On Tuesday morning, I made my way to Providence. This would be my second visit and my nerves had calmed down a little. Luckily, I didn't get lost and was able to find my way to the parking lot and find a close spot to the school. I remembered to ring the doorbell and easily made my way into the office where I signed in with the VIPS Volunteer Binder. After I signed in I sat on a bench in the hallway with 3 other volunteers. We were all unsure on whether we were supposed to go directly to our reading coach, Mrs. Smith's, room or to wait for her to come get us. We decided to wait for the two other volunteers and then at 9:35 made our way to Mrs. Smith's room.
When we arrived in her room, we all sat around a table. She gave us our room assignments...three would be in room 14 and the other three would be in room 24. We were then given a folder with our three students file. In this file was their pre-test (to see what level of phonemic awareness) and results, their log of what activity they do each week, and their behavior chart where the other tutors write down any behavioral issues they had. Finally, it was 10:05 and we all made our way down the hall to our designated classrooms.
The other volunteers and I slowly walked in room 14 feeling a little nervous. However, those nerves went away when we were greeted with friendly kindergarten students who were so excited to see us. I found my three students sitting at a table by the window. The hardest thing about the day was trying to fit in those tiny chairs at that tiny table. Across from me at this table, were two boys and one girl. From what I could tell, the girl and one of the boys was black and the other boy was asian. Let's call them Sarah, Billy, and Jared. I went around the table and asked them their name and age and told them my name and age. They were all so enthusiastic and happy, which made me even more comfortable.
The first thing we did was read the poem "Mary had a Little Lamb," they listened intently and were ready to do the activities that went along with it. I asked them things like "what would you do if a lamb was at school?" and "where is a lamb suppose to be?"; Sarah said she would try to ride the lamb, but then changed her mind because she didn't want to hurt it. Billy said he would feed it and Jared said he would ride it all around school. There answers made me laugh, but I was happy to see that they were comfortable and ready to answer any questions. Then we did a rhyming activity with the words in the poem and they did very well with choosing which words rhymed and which didn't when I said them aloud. The final activity we did was the sight word game. I chose 6 words (ex. funny, for, and) and gave each a number. One at a time, the student would role the dice and which ever number they got they would create a sentence with the corresponding word. All of the students struggled a little with putting the words into sentences, but as the game went on and I helped them Sarah, Billy, and Jared understood a little better on how to make a sentence with the words. I was really happy with how they did for their first day with me.
After we met with our students for 35 minutes we returned to Mrs. Smith's room to fill our paperwork and discuss how our first day went. It was nice to hear the other volunteers experiences as well. I'm excited to go back and see what kind of progress my three students will be making over the next few weeks.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Talking Points #2
Terry Meier "Why can't she remember that?": The importance of storybook reading in multilingual, multicultural classrooms
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "Linguistic research reveals that, by the age of 3, the vast majority of children all over the world have mastered all of the sounds and most of the complex grammatical systems of their native language or languages. In addition, as the research cited here documented, they have figured out how to use language to get things done in the world, often in highly sophisticated ways." (243)
I found this quote very interesting. It's amazing that at the age of 3, children have already learned and mastered their own language, and possibly a second one. Furthermore, every child's background is different so by this statistic, people can see that all children can learn quickly at a young age. Also, by children having this knowledge when they enter school the classroom teacher will have a good foundation to work on in "literacy instruction" (242) as Meier pointed out.
2. "Children who don't have many early book reading experiences learn their cultural lessons through interactions with family and other community members, from oral stories, and from observations of other people's behavior." (244)
I believe an important part of learning is learning through interactions, observations, and oral storytelling. I don't think a child can learn everything through reading books. Like Meier pointed out, the interactions that children, mentioned in the quote above, experience proves to be an important model on how to use language in both powerful and creative ways.
3. "The teacher's likely assumption in this case was that Gabriela did not know the answer to the question, possibly leading to the conclusion that she needed more simplified instruction, or perhaps more English-language vocabulary, rather than more interesting questions." (245)
I found this quote to be very important. Teachers have to remember that children come from different backgrounds. Like Gabriela, she didn't understand why the teacher would ask such questions ("How many mittens are there?" [245]) because she, Gabriela, was not used to an adult asking questions. Furthermore, because of this a teacher could make the wrong assumption about a student, when the real problem is that these students do not feel this experience is an "intellectual stimulating activity" (245).
This article was very interesting. When the author put the examples of the three children and how they used their linguistic skills, it helped me understand how they learn and how every child comes from a different background which means they most likely learn in different ways. Whether that be through reading/listening to books or observing and interacting with family. Furthermore, when the author talked about her observation with Gabriela's class, it made me realize that because children learn different ways and don't understand why a teacher does a certain task, this could lead to the student getting more help when they only need an activity that is more interesting.
Meier mentioned three things to do in order to connect a child to the text. The first was to "Choose books that relate to children's lives" (246). This is a very important one, if a child sees similarities to a character's life and their own, they will be more inclined to pay attention and even respond to questions asked. The second was to "Teach book reading behaviors explicitly" (248). This means that the teacher should be exact when giving instruction on book reading and to include both open-ended and known-answer questions into the lesson. Finally, Meier says to "Make books come alive" (249). I find this one important as well because if a book comes to life, with puppets and dolls, it well help children visualize and fully understand what is going on in the story. This article gave me a new perspective on how children learn and different methods to use in order to show the importance of storytelling.
Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "Linguistic research reveals that, by the age of 3, the vast majority of children all over the world have mastered all of the sounds and most of the complex grammatical systems of their native language or languages. In addition, as the research cited here documented, they have figured out how to use language to get things done in the world, often in highly sophisticated ways." (243)
I found this quote very interesting. It's amazing that at the age of 3, children have already learned and mastered their own language, and possibly a second one. Furthermore, every child's background is different so by this statistic, people can see that all children can learn quickly at a young age. Also, by children having this knowledge when they enter school the classroom teacher will have a good foundation to work on in "literacy instruction" (242) as Meier pointed out.
2. "Children who don't have many early book reading experiences learn their cultural lessons through interactions with family and other community members, from oral stories, and from observations of other people's behavior." (244)
I believe an important part of learning is learning through interactions, observations, and oral storytelling. I don't think a child can learn everything through reading books. Like Meier pointed out, the interactions that children, mentioned in the quote above, experience proves to be an important model on how to use language in both powerful and creative ways.
3. "The teacher's likely assumption in this case was that Gabriela did not know the answer to the question, possibly leading to the conclusion that she needed more simplified instruction, or perhaps more English-language vocabulary, rather than more interesting questions." (245)
I found this quote to be very important. Teachers have to remember that children come from different backgrounds. Like Gabriela, she didn't understand why the teacher would ask such questions ("How many mittens are there?" [245]) because she, Gabriela, was not used to an adult asking questions. Furthermore, because of this a teacher could make the wrong assumption about a student, when the real problem is that these students do not feel this experience is an "intellectual stimulating activity" (245).
This article was very interesting. When the author put the examples of the three children and how they used their linguistic skills, it helped me understand how they learn and how every child comes from a different background which means they most likely learn in different ways. Whether that be through reading/listening to books or observing and interacting with family. Furthermore, when the author talked about her observation with Gabriela's class, it made me realize that because children learn different ways and don't understand why a teacher does a certain task, this could lead to the student getting more help when they only need an activity that is more interesting.
Meier mentioned three things to do in order to connect a child to the text. The first was to "Choose books that relate to children's lives" (246). This is a very important one, if a child sees similarities to a character's life and their own, they will be more inclined to pay attention and even respond to questions asked. The second was to "Teach book reading behaviors explicitly" (248). This means that the teacher should be exact when giving instruction on book reading and to include both open-ended and known-answer questions into the lesson. Finally, Meier says to "Make books come alive" (249). I find this one important as well because if a book comes to life, with puppets and dolls, it well help children visualize and fully understand what is going on in the story. This article gave me a new perspective on how children learn and different methods to use in order to show the importance of storytelling.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Jane Elliot's A Class Divided
The link below goes to a YouTube video of "Jane Elliot's A Class Divided." I had seen this video in a previous class and found it very intriguing. In this video, which is part one, Jane Elliot talks to her class about discrimination and gets her students opinion on people of different races, one says "look at that, dumb people" referring to black people. Then she divides her class up into the blue-eyed people and the brown-eyed people and favors the blue-eyed people. This video is eye-opening and shows what can happen when a group of people are told one race (or eye-color) is better than another, especially with children and how influenced they can be. I definitely thinks it relates to class with all our discussions on race and privilege issues.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCjDxAwfXV0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCjDxAwfXV0
Monday, February 15, 2010
My First Visit...
On Tuesday, February 9, I made my first visit to an elementary school. On the drive to Providence, I was a little nervous...I was worried I would get lost and I really didn't know what to expect. As I pulled up to the school I had no idea where to park...there were cars everywhere, eventually I followed a red mini van around the school and into a parking lot. After parking, I began walking to the school and was faced with the challenge of finding the main entrance. As I made my way to the first door I found out it was locked, so I walked around half the building and found another locked door. I decided to go back to the first door and just as I got there a little girl walked in the school with the door slowly shutting behind here. I didn't get to the door in time and wound up searching for a doorbell and eventually got into the school. After making it into the school, I had no idea where to go, luckily there were 5 other volunteers, who I'm sure could tell how confused I was, that told me which door would get me into the office. As soon as I signed in, the reading coach/advisor came and brought us to her room.
When we arrived in our advisor's room the other volunteers and myself sat around a table anxiously awaiting to hear what exactly we would be doing during our 15 hours. Our advisor gave us some background information on the program and what we would be doing as reading buddies. She told us that we would be working with kindergarten students, 2-3 per volunteer. We also found out that we would be working with our students for 35 minutes and doing 3 different acitivites. First, we would be reading a poem and asking questions to the students about it. Then, we would be doing an activity that would relate to the step of phonemic awareness that our students were working on. Lastly, we would be going over sight words, which are the words that can't really be sounded out but have to be recognzied because they are so common in our language. Before and after we meet with our students we will be reviewing and filling our paper work on our students progress and how they behaved during the time we spent with them.
After we talked and fully understood what we would be doing as reading buddies, our advisor gave us a tour of the school. The school is two floors, however, we only saw the first floor because that is where the K-2 classes are located. The school was a square and well-maintained, as far as I could tell. We visited three classrooms and everyone was very welcoming. The students were excited to see new faces and one girl gave me a hug. Walking into these classrooms and feeling welcomed really helped ease my nerves and let me know that volunteering here would be fun.
My first visit was a success. I'm excited to go back and help these students learn how to recognize sounds of letters and words. Even though I didn't get to work with the students directly, I was glad to have felt welcomed and fully understand what I would be doing during my volunteer hours.
When we arrived in our advisor's room the other volunteers and myself sat around a table anxiously awaiting to hear what exactly we would be doing during our 15 hours. Our advisor gave us some background information on the program and what we would be doing as reading buddies. She told us that we would be working with kindergarten students, 2-3 per volunteer. We also found out that we would be working with our students for 35 minutes and doing 3 different acitivites. First, we would be reading a poem and asking questions to the students about it. Then, we would be doing an activity that would relate to the step of phonemic awareness that our students were working on. Lastly, we would be going over sight words, which are the words that can't really be sounded out but have to be recognzied because they are so common in our language. Before and after we meet with our students we will be reviewing and filling our paper work on our students progress and how they behaved during the time we spent with them.
After we talked and fully understood what we would be doing as reading buddies, our advisor gave us a tour of the school. The school is two floors, however, we only saw the first floor because that is where the K-2 classes are located. The school was a square and well-maintained, as far as I could tell. We visited three classrooms and everyone was very welcoming. The students were excited to see new faces and one girl gave me a hug. Walking into these classrooms and feeling welcomed really helped ease my nerves and let me know that volunteering here would be fun.
My first visit was a success. I'm excited to go back and help these students learn how to recognize sounds of letters and words. Even though I didn't get to work with the students directly, I was glad to have felt welcomed and fully understand what I would be doing during my volunteer hours.
Talking Points #1
Peggy McIntosh "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" Kaitlyn Paolino
1. "I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege." (Pg. 1)
I never thought I had "privilege" because I was white. However, after reading this quote, and seeing the connection to male privilege, I can see how I have not "recognized" it. Throughout my life, I have never been aware of this privilege and after reading the list on pages 1 and 2 of this reading I realized that there is such thing as white privilege and that I take part in it because for the most part I am unaware of it.
2. "26. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have then more or less match my skin." (Pg. 2)
This may not be a big "privilege", however, it still is one that exists in society today. Furthermore, it's one I never thought anything of and just went on with life subliminally thinking this is the color of flesh. However, this was wrong. There are many colors of skin in our world and I think that it's extremely wrong to have this bandage labeled as "flesh" color. It makes me wonder what black children feel like when they see bandages labeled "flesh" color but it doesn't match their own skin. This is just another way of showing people of other races that whites still think they have privilege but pretend they don't see it.
3. "We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck." (Pg. 3)
I usually do think of privilege as this. If I see someone who I feel has privilege in some area of life, I usually think it's because it runs in the family or it was earned through luck or hard work. However, after reading this by Peggy McIntosh I have a different perspective of privilege. For example, going back to the "flesh" colored bandage, that shows privilege which was not earned by luck or through birth. It is just a color that whites have labeled as "flesh" without thinking of the many other races in our world.
After reading this article, I have a different perspective of privilege then I did before. In the beginning, McIntosh does a great job of connecting white privilege to male privilege, which helped explain what it meant to pretend you don't have privilege. It also showed me how I never realized it myself, and it happens everyday. Furthermore, the list of privileges McIntosh said she has experienced or doesn't have to worry about was eye opening. Many of these things I have never thought twice about, such as "6. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is" (Pg.2). Throughout all my years of schooling, this is how I have seen it; there are others on the list that made me realize I do have this privilege as well.
This reading was interesting. It gave me a new perspective and also related back to our previous readings. For example in the Delpit reading, black men and women shared their experiences and the trouble they have with being respected and heard. This reading on white privilege helped me realize it still is present, and it's not just earned by birth or luck. People in our world may not or choose not to recognize this problem and because of this nothing will be solved. Like Johnson said in his reading, everyone needs to be a part of the solution.
1. "I think whites are carefully taught not to recognize white privilege, as males are taught not to recognize male privilege." (Pg. 1)
I never thought I had "privilege" because I was white. However, after reading this quote, and seeing the connection to male privilege, I can see how I have not "recognized" it. Throughout my life, I have never been aware of this privilege and after reading the list on pages 1 and 2 of this reading I realized that there is such thing as white privilege and that I take part in it because for the most part I am unaware of it.
2. "26. I can choose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have then more or less match my skin." (Pg. 2)
This may not be a big "privilege", however, it still is one that exists in society today. Furthermore, it's one I never thought anything of and just went on with life subliminally thinking this is the color of flesh. However, this was wrong. There are many colors of skin in our world and I think that it's extremely wrong to have this bandage labeled as "flesh" color. It makes me wonder what black children feel like when they see bandages labeled "flesh" color but it doesn't match their own skin. This is just another way of showing people of other races that whites still think they have privilege but pretend they don't see it.
3. "We usually think of privilege as being a favored state, whether earned or conferred by birth or luck." (Pg. 3)
I usually do think of privilege as this. If I see someone who I feel has privilege in some area of life, I usually think it's because it runs in the family or it was earned through luck or hard work. However, after reading this by Peggy McIntosh I have a different perspective of privilege. For example, going back to the "flesh" colored bandage, that shows privilege which was not earned by luck or through birth. It is just a color that whites have labeled as "flesh" without thinking of the many other races in our world.
After reading this article, I have a different perspective of privilege then I did before. In the beginning, McIntosh does a great job of connecting white privilege to male privilege, which helped explain what it meant to pretend you don't have privilege. It also showed me how I never realized it myself, and it happens everyday. Furthermore, the list of privileges McIntosh said she has experienced or doesn't have to worry about was eye opening. Many of these things I have never thought twice about, such as "6. When I am told about our national heritage or about "civilization," I am shown that people of my color made it what it is" (Pg.2). Throughout all my years of schooling, this is how I have seen it; there are others on the list that made me realize I do have this privilege as well.
This reading was interesting. It gave me a new perspective and also related back to our previous readings. For example in the Delpit reading, black men and women shared their experiences and the trouble they have with being respected and heard. This reading on white privilege helped me realize it still is present, and it's not just earned by birth or luck. People in our world may not or choose not to recognize this problem and because of this nothing will be solved. Like Johnson said in his reading, everyone needs to be a part of the solution.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
About Me...
My name is Kaitlyn Paolino and I am a freshman at RIC. I am a health and physical education major and I'm hoping to graduate in 4 years. My semaster is going well so far. When I'm not in class, I enjoy spending time with friends and family, playing sports, and baking.
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