ENGL 335 Blog Post 5: Hinchman Chapter 12

Meeting standards is a process. New standards have made it harder for teachers to veer from the challenging texts their students are supposed to read and become well-versed in. When it becomes all about the text, the students lose what the book refers to as "a powerful space for learning." Through my classroom experiences both as a student and teacher candidate, I have learned that some of the best teaching moments come unplanned, unprompted, and are set apart from just textbooks and documents. Sticking to the text and material is important, but it is just not enough. Once Hinchman begins to walk through how The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 can be paired with added information such as charts, context, the document's intention, and so forth, the pathway for student learning opens up. You need to break free just enough so that students can be set up for success without letting the lesson veer way off course. Even starting a simple conversation about students preconceptions about the issue of immigration gave the teacher in the chapter the opportunity to assess what students knew and were requiring more background knowledge of. I love KWL charts, I think they are a great way for teachers to gain insight that can guide the course of the lesson.

The strategies offered to combat the dullness of simply getting through content proved that there are ways to meet the standards by still engaging and motivating students. It is about being conscious about your students, what they know, what you want them to know, and how you will get them there. I liked the strategy of problem-facing so students have something to look for. Giving students a purpose with the text helps answer student's question of "what am I supposed to do with this?" The second strategy that stuck out to me as being valuable was pairing text with visuals, videos, etc. This strategy addresses multiple learning styles, while furthering students comprehension through a different modality. I am glad that Hinchman addressed that visual supports cannot replace text for students who struggle with reading. Visuals should be given to help students make connections to the text. If the student is having significant struggles with getting through the passage, teachers should plan ways to attack the situation through direct instruction or additional support versus letting it slide and giving students an out.

When I am in the process of planning, I focus on both content and creativity. I have standards students need to meet, I have academic objectives I want them to meet, but I want them to meet those standards and objectives in a way that is centered around what they need and what they will most benefit from. Not every lesson can include creative hands-on activities, but every lesson can include opportunities for students to have success. This chapter made it clear that we need to evaluate what students need to know in order to read a text. We cannot give students a blueprint to build a house without giving them the materials, tools, and guidelines necessary to build it.

ENGL 335 Blog Post 4: Beers Chp. 4 & Hinchman Chp. 8

Beers begins by telling the story of a time she went into a high school classroom and aimed to teach a different kind of comprehension lesson to get students talking about what helped them understand material best. She got the students engaged in a meaningful discussion about Brown vs. Board of Education by sitting them on the ground and reading a "way in" text with them. During the lesson, she pointed out important information and led students to jump in. Although in the beginning the students probably felt silly to engage in a process that seemed so elementary, I think it greatly contributed to a discussion that allowed students to be personal. Thinking back to the reading rug as a kid, it was the place where students could share thoughts and ideas among the closeness of friends. This high school lesson felt similar to this, a more advanced version of course, but a place where students could feel comfortable discussing. I really liked what the student said when they were evaluating why the lesson was successful, "If I know how the people felt, I sort of become a part of it." For me this rings true when I am seeking to gain comprehension. If a text pulls on the heart strings of my emotions, I am sucked in. I believe that these types of lessons that trigger emotions can help students speak up about their thoughts and opinions. I believe that creating a classroom environment that allows for these types of discussions will help students in their efforts to engage during class.

The Dimensions of Understanding that Beers went over helped confirm that the definition of comprehension is more than what shows up in the classroom. It is sad to admit that a lot of times in high school I was just looking for the answers to finish assignments and for what information I needed to memorize for the test. Teachers need to be willing to take opportunities to reach deeper and show students that answers are not always just black and white. Making content relevant and personal while giving students chances to look deeper helps them to participate in discussions that can lead to further understanding. When looking at the statement about dwelling on specific ideas, I think back to my senior year contemporary world issues course. I had a teacher who was always challenging us and inspiring us to reach further. I never found myself to be a history person, but his class made me passionate about and aware of the present-day issues we were discussing. There would be some issues that we would take class time to focus solely on, giving us opportunities to practice reflective thinking about history. We still had time to answer the more objective questions about the material, but when it was paired with questions that made issues personal and not just facts and dates from history, that is when I found myself truly comprehending.

Hinchman's chapter on comprehension was a good way to look at what the best practices are for teaching students to be well versed in the art of comprehension. When looking specifically at the "key instructional practices," "purpose for learning" is one that I would agree to be true from personal experiences as a student. High school students are often found to complain about learning information that "isn't relevant" and make comments such as "when am I going to need algebra to succeed in life?" When students realize that content is not something they need to retain longer than the time it takes to pass the next exam, they treat it as such. When information is approached as being meaningful and relevant, whether it be learning a necessary skill for the future, or connecting to an aspect of student's lives, it becomes more important. I complete all of my readings for my education courses because I am motivated to learn information necessary to becoming an effective teacher. I believe that teaching is sometimes all about making those connections between content and the value of the content. If the goal of learning is to reach the phases of generalization and application, students need to understand that the material is something worth more than just answering a test question.

For me, I always found close-reading to be a way that I best comprehend information. I am big into annotation and find that when I write a note on, underline, or highlight a word or phrase, I remember it. Especially in English, taking notes on a story would greatly help me remember my thoughts and questions about it when we would come back to class. Without note taking, I would forget aspects of the story I found intriguing or meaningful after a night of sleep. My other classmates were not as adamant about note taking and often poked fun at me that I would go the extra mile to take notes. I needed my notes! They were my way to understand. Even though it is not everyone's style to take notes, teachers should encourage note taking especially on more complex texts so students can attempt to process and retain the information they read. If not note taking, teachers should model (another "key practice") different ways to comprehend information. To end with a note from Beers' chapter, you need to "catch students in the act" so that when those moments of connection and comprehension do come, you can analyze what worked and why.

EDUC 333 Blog Post 2: My Cultural Autobiography

My Cultural Identity

               My first thought when I think about my cultural identity is where I am from, the city of Chicago. Growing up and spending my entire life living in Chicago has made me accustomed to the culture of city life. I am used to the fast-paced lifestyle, the accessibility of having different places on every corner, and of the people who live there. Living in Chicago, I have seen people from all different walks of life and of different religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, etc. that others may have never been exposed to growing up. To me, Chicago is part of my culture because whenever I go to more rural settings, I feel like I have no idea what I am doing. I do not understand the concept of driving 20 minutes into town because it was something I never experienced growing up. When I first came to Bourbonnais I had a hard time adjusting because it was so different than my neighborhood and seemed so small to me. I never realized how much Chicago had shaped me until I went somewhere else.

             Growing up in Chicago has exposed me to seeing individuals and families who were of all different socioeconomic statuses. My family would be considered to be middle class and I have known my parents to have worked the same jobs my entire life. My dad is a Chicago police officer and my Mom did not start working at the Chicago public library until I started high school when we needed more money to pay for private school tuition. My class is part of my identity because it has made me both aware of what it feels like to be secure with finances and to struggle with finances. My family is by no means rich, but my parents are good about managing and saving money so that they are able to pay for expenses that are sometimes unexpected. I also know what it means to struggle with money and to be conscious of how it affects my life. When applying to college, money was the biggest factor in where I would attend. I never thought going away to college was possible for me strictly because finances would not allow. I often even questioned if I would succeed in college because not many people in my family went away to or were able to afford a four year university. Olivet worked hard to make accommodations for me to attend and was able to make it affordable for my family. I believe that my class has contributed to my identity because I have learned how to be conscious of money and more frugal with my spending from watching my parents. It has shaped my view that money is not something that is handed to you, it is something you work hard for. 

In my early adolescent years, my religion began to become a huge aspect of my cultural identity. I grew up attending a Baptist church that was outside of Chicago and located in the suburb of Palos Heights, IL. Most of my friends and classmates attended Catholic mass in my neighborhood so going to a different church outside of the city made me feel different. I was the only one of my friends not to have a confirmation and felt like I could not relate to their church experiences. My church, Moraine Valley Church, became a part of my identity because it is the place where I came to know and understand God and the place where I met some of the most influential people in my life who to this day I still connect with. When I attended a Catholic high school, I struggled with feeling like the only Christian, but throughout my high school experience I grew to love many elements of the Catholic faith and feel that it also became a part of my religious identity. I found myself growing to love the tradition and sacredness of the Catholic mass. I was open to learning about Catholicism and also sought to share about my different religious experiences and church background with others who were seeking to learn more about God. Today, I would refer to myself as a non-denominational Christian who is in a personal relationship with Jesus and who appreciates elements of the Catholic faith.

            My nationality has also played a role in my cultural identity as I am Italian, Polish, Croatian, German, and Irish. Being so many different nationalities often made me lean toward identifying mainly with being Italian and polish. My family was never big into bringing pieces of our nationality into our daily lives, I only can recall eating certain foods here and there. I was always looking to be more invested in parts of my nationality which is why I decided to pursue taking Italian language classes in high school. Taking four years of Italian helped me to become very proficient in the language while also learning about and loving the Italian culture. Through taking the Italian classes I felt like I was able to identify more with being Italian and I hope someday to go to Italy and get to use the language skills I acquired. 
Personal Experiences That will Impact Teaching in Multicultural Classrooms:

            Throughout my life, I feel like I have had many different opportunities to work with diverse students which has shaped my view of teaching in a multicultural classroom. Being from Chicago, I have spent several years working for the Chicago Park District as a special recreation leader. This job has involved working with students from ages 6-21 who were from a variety of different racial backgrounds such as Hispanic, African-American, and Arabic, to name a few. I have also interacted with those kid’s parents who are of different cultures. Since our participants were of many different cultures, my boss liked to plan opportunities for those cultures to be expressed. Every summer, we have what we call, “The Taste” where we tell students and parents to bring one of their favorite family dishes to share with their group. This was always a great way for the kids to express pieces of their culture through the foods that they eat.

            At the park, we were able to incorporate the student’s different cultures through activities such as “the taste” but also through reading stories and making arts and crafts. My boss always found ways big or small for the kids to be introduced to others cultures. For example, one of the teen boys who joined us last summer was from Bangladesh, and was big into the traditional Bangladesh dancing they did there. For our summer talent show, he was able to show and help teach the other teens some of the dance moves he did when he was in Bangladesh. The group was able to practice the routine regularly and performed the dance to the traditional music for the show. This made the boy’s parents very proud because he was able to still express that piece of his culture that he loved even though he had moved to a new place. My experiences at the park have helped shape my views on teaching in a multicultural classroom because it has shown me ways to give kids the chance to share their culture with others. Especially if a student is from another country, they may feel like they have lost part of their culture coming to America. I have seen how important it is for students to express their culture and as a teacher I feel like I will work to give students those experiences. 
           Another experience that has given me insight into multiculturalism and teaching is the time that I spent during my freshman year at Olivet working with the Disciplers ministry. Disciplers is a ministry dedicated to spending time with students from Hopkins Park and helping them learn about the bible while getting to hang out and play games with them . All of the students at the Monday night bible club were African-American and they were all boys. I worked with the group of students who were from Kindergarten to 2^nd grade and the time included learning about bible stories and then us as the leaders helping them write out the verse and memorize it. This experience was eye opening for me because all of these students came from difficult home lives. The bible camp they went to every week was for some of the kids, the only place they would get to experience the love of Christ through the bible and through their relationships with the staff. 
          Looking back on this experience, a specific story comes to mind that I still think about to this day. I worked regularly with a boy who was in 2^nd grade, and he was very enthusiastic about learning his bible verses and was so proud of himself when he would memorize the verse. He always brought a smile to my face. One night at the camp, the leaders were donating dozens of books they had received to the children and let them one by one pick out a couple of books they wanted to take home. I remember the boy I had worked with running up to the gym stage with excitement as he found a handful of books that he wanted to read. He asked me with a look of hopeful expectation on his face if he was going to get to keep the books. When I told him yes, he couldn’t believe it and he practically jumped for joy. The simple gift of books which may seem like not much to others, meant everything to him. This will stick with me because it was a reminder that we never know the lives that our students go home to everyday, and sometimes kindness and going the extra mile to help our kids will mean more than we could expect. My time spent in Disciplers helped me build relationships with students and helped give me insight into working with a low-income population. I knew that I could never relate to what some of the kids had been through, but I knew that I could work to build positive relationships with them, something that a lot of them were said to be lacking at home.
            My most recent experience that will impact my future teaching in a multicultural setting is the time I spent in Santa Barbara, Honduras this past May. While in Honduras, I worked at an orphanage where students would go to receive their schooling, food, showers, and laundry. My time in Honduras exposed me to a new sense of poverty that I had never seen before. These kids seemed to have nothing materially, but they had everything spiritually. In Honduras, religion is a huge part of the culture. The people in Honduras believe that if you have God, you have everything you need. Their ideas of materialism were completely different than in America. 
            Spending time and building relationships with the kids in Honduras made me wonder what it would be like if some of those kids were to ever come to America. I pictured how hard it would be for them if they were to try to assimilate to American culture because life in Honduras looks so different. It made me realize how hard it must be for students from other countries or cultures to enter a new place where they feel like they do not belong. As a future teacher, I can recognize this and work hard to make all students feel a sense of community and belonging in my classroom. I want my future students to feel like they have a family of others who can support them and encourage them.  
 Reflection  

           After reflecting on my cultural identity and experiences I have had that will affect my teaching in multicultural classrooms, I am thankful that I have had so many experiences that have exposed me to so many different people. I feel like every experience and every student I have had a relationship with will impact who I am as a teacher. Through my experiences, I have learned to celebrate diversity and the things that are unique about others. I still have more to learn about other cultures I have not been exposed to, and how to practice incorporating cultural ideals in my classroom, but I feel like I have a good start. 

         The more experiences I have, the more aware I am of how culture is going to play a part in my classroom. I plan on teaching in Chicago after I graduate and I will have students who are from all different backgrounds. I am aware that teaching in diverse settings can be at first challenging, but I believe my attitude of openness, acceptance, and positivity will give me what I need to invest in my student’s lives and in their learning.  

         My current belief about multiculturalism, culture, and diversity is that while we are all different, I believe that we all have the common denominator of being made as children of God. I believe that God has made us each to be unique, and that the things that we feel make us different, God loves because He is the one who created those parts of us. This is the view I have of others and it is why I have never let race, social standing, or anything else create a boundary for a relationship. I believe this view will help my teaching because I believe I can show students Christ even without telling them about Him. One of my favorite quotes accredited to St. Francis of Assisi is, “Preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” I believe that through the way we love and encourage others, we can expose the kingdom of God. I am aware of the issues of culture and race in our society, but I believe that if we as individuals choose to see others the way God sees them, or even if others are not Christians, choose to see others as humans who deserve to be valued, things would look a lot differently.