I only speak one language. I am not an immigrant. However I am living in a nation of them, and most of my family has emigrated from one place to another. They took the time and effort to come to this country and spent years learning how to speak English, get an education, a job and eventually a family an entirely new land.
I want to be a teacher and I have no idea where my students will have come from, what their lives have been like up to that point, or what the best way to teach each individual student will be.
Reading "Teaching Multilingual Children " by Virginia Collier and " The Child's Struggle Against Silencing" by Richard Rodriguez really put me out of my comfort zone. I do not have my teaching degree yet so I have not experienced a wide variety of students, sure I've worked with children my whole life but by the time they've come to know me they've always had at least an okay grasp on the English language. There's been quite a few who speak Spanish or Portuguese, I do live in Rhode Island after all however they all spoke it as fluently as they spoke English.
I don't have a vast knowledge on the subject and I honestly struggled to relate in any way shape or form to the first piece. I had to read it a second time because I fell asleep the first. I had a hard time taking it's seriously because I have never known the struggle of a language barrier nor have I spent years trying to teach my way through the Gap in understanding. Also I will not be teaching for quite a few years and none of the classes I ever had in my experience in public schools had people speaking multiple languages, so all in all reading the peace felt more like choking it down.
However on the complete opposite hand I also read Rodriguez's piece and then I felt incredibly guilty. The part that really got to me was when he said "i determined to learn classroom English. Weeks after it happend: One day in school I raised my hand to volunteer an answer. I spoke out loud voice. And I did not think it remarkable that when the entire class understood." I was proud the Rodriguez achieved his goal, good for him! The next line really stood out in a different way entirely, "that day, I moved very far from the disadvantaged child I had been only days earlier"
I never really thought of being fluent in multiple languages as a disadvantage, after all it can get you a pretty nice scholarship . I always thought of as something that all smart people can do. Not something that would make people feel disadvantaged and even left out or the way that a classroom is viewed when you have to spend half your time in class translating what is being said.
The whole point of the first piece was for me to better understand and adapt to what my future children were going through and I was so preoccupied with my thoughts on the subject instead of thinking about them. The second piece was powerful because it reminded me of the impact I will have on my students and my ability to shape their lives for the worse for the better.
So I reread the first piece, again and this time I took what it said to heart. I reread certain sections didn't make sense and tried to place myself in Rodriguez's shoes so I could understand why these lessons that Collier was teaching would be helpful. It made me analyze how I normally act in a classroom situation and all in all both pieces give me a great introspection into my life in a classroom up until now. I also had a glimpse into my future and I hope I will be able to teach students struggling with the English language, who speak multiple languages including English fluently or just children struggling to grasp a concept in a way that is clear and concise so everyone has a better opportunity to learn.
Here is link to both pieces if you would like to read them.
I recommend you them in this order so that you can better understand Collier's piece.
I want to be a teacher and I have no idea where my students will have come from, what their lives have been like up to that point, or what the best way to teach each individual student will be.
Reading "Teaching Multilingual Children " by Virginia Collier and " The Child's Struggle Against Silencing" by Richard Rodriguez really put me out of my comfort zone. I do not have my teaching degree yet so I have not experienced a wide variety of students, sure I've worked with children my whole life but by the time they've come to know me they've always had at least an okay grasp on the English language. There's been quite a few who speak Spanish or Portuguese, I do live in Rhode Island after all however they all spoke it as fluently as they spoke English.
I don't have a vast knowledge on the subject and I honestly struggled to relate in any way shape or form to the first piece. I had to read it a second time because I fell asleep the first. I had a hard time taking it's seriously because I have never known the struggle of a language barrier nor have I spent years trying to teach my way through the Gap in understanding. Also I will not be teaching for quite a few years and none of the classes I ever had in my experience in public schools had people speaking multiple languages, so all in all reading the peace felt more like choking it down.
However on the complete opposite hand I also read Rodriguez's piece and then I felt incredibly guilty. The part that really got to me was when he said "i determined to learn classroom English. Weeks after it happend: One day in school I raised my hand to volunteer an answer. I spoke out loud voice. And I did not think it remarkable that when the entire class understood." I was proud the Rodriguez achieved his goal, good for him! The next line really stood out in a different way entirely, "that day, I moved very far from the disadvantaged child I had been only days earlier"
I never really thought of being fluent in multiple languages as a disadvantage, after all it can get you a pretty nice scholarship . I always thought of as something that all smart people can do. Not something that would make people feel disadvantaged and even left out or the way that a classroom is viewed when you have to spend half your time in class translating what is being said.
The whole point of the first piece was for me to better understand and adapt to what my future children were going through and I was so preoccupied with my thoughts on the subject instead of thinking about them. The second piece was powerful because it reminded me of the impact I will have on my students and my ability to shape their lives for the worse for the better.
So I reread the first piece, again and this time I took what it said to heart. I reread certain sections didn't make sense and tried to place myself in Rodriguez's shoes so I could understand why these lessons that Collier was teaching would be helpful. It made me analyze how I normally act in a classroom situation and all in all both pieces give me a great introspection into my life in a classroom up until now. I also had a glimpse into my future and I hope I will be able to teach students struggling with the English language, who speak multiple languages including English fluently or just children struggling to grasp a concept in a way that is clear and concise so everyone has a better opportunity to learn.
Here is link to both pieces if you would like to read them.
I recommend you them in this order so that you can better understand Collier's piece.
I enjoyed your honesty with the first piece. I read that one first and wasn't really as interested as I had hoped to be either but after reading Aria, I did re-read the first piece and was a little more engaged. Personally, I connected with the Aria because English was my second language. I kept thinking about how awful it would have been for me if my parents had stopped speaking Portuguese to me altogether and if maybe my family would grow distant like Richards. It kind of made me realize that speaking Portuguese & growing up with the Portuguese culture is a part of who I am and it's unfortunate that Richard and his siblings lost that in addition to their family becoming estranged from one another.
ReplyDeleteSophia,
ReplyDeleteI can completely relate to what you are saying. I only speak one language, and I can't imagine what dealing with a language barrier feels like. At the same time I don't want this to fault me in future, when dealing with my students whom might be multilingual. Richards story gives great insight on how important it is to honor the differing backgrounds of our students as educators.