Blog Post 4

[Teachers] should recognize that the linguistic form a student brings to school is intimately connected with loved one’s community, and personal identity. To suggest that this form is “wrong” or, even worse, ignorant, is to suggest that something is wrong with the student and his or her family. (p.33)

The Ebonics debate raises some important concerns and questions regarding linguistics in school and the classroom. Should student know Standard English? If they don’t how can it be incorporated into the classroom without making it the main focus? If a student is never taught Standard English will they be able to be successful?

In her quote, Delpit states that a student's dialect is connected to their personality and family background. If teachers competently disregard that it is completely disregarding the child as a human being. At the same time she emphasizes the importance of knowing Standard English. "It is equally important to understand that students who do not have access to the politically popular dialect form in this country are less likely to succeed economically than their peers who do" (33).

I think it is important for students to learn Standard English. We did not make the rules on what is standard and what is not, but someone else did. As a society we are under the impression that people who can speak proper English are more intelligent and I don’t think that is going to change soon. I am not saying I agree with this philosophy I am just saying that is how the United States is. As teachers it would be our job to give students the opportunity to learn Standard English. If the students choose not to take advantage of the opportunity and the teacher tried their best to teach them there is nothing else that can be done.

On the other hand there are a lot of intelligent people in this country that do not speak proper English. A lot of my science professors are from different countries and speak with a heavy accent and are not always grammatically correct. They still managed to be successful and earn their PhD and work at JCU. It really depends in the area you want to work in. Many scientists come to America to do research and excel with knowing hardly any English.

Blog Post 3

Over the weekend on Sunday I went to target and observed people for 30 minutes. I sat for a little and then I walked around. I brought my roommate Alondra to observe with me as well. While I was sitting at first I tried to only write down my observations, and not make any interpretations or judgement. When I would see people I would make stories up about them in my head and imagine what their life was like. If someone was carrying around a designer purse or had on a really nice jacket I would interpret that as they are upper middle class and live in a large house and that their husband was either a doctor, or a successful business man. My interpretation was probably wrong for all I know the nice clothing items were a gift from someone. After reading over my interpretations I could see a few of them that would fit into the "parking lot." The first one being when I saw the women with her kids and her not wearing a wedding ring. I did not judge her, but in my head I was thinking that in my family that wouldn't be something that was encouraged. I am Catholic and it is expected that people should have children after they are married and settled down. The second time was when I saw the lady with the nice purse and automatically assumed that she was a stay at home mom and her husband made all the money. My mom was a stay at home mom and so was both of my grandmas. My sister in law is currently a stay at home mom. I am not sure what I will be when I have kids and job, but I know that some members on my family will expect me to be a stay at home mom. My roommates interpretations were a little different than mine. She is kind of a free spirit and has different outlook on life than me. For example, she interpreted the lady with the children with no wedding ring as a women who was strong enough to raise her children on her own and she didn't need to stay with her husband. For all we know she could have forgot to put her ring on after her morning shower. The other difference was she assumed that everyone from JCU was shopping at Target because it is cheap and college students can afford it. Lastly, she commented on the woman with the nice purse and she assumed that the women was a very high business women and worked hard to be where she is now and to be able to afford nice purses and clothes. I learned a few things about myself, first being that I tend to give people a single story and not think about all the possibilities. I need to have a more open mind. I learned most of my beliefs coincide with my parents conservative beliefs. Everyone has different ways of interpreting situations. I think that some of my roommates and I's differing interpretations were due to our differences in beliefs.

Blog Post 2

Lisa Delpit’s quote, “We do not really see with our eyes or hear through our ears, but through our beliefs.” (Curtis and Carter, 2000, p. 9), is a great quote to reflect on. It can be interpreted in a variety of ways. My first thoughts on this quote are that it is very true. We can see and hear whatever we want but our beliefs are how we analyze it in our brain and make judgement on events, situations, or objects. Seeing and hearing is just how we physically obtain the information and our beliefs shape how we view and hear the information. Our home life has a huge impact on our beliefs. The way we grow up (the type of parents we have and disciplinary action we undergo), where we grow up (city, country, suburb, ect.), and the people we grow up around have a significant effect on our beliefs. Personally I grew up in a tight knit, Catholic family. My parents set expectations for me and my siblings and most of the time we met them. There was a nice balance, they weren't too strict or too lazy with us. Here is an example of how my parents have shaped my life. If I see famous teenagers on the tv or internet doing inappropriate things for their age, my first thought would about their home life. I would assume since they are famous they never really had to follow rules, or learn what was right or wrong. My parents taught me that so I include my parents beliefs in my own beliefs. There is a problem with making judgments solely relying  your beliefs. As a teacher in the classroom you have to be open minded about the students. You can't make a judgement on a student just because they were raised different than you were. If teachers did that they probably wouldn't like any of their students and they would have a hard time teaching them. In the classroom it  is important to stay true to your beliefs, but it also necessary to have an open mind and accept that everyone is different. Having a closed mine will only hurt the student. Instead of focusing on everything that they do different or wrong from what you think, the teacher should focus on the talents the student has and try to bring out the best qualities in the students.  This quote has a lot of meaning and is very true, but as a teacher I think it is best to also evaluate situations with an open mind. 

Blog Post 1

1. I preferred to be called Angela.

2. I am from North Royalton, Ohio.

3. I am a sophomore and I want to teach High School Chemistry.

4. I really enjoy playing soccer and running. I played soccer from age 5-19. My three older brothers and two of my sister-in-laws graduated from John Carroll. I have a nephew named Will and a niece named Emma. They are one and half and four years old. I come from a very large Italian family. My mom and her parents were born in Italy. We are the typical big and loud Italian family and we love to eat pasta and other traditional meals. My favorite book series is Harry Potter and I have read all the books several times. This semester I plan to spend my time studying for class and also attending as many sporting games as possible, especially the soccer games. 

5. My family is one of the most important things to me. Like I said before we are a large, loud, and Italian family. We are very close and would do anything for each 

other. 

http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/growing-typical-italian-family/838934/

This article is so accurate in many ways. Sundays are the best day of the week and I love coming together as a family and it really starts the week on a high and happy note. I have so many cousins and although we don't see each other as much as we did when we were younger, when we are together it is always fun and crazy time. All the weddings in my family are huge and so much fun. The notable food items are antipasto with various meet and cheese and then also a huge dessert table. Yummy! Lastly, is the traditions. I love all my family traditions. Especially my grandma making homemade sauce, pasta, cookies and so many other things. She is an excellent cook and nothing compares to her food. I wish I knew her secret ingredients. 

6. In order for myself to be comfortable in a college classroom I need to feel like my classmates and professor are supporting me. I also need to feel like everyone is interested in what I am talking about or doing in the class. If I feel like no one cares about me and isn't listening I will not take any risks and be very uncomfortable.

7. My first semester of college chemistry is one of my best memories as a student. This class is when I realized I wanted to be a high school chemistry teacher. My professor loved her job and always told and showed us how much she enjoyed teaching us. The class was extremely difficult, but I wanted to succeed so bad and I did. I did really well in the class and even though I struggled at times it made me want to succeed even more. This class made me realize how much I enjoy chemistry and how I want to be a teacher that is challenging, but also makes the class enjoyable. 

8. I'm concerned that I won't be able to get out of college. I know that high school math and science teachers are in demand so that makes me feel a little better. My degree is going to allow me to teach grade 7-12 any science class except for physics so this also makes me a little more versatile compared to other teachers who can only teach one subject. 

9. What made you want to be an education professor?