"...As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth!"

This "double-entry" posting includes portions of the text and my responses to each portion.

"'Mommy!' he cried. 'What did I write?' 'What did I write?' 'I don't know sweetie. What did you write?' answered his mother. 'I don't know! I can't read!' he cried."

--I've experience this first-hand with a little girl who sits with me often during church. One Sunday while I was away visiting friends at another congregation, she (the four-year-old girl) asked one of my older sisters where I was. When my sister told her I wouldn't be there that morning because I was visiting another church, my sister said, "You could write her a note if you want, and I'll be sure to give it to her!" The little girl was very excited, grabbed a pencil and paper, and then said to my sister, "...I don't know what a note is." At least she knew it involved pencil and paper..

"It suggests, among other things, that children who experience other people in their lives reading and writing for many different reasons in the years before they begin school are better equipped conceptually to make sense of--to learn from--the beginning reading and writing instruction in their schools...children from homes of povery experience fewer instances of people reading and writing for a broad number of purposes than do children from mainstream homes."

--Although statements such as this never surprise me, they always make me think..how do we break the cycle? It seems that illiterate students often grow into illiterate parents who then raise illiterate children because they don't know any better. It takes parents like Jenny, who realize they are uneducated but want more for their children and teachers who are willing to take the time and effort to make all of their students literate to break this cycle.

"Within this, I see literacy use as cultural practice. It is cultural practice because reading and writing are woven into the everyday experiences of people, and these everyday activities, attitudes, and beliefs help to define and distinguish among cultural groups."

--I think it's difficult at times for me to relate to statements about cultural practices and cultural groups not because I find them irrelevant or don't understand them, but because I haven't been exposed to enough diversity to help me picture what it's like for students of other cultural backgrounds to learn and develop their emergent literacy skills. I'm looking forward to learning more about diversity throughout this course in order to become a more informed educator.

"First, and most obvious, teachers and schools must accept, believe, and act upon the belief that children of poverty are learners, have been learning since birth, are ready to learn at anytime, and will learn. This crucial beginning stance on the part of teachers will help to ensure that any failure in the achievement of these children will lead to an examination of their instruction and not to a shrugging off of their futures."

--From a student's perspective, and from the perspective of a pre-service teacher who's heard talk from other teachers, it seems to be so easy to blame the students and their lack of experience instead of blaming the instruction provided for the students. One of the main functions of education is to provide experiences for all students to succeed, not just the ones who may be a little more 'well-off' than others.

This reading was incredibly interesting and beneficial! It's certainly going in my file of readings worth keeping.

'Mountaineer Circles' and the West Virginia Way of Life

The video we watched in class documented a variety of attitudes about the West Virginia stereotypes, how they formed, how we can better understand them, and how they've been embraced by most West Virginians today.

According to one of the questions in our handout, "Many West Virginians have strong feelings about TV caricatures of mountain people--some love these fictitious characters (Ma and Pa Kettle, Ernest T. Bass, the Darling family on the Andy Griffith Show, the Beverly Hillbillies, the Waltons). Are there aspects of these characters that ring true, or is it the absurdity that you enjoy?" Since I've grown up in a family who watched The Waltons, The Andy Griffith Show, and Ma and Pa Kettle movies (we just watched one over Christmas break), I must say that I, too, am a West Virginian who loves these fictitious characters. In the rural area in which I live, some of the stereotypical actions of these characters do ring true, so I find them somewhat relatable; however, the majority of their actions generally gain my laughter by the sheer silliness of how they behave and handle situations. Through it all, though, my strongest tie to these characters comes because as much as I enjoy the technology and luxuries we have today, there's just something about a slower pace of life that appeals to me..and these characters (who represent real people) knew how to slow down and appreciate God's gifts.

A slower pace also relates to the statements made by David Morris in the video, when he discussed how he didn't want West Virginia to be like the rest of America; he wants West Virginia to remain rooted in its traditions and "stubbornness" to slowly accept different opinions and ideas instead of diving right in like the rest of the country. I do agree with Morris, that stubbornness is a common trait among West Virginians, not because West Virginians are rude, but because they are set in ways that have made sense for many years and are comfortable to them. This stubbornness has benefited us in the long run, because it allows us to take a little more time to fully understand or have a better grasp on the viewpoints of others before we make our decisions, however long it may take. Self-sufficiency, another trait of the stubborn, is still a vital part of the modern West Virginian in that people in this state know how to take matters into their own hands in order to get something accomplished.

I enjoyed watching the video about West Virginia stereotypes and our mountain heritage, and the ensuing discussion with my fellow classmates. Sharing what makes West Virginia special to us helps us to perpetuate the idea of sharing our current traditions with the future..we've got to start somewhere. Why not with us?