enjoy there job. It seemed like they did it because it was easier then or because they got summers off. Students always can sense when a teacher doesn't really want to be there or doesn't like the kids. The main way to get children to pay attention and to learn something from your class is to first understand them as a whole and see what works best for them. Also you need to make sure that the class isn't repetitive or boring because they will lose interest fast. On the link Vanessa put up there were many good points but this section stood out to me the most and explains exactly what Finn was trying to say in his book. 

"Before teachers can address the cultural and literacy needs of their students, they must first become aware of the influence of their own culture. Abt-Perkins and Rosen (2000) suggest that self-knowledge can be gained through "inquiry into cultural consciousness" so that teachers will discover "the assumptions and stereotypes which will create obstacles to culturally responsive teaching" (p. 254). Further, they suggest the need for teachers to "critique their own values pertaining to languages and dialects other than standard English, what counts as good literature, and the role they can play as English/language arts teachers in the success of students from diverse cultures in the schooling process" (p. 254). A teacher's culture, language, social interests, goals, cognitions, and values--especially if different from the students'--could conceivably create a barrier to understanding what is best for children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (Orange & Horwitz, 1999). Teachers can break through this barrier by reflecting on their self-knowledge and by learning to acknowledge and respect their students' language, literacy, literature, and cultural ways of knowing."

I agree with this because if you know yourself as a teacher and how you were taught and then what the norms of the students in your classroom are you will have more successful teaching strategies and really inspire the children. 

 Here's a great ice-breaker to get to know your students and for them to get to know you too !