It was a different feeling this week when we did not attend the Boys and Girls club. I was left wondering how many of my students would be staying at that location during the summer and how many were going off on grand summer adventures with their friends/family. The newspaper that we made will be something that lasts forever and I will be glad to do it again for my students in my own classroom someday. To sum up the weekly readings in the course text, why we integrate arts into the curriculum falls entirely upon how we want our students to leave school intellectually. Statistically speaking, America is not the greatest country in the world anymore judging by the merit we place in academic achievement. To look at a piece of art for its elements, artist background, and purpose is to look at it on a deeper scale than entertainment. The push for more rigorous academia is spelled out in the Common Core state standards movement. More is asked of our young citizens, yet strikingly less is being done about the other side of the coin in the classroom. I believe the arts can be a hip-pocket tool for teachers when they find themselves in need of seeking a different way to get a point across to students. When we were making our final edit for the newspaper, the students keyed in on the fact that their articles may not contain enough information if they asked surface questions to their interview persons. They saw how art goes beyond translation and can evolve into a powerful messenger. I must say the best part of this whole experience was when the kids came up to me at the beginning of the day asking "Do we get to work on the newspaper today?"
According to the article Why Some Parents Don't Come to School, parents often don't feel that they are supposed to "step up to the plate" because they are unsure of the way they can actually make a difference in their child's education (Finders & Lewis, 1994). Some parents claim that teachers don't ask them for their opinions on how to teach their child; instead teachers only objectively tell parents how to teach/raise their kids. Raising children is one of the most energy driven jobs in the universe, and positive connections must be made and kept between the people who do this responsible work. I can guarantee you that there are very few Common Core State Standards posters in living rooms across America. Families have different dynamics and coexist in different ways due to cultural preferences and daily routines. We can either take two routes as teachers on this matter; Acceptance or Manipulation. If we take the acceptance path, we are joining hands with families to enhance our students' possibilities. We can type out a parent letter, and use a translator tool to customize the letter for any parents who speak languages other than English at home. We can explain that we used a translating service and the meaning might not be clear, but if we use simple language to get out points across, we could be building bridges of hope.
Today, my students completed their newspaper called "The Tampa Bay Reporter". They have been in the process for four weeks now, and I could not be more proud of their efforts. Children who weren't originally part of the group stepped in and contributed to the newspaper when they saw that the others were actually having fun. I have to give a shout out to Donovyn who started working on the project the last week and created the weather page with Joshua. As the project comes to a close, I can easily make a text-text connections between what we've been doing and to a concept known as scaffolding. Without the proper scaffolding, these students would have been left to the typical happenings of their afternoons. Being there to support their questions with answers that propelled their thinking forward was a key to their success. I found the readings this week to be very connected with what we have going on at the Boys and Girls club. In the first article, it mentioned how students would create questionnaire surveys and go around to the community and seek their perspectives. My students are doing the exact same thing, and it seems as if they are almost too interested and willing to do this narrative work! When we tap into their interests and make the curriculum an open slate for students to pour their thoughts onto, we are truly teaching them. Giving a student knowledge is one thing, empowering the knowledge that they already own and building upon it is another. There was a quote from the reading this week that said, "Teachers need to know something about their students' family makeup, immigration history, favorite activity, concerns and strengths." While working at the Boys and Girls Club, I have been inspired even more to facilitate an activity at the start of every school year with my children where we all draw a picture of our family. On a separate piece of paper, each student can write their own personalized answers down in a pre-assessment. There was a moment this week that reminded me of a writing trait that I'm learning about in my writing course. Organization, and the need to be an organized writer led one of my students to have experience in the timely effort of the writing process. She had to start her chart over twice, but I showed and explained to her that she got better each time. I feel as though she would have become easily frustrated and might have given up if not given proper explanation. Below is a picture of the seed activity I performed with my students where we visually compared and contrasted two famous works of art.
What a week! I've been told a million times to be flexible by the college of education, so I feel like I am doing something wrong if I act rigid and stiff against the adversity which I find myself in. Despite the time management flop, we work very well as a team to produce evidential products of their writing process. I believe that this project is a step towards equity for students who may live in poverty and don't get to experience life the same way others do. Gorski believes that children deserve to be treated as though they have a right to a better education. Equity in the classroom in today's world is almost as rare as Bigfoot, yet educators should be aware of the steps being taken to close this gap in order to create the envisioned future of a brighter classroom. "Teachers are not trained and schools are not equipped to make up for societal inequalities." (Gorski, 2013). That's because there is no amount of training one person can receive in order to help them see how to care about children. Showing empathy is an introductory step into teaching with a purpose, driven by personal connections. Sometimes you may be one of two adults who read with a child on any given day. It made me ecstatic to see their faces light up when I was gathering them together to start. The Tampa Bay Reporters are taking confident steps towards creating a real news paper written and created by their collaborative efforts. Here is a photo of my students' press passes, which are journals that keep track of their inquisitive thinking. Recording their thoughts is a huge part of teaching the writing process so I'm glad we get to do this.
The first week of my experience at the North Tampa Branch Boys and Girls Club was something to remember. I met young children who were eager to be part of something greater than themselves and work as a team to produce evidence of their intelligence. The rigid behavioral structures already in place at the club make it difficult to create the feeling of a classroom learning atmosphere, and oftentimes I wish that we were able to still work our projects after snack in the quiet arts and crafts room. But alas, as Napoleon Bonaparte tragically discovered, you can't win em' all. During our readings, it mentioned how we should not make judgements on children too quickly regarding their beliefs or behaviors and to let them express their feelings before you analyze their intent. For example, with the newspaper activity and press passes. I had a girl slip her pass right into her purse, and had Ayden not told me she did that, she probably would have walked off with the notebook. I didn't get upset or yell at her, I simply asked for it back because I understood her anticipation and wanting to feel like a real life reporter at home. Connecting with the readings from my Children's Literature course, visual arts and the outlets for children to explore play a big role in their learning process. 2 dimensional figures, 3 dimensional figures, color contrasts, medias, textures, and a vast array of other features help bring the world of literature and writing to life for children. Here is one partner group's work after they brainstormed ideas together. It was nice how they thought to put advertisements, after being taught the difference between display ad and classified ad.
|