Group Reflections

Our individual work:

I believe we all worked really hard and very well together.

Upon reflection, when we first started meeting I think we were trying to make sense of the book. We were trying to figure out what kind of research book this was and where we could find practical advice. Once we let go of that expectation, I think we were able to have interesting discussions about the patterns we saw (i.e. how Julia is perceived to work better with girls, the importance of discussion in Julia's classroom, etc.), and how these patterns emerged into our themes.

It's hard for me to name exactly who did what and I don't think that's what we're supposed to do here, but it really seemed to me while we met (either during class, after class or during vacation week), we would divvy up our tasks, and then really follow through on whatever we were supposed to do. I also enjoyed how supportive everyone was with each other-- we built on each others' ideas-- both when discussing the themes of the book and while planning our presentation. I've worked in groups where someone made it very difficult (either by doing too much or too little) but this was not the case about our group.

I enjoyed getting to know everyone in our group, and would sign up to be with all of you again!

Reflection on Tonight's Presentation:

I thought tonight's presentation went really well! I think we gave everyone a lot to consider-- thanks to the questions we devised that connected to our themes, and to the questions we raised about small group discussions.

One thing we talked a lot about within our Lewis group and we didn't talk about in class was the idea of the blind spots in teaching. Maybe your small groups discussed this topic, but ours didn't at all.

I think/ hope people walked away with the idea that teaching students to read the word and world critically isn't enough; we have to pay attention to how students are talking to each other, and who we are privileging in our various class structures, and what we can do to vary these structures so that all of our students can experience the role of the insider.

I'm being pulled back into our book instead of into our reflection... ahhhh!

Video clip - Sleeping Bobby

Here's the link to the Sleeping Bobby clip.

http://vimeo.com/22804378

Sleeping Bobby is the flip of Sleeping Beauty, and the girl "rescues" the boy. Prior to this part of the clip the kids were questioning why it was a kiss that rescued the sleeping prince - it seemed illogical. Why wasn't it courage or something more practical like splashing water on his face to wake him up? They were disappointed in the fact that Will and Mary Pope Osborn had the chance to turn Sleeping Beauty upside down and rewrite so the female character was not the victim, and yet, as one student put it, "They still made the girl do stupid things."

In this clip, the kids were questioning the way it ended with "Happily ever after" and trying to figure out why that was often the case in fairy tales, and what the idea of "normal" meant.

Julia's class as Heath's "Maintown"

In our conversations we've all expressed some frustration about how the kids in Julia's class from a lower SES background didn't really show growth in terms of their ability to discuss books. We can't see if they grow in other ways in Julia's class, but in terms of what they add to the discussions (in teacher and group-led) they say little compared with other students.

This really brings to life the Shirley Brice Heath piece we read earlier this year-- the Maintown kids can do critical literacy the same way Julia can, and James and Jason act much like the Roadville kids.

(If I were a student in Michelle's class I'd be linking my hands together right now). ;)

Topic Questions

As we read and reviewed Literary Practices as Social Acts, we considered the following questions. We not only used these questions to guide us through the reading; we used these questions to guide our own literacy practices in the classroom.

Social Status, Class, and Power

How are students perceived by their teacher and peers based on social status, class, and power?

What is the connection between social class and social status in the classroom?

Topic Questions

Gender and Leadership

Is there a correlation between gender and leadership in the classroom?

Is there a pattern in the social roles that boys and girls take on?

Topic Questions

Teacher's Vision of Literacy

What do we value as literacy teachers?

How do our literacy values lead us to possible blind spots?

Topic Questions

Ranking Students

Who are we privileging with the literacy structures we set up in our classrooms?

Who are the insiders? Who are the outsiders?

Video clip of Read Aloud/ literature discussion

Here's the link to the video I posted on Vimeo

http://vimeo.com/mdamiano/mothershouse

Password: CT5037

This is a clip from the time of day that we call read aloud. It seems further away from Julia's read aloud time - possibly more towards what she would term literature discussion??

Regardless of the name of the instructional activity, it does highlight social expectations and norms for interacting in my classroom. Read aloud was (and is) a ritualized practice used to establish classroom community and culture from the start of the year. I have a no-hand raising classroom, but you will see some of the children using hand signals (such as linking their fingers to show they have a connection, or holding their hands up to ask a question). At the start of the year kids used these hand signals as I read to show that they were actively thinking during this time. It also became a way to signal to their classmates that they had something to say when we moved towards a community based on peer discussions and "unrestricted" talk.

The clip shows the kids discussing the book In Our Mothers's House by Patricia Polacco. While we do have an ongoing conversation as we read, this clip occurred at a stopping point on the first day of reading. After a reading only a few pages (with discussion between) I asked the kids to jot down what they were thinking, then discuss. There are comments that demonstrate their continued attempts to make meaning from the story, and also determine the author's intent.

(And yes, that is most of my entire class - only one girl was absent that day)

After meeting on Monday and discussing the possible ways to present our views and own teaching, I have included the main ideas that we elaborated on. I hope this helps as we finalize our presentation.

Lens to Look Through in our own Classrooms

o What meanings do students and the classroom teacher give to the
reading and discussion of literature and how are these meanings related to social

and interpretive expectations within the classroom?

Social expectations are defined as those related to the beliefs, values, and norms for interaction promoted within the classroom.
Interpretive expectations are defined as those related to the reading, understanding, and discussion of literature.

• Ethos – routines and rituals
• Favor things over others – Social Settings
• Be aware and reflective – Who am I privileging with this practice?

(Most practices are geared toward a certain group of students.)

o How do conceptions of what it means to read and discuss literature shape peer-led

literature discussions?

• Insiders and Outsiders (Successful vs. Unsuccessful)

o In what ways do contexts beyond the classroom shape peer-led literature

discussions?

Talk was often used as a way of achieving social and interpretive power. In helping students work together collaboratively, students started with three poker chips. They placed a chip in the center of the circle whenever they contributed to the discussion.

Big Topics:

• Social Status, Class, and Power
• Gender and Leadership
• Teacher’s Vision of Literacy (blind spots) –
Give students the opportunities to show their own view and strengths
• Ranking Students – Who are we privileging? Whose weakness shows?

Animal Farm connection

I was thinking more about how the role of the teacher is always present in Julia's (and maybe others') classroom. The clipboard (p.97) is symbolic of the teacher's role and one of the alpha girls (MacKenzie or Brooke) often take it during class.

This example-- and the other examples of the girls leading group discussions-- show that one powerful leader is replaced by another, and the same cycle continues. Think of Animal Farm-- doesn't Napoleon essentially do what Farmer Jones did? Control the animals without really serving them as best he could? Even though the leadership person changes, the issues around power and status don't. I haven't read Animal Farm in years, so if you can, jump in and help draw this out...

Katy's student Majid...

Katy, this question is directed toward you... I wonder how much Julia conferenced solo with students after school, when they didn't have to worry as much about their reputation and saving face. I know Julia and David had conversations (about James-- were there others)?, but did they talk one-on-one about his progress and where he wants to go? I wonder if you could conference with your student Majid after school, so he is less preoccupied with being with his buddies.

Response to Karen's outline of presentation

Hi!?

Karen, thanks for starting the conversation about our presentation. In terms of student work, I could bring in folders from my book club groups (9th grade), but I was not as go-with-the-flow as Julia-- I had some questions and issues that I encouraged students to discuss, so perhaps this wouldn't be the best representation of a student-led book group.

Maybe we should rotate through 2 or 3 groups instead of jigsaw? So every participant sits at a "station" that you outlined (Read aloud, Teacher-led, etc.) I don't think they can visit more than 3 stations, and then at the end we can open it up to how the work they did in the station related to the Lewis reading they did for class.

Does this make sense?

Discussion from last week's class

In class last week, we began discussing the format of this assignment.

From what I can recall, we decided we will be jigsawing and each person (some may be paired up) will be in charge of presenting one of the 4 classroom practices that Lewis studies in her book:

1.) Read Aloud

2.) Peer-Led literature discussions

3.) Teacher-Led literature discussions

4.) Independent Reading

We also decided to discuss some of these themes (maybe based on each individual presentation, some will be more relevant than others.)

THEMES

• Social Class and Power
• Gendered-leadership and regulating of
• Teacher's vision/ideology of literacy and how she creates it
• Gender & ability as power (roles in the classroom)
• pg. 62- Vision vs. reality (ranking students)

Maybe what we can do is have everyone respond with what they feel they would be most comfortable "taking the reins of," though we will all certainly help each other out. For instance, Katy did an awesome job transcribing her students conversation, which could be considered a read aloud discussion. From there, Katie might want to look at the themes in relation to her own practice.

Also incorporated in these groups could be interactive activities that bring these themes to life. For instance, conducting a read aloud with our classmates, but with an "agenda." (Knowing you will be favoring some opinions over another) or asking everyone about their own perspectives in their classrooms. Maybe we could have someone show a video of a class discussion and one of the groups can analyze it.

Just throwing some ideas out there.

See you all tomorrow!!

More comments on Katy's "A Thought On the Social Dynamics Issue "

This is in response to Katy's comment and Karen's response. I can't comment on Karen's comment for some strange reason so I'm posting here.

I like the points that both K and K raised here.

I'm also wondering what else Julia could have done for James and Jason. I'm not sure if she has more difficulty with boys in general, or if she doesn't do enough to help students who are not academically gifted the way that her other students are (Nikki, David, MacKenzie). David may be adversarial with Julia, but he seems present in the discussions and is engaged with the text. How can she help the readers like James and Jason who are not reading with the same level of engagement?

Another Transcript

This is another partial discussion about the same book, conducted in much the same way, but with a different group of kids.  Usually the difference between the two groups is that this group is much faster and more eager to have discussions and respond to one another without my prompting.  But this is also a group where a few kids often dominate the discussion (the kids below Sedeke, Khiara, Shaday, and Zamia are often very frequent contributers.  Kevin, Kina, and Ebony are less so.  Amanda's participation varies a lot.)

Unidentified kid: How did they go broke, but they weren’t broke… (with prodding to explain, the question turned out to be how did the neighbors have money to give if they were broke?)

Teacher: What do you guys think?

Kina: Because I think the people who had money, gave what they didn’t need to the people who did need it.

Kevin: Even if you have a small amount of money, it’s millions of people…well not millions but a lot.

Khiara: They didn’t have much money.  I was observing what they looked like, in the pictures what they had on, they looked like they didn’t have a lot of money. (Pause) But I mean sometimes people look like they have money but don’t or they do, but they don’t look like…(Pause) I think that’s a good way to make money

*I found Khiara's comment really interesting because she started to really get into addressing the question of what poverty means, but then backtracked into just saying she liked the idea of rent parties when she couldn't quite express herself and no other kids picked up on it.

Amanda: Most people aren’t really that nice (told story of friend’s house burning down and not getting enough help) Most people want to be rich and have everyone be slaves around them.  They’re [the people in the book] lucky.

Sedeke: I don’t think 10 cents a day is enough. [this is the salary the child got]

Zamia: Now people are stingy and won’t help.  Back then they helped each other.

Ebony: Nowadays people just want to get money for themselves.

Shaday: I disagree with that.  Because some people do help other people.  Like your husband if you’re married, he will help you.

the "illusion of choice"

Hi everyone,
Something we talked about a few weeks ago was this idea that Julia tried not to reveal which level her students read at in an effort to protect them and not embarrass them. We discussed how this was idealistic but not really possible because students notice the reading groups, book choices, etc., so even if it's not made public- they still realize this.

Later Lewis refers to this as an "illusion of choice" and refers to Valerie Walkerdine's work, where Walkerdine explores "student-centered" or "progressive" classes. Walkerdine argues that students can quickly understand what it means to be "a good student" in these progressive classroom settings, and learn to "read the discourse and position themselves within it" (90). I thought this was such an interesting point-- and it reminded me of how Lewis noticed that while the girls did each others' hair during read alouds (and this was ignored by Julia), the boys who wanted to draw were shut down. It seems as though equality in the classroom isn't really possible because the teacher's vision takes precedent. Is drawing for boys the same as hair-styling for girls? I'm not sure, but it seems that if we take this "illusion of choice" one notch further, we can see that it's almost an illusion of equality that Julia strives for. Or is she striving for something other than equality?

Partial Transcript of Class Discussion

This was a whole-class discussion of the picture book Rent Party Jazz by William Miller which tells the story of a boy (Sonny) who meets a musician (Smiling Jack) who teaches him about rent parties to raise money for rent during the Great Depression in New Orleans.  The community comes together to help him and his mother.  I read the book to them with a very minimal intro about the Great Depression (because the purpose was to start building context for the G.D. for a later novel).  They wrote in journals and/or turned and talked briefly at some stopping points other than these whole-group discussions.

Discussion midway through the book:
Teacher: What are you thinking?
DeAndre: It was a hard time for them.
Crystal: The owner was unfair.  You know how some owners today give you a day or a week longer to get the rent?  It's not fair, he wants his money fast and in a hurry.
(Many class "yeah" responses)
Jaihad: Maybe the party can be for other people, he also deserves more chances than just one, so then people know it isn't fair.
Teacher: Can you say more?
Jaihad: Like, it's not just for one person or for one family.  It could be rent parties for everyone.
Ky'asia: Maybe when the man Smiling Jack was little, this happened to him too.
Destiny: (To Crystal) Some landlords aren't like that.  Some landlords are friendly with the people who live in the house, and they give them more time or help them pay the rent.
(Some class "yeah" responses)
Crystal: That's still unfair!  (She goes on to explain why it's unfair for landlords to have some tenants they support and others they do not.)
Journee: Landlords today, they sometimes - well, he should do this, he should give them more days to get the rent together, because that way at least he still gets his money.

Discussion at the end of the book:
Teacher: What are you guys thinking now?
Ha'Lija: I want to compare what I wrote first to what I wrote just now.  I wrote it was a hard time and people were arrogant and didn't help others.  Then at the end I wrote it was still a hard time but people were helpful.
(I pushed for response from class)
Destiny: She's right, sometimes people help and sometimes they don't.
(Looooong pause)
Teacher: You know, in 5B [the other class] they discussed some about whether this would happen today.
Journee: I'm in between.  In some neighborhoods, it might happen, but also people might come to the party and not give money.  (She went on to differentiate between family/friends and just neighbors).  And there are some bad neighborhoods where people can't go outside to parties.  But then again, people might give money if it's a life threatening situation just because they know it will help you.
Majid: Most neighborhoods, people wouldn't help.  They don't care, they don't even know each other.  But in my neighborhood, they know each other.
Teacher: Would your neighborhood help you like that?
Majid: Yes.  I know everyone in my neighborhood.
Samantha: Some people might take money out of the bucket.
Angel: You can't really trust all the people.
Ky'asia: I think when Sonny gets older he'll do the same thing.  He'll learn the trumpet and help people.
Jewel: You know that saying, that what goes around comes around.  I think that if Sonny and his mom get rich, and have money, they'll help other people later.
Majid: You know that show, Everybody Hates Chris...(Spun off into a long story from the show that sort of related)
(Discussion became overlapping responses based on movies/shows)
Teacher: Okay, so we're going to wrap up, any other thoughts?
Journee: Some people just say, "Rent's your problem, not my problem."

My intention in this discussion was for it to be student-led (primarily) and for me to take less of a directive role.  For that reason I tried to keep my questions really open.  I hoped that it would help acclimate my students to the time period but I didn't have really specific goals beyond that.  I wanted to see where they would go with the book.  Initially what I was most interested by was the fact that at first, the class got very engaged with the idea of the unfairness of the landlord, and by the end of the story there was a lot of back and forth about different neighborhoods.  The sense seemed to be that other people are generally bad, but the people they know are generally good.

In terms of social dynamics, there were 6 boy conversational turns (2 of which prompted by me to add on) and 13 girl turns.  The class consists of 9 boys and 15 girls, and 2 boys were out that day, so the dynamics would inevitably be shifted somewhat but it was still something that stood out to me.  Crystal, the girl who brought up and continued to press the unfairness issue, is not usually a student who participates much or has a lot of academic capital in the classroom (although she is reasonably popular socially), so I was surprised to see her so engaged.

Other thoughts?  I will post the transcript from 5b tomorrow if you want to see both...and we can maybe discuss how this fits in with the Lewis book.

A Thought On the Social Dynamics Issue

So after our conversation in class I was looking again at the section on page 69 about the expectations for journal writing about books - the "interpretive competence" looked for in the class.  In one sense, I thought this was another example of the same kids (the older, more confident girls primarily) having more power than the other kids, and things in the classroom really being comfortable to them much more so than to others.  There's examples of some of those leaders in the class telling the others what to do, and so on.  But on the other hand, getting students to respond to a book rather than retell it is something that I struggle with in class sometimes.  It's a battle with some kids, and it's something that would be easier if it was a class-culture sort of thing.  If almost everyone was consistently being analytic or critical instead of retelling, and if everyone valued and looked up to those kids who did a good job at that, it would push some of my kids who are certainly able to write and reflect like that but don't always want to.  I think the culture of thinking in Julia's class is terrific, and she clearly is doing a lot of specific things to make that happen.  I just wonder if those are actually the SAME things that simultaneously exclude some of the kids like James and Jason.  And is there a middle ground?

testing ... laura

Test

Okay, we will see how this works for us...once we are all officially authors on this, I will adjust the privacy settings so our brilliant thoughts about the book are not public...:)