Annotations for Week Four

Ashley Preusse’s Thought and Annotation’s 

• Children that come into our classroom “shatter” our thinking (through questions, inquiries, and learning)
• Aaron and the teacher share common interest and family backgrounds
• Aaron seems to have a higher level of education than his family because he is one of the only ones who can read
• The teacher is taken back by this “new world” that Aaron has shown her.

• Even though he’s struggling in school, he’s thriving and succeeding at home… there’s more to Aaron then what is seen in school.
• The teachers criticize the other teacher for wanting to make Aaron and other students feel more included by incorporating some of their life components into the classroom.
• Creating a classroom with activities so parents can feel connected to the academic curriculum their children are learning.

• Creating a partnership with schools and families
• Developing understanding of print (not just through being able to read, but by drawing and jotting down letters in a way that makes sense to the student)
• Re-occuring topic: How one child impacts your life. How one child changes your view on the world.
• Teacher have the opportunity to learn from their students because students provide conversation that is stimulating

Ashley Connolly’s Thoughts and Annotations

• Children can become our teachers 
• Aaron comes from a single family home and walks alone to the bar after school every day to be with his mom.Aaron speaks the African American Vernacular English of his family and community. 
• In school, he struggles, but in the bar, he is helping people read, and very advanced. He can play poker and read most signs around the bar.The teachers in the school have a lack of appreciation for the reading he can do. They believe that kind of reading is not true literacy.  
  • It is important to recognize each child’s individual successes, no matter how not typical they seem to you, to the child it may be normal and a big milestone.  
• Children are more likely to be familiar with words, and signs they see often, such as food signs in a store, thus bringing in familiar pieces of literature can help struggling students.  
• Bringing families and the community into the classroom can help build a sense of community inside the classroom, making the learning environment more comfortable for everyone. For example, when Aaron’s mother came in and spoke about the issues she faced in school the racial slurs stopped. 
• All languages and dialects should be represented and respected in the classroom. 

Emma Soltis’s Thoughts and Annotations

• As the text states in the beginning of the piece, “every child who comes through our classroom door becomes our teacher.” And, I would also argue that all children, even if they are not our own students, bring a different, pure, and untainted perspective to the world.
• In this article, Aaron is a student who some teachers would deem as not a “stellar student.” For example, he speaks African American Vernacular English instead of standard English that is widely accepted in educational and formal environments.
• Aaron and his teacher are alike in that they share similar family backgrounds.
• Like I mentioned, academically, Aaron is seemingly not a “stellar student.” However, at the bar, he helps people read, and he himself can make out what the signs around the bar are saying. However, the teachers at school do not recognize his reading as good enough or legitimate for this reason.
• Students may, and very often do, view the world in various different ways, and we, as teachers, must be understanding and respectful of that. One simple way in which we can do this is by bringing in books that are culturally relevant to our students. Another way (and probably the first step)is to get to know our students and families so we can become more educated on them (once again, here, the teacher is actually the learner). Plus, as the text states, “begin with the child and what the child knows.” In other words, build on students’ strengths too. In this story/case, one of Aaron’s many strengths would be knowing how to read signs in his surroundings (such as at the bar).
• When we do this, we can figure out the best way to approach teaching him/her.
• This piece also reminds me of an article I read in my Education 325: Classroom Management course about the power and strength of holding morning meeting for 15-25 minutes every day. Morning meeting really helps cutivate a caring, strong, and stable environment for everyone in the classroom and makes students feel safe to take risks (which is essential for learning as well).
• There is much controversy over language and dialects and which should be acknowledged and taught in school. However, I believe it is foundational that all languages be present in the classroom of your students. In other words, for example, if you have a predominantly Spanish-speaking classroom, or even if you just have one student who speaks Spanish, Spanish should be incorporated.
• It is not good enough to simply have a few books in the classroom that are in Spanish or have words in Spanish, every single day Spanish should be incorporated and included in a positive way.
• We never want students to view their language(s) or dialects as under-valued, unimportant, or inferior.
• Students are not the only ones who are learning in schools; teacher should be too!
• When the students and teacher understand one another, they have a much better chance of having a successful, productive, and full year!
• Remember to retell these stories to friends, family, colleagues, your principal at the school, etc. because we all need to understand that children are teachers too. We are all life-long learners. 

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