Prompt #4

Connection- Allan Johnson



Prompt #4
My personal history will intersect with those of my students. I plan to teach in Title I public schools because those are the schools that need good teachers. Therefore, my classroom may be made up of mostly minorities. Because I am also a minority, I can easily understand and connect with my students. I am aware of the social and economic backgrounds, from which minorities come from. For example, I understand that English may not be the primary language spoken at home. Thus, there may not be an adult at home that can help a student with their homework. Another example of how my students and I will connect is with class discussions. I think there will be times when my students and I have the same opinion for an issue. Agreement is good to have in a classroom, but as an aspiring teacher, I would help my students consider the opposite opinion of an issue. I would rather have them step into another person’s shoes because it will help them understand that there is always many views on a certain issue. We should not look at a problem in one way; instead we should look at it in many ways even if we do not agree.

An advantage I have as a teacher is the fact that I speak Spanish. Most of the students in Manton Middle School and in my classroom are Hispanic or Latino. There was one day when a student, Jeffrey, was reading a story and asked me what the word “desperate” meant. I explained to him that it means to be anxious or worried. From the look of his face, he was still confused, and so I explained it to him in Spanish. His dazed expression disappeared. A few moments later, another student named Michael, became frustrated because he did not understand the importance of reading “hard words” and “talking proper.” Ms. Lee told him that he had to learn if he wanted to be taken seriously. Immediately, I thought of Allan Johnson. Ms. Lee was right; no one will take Michael seriously if he did not know the “proper way“ to speak. I know Michael will have to prove himself and his abilities in school and in life. According to Johnson, students of color have to do just that: “white schoolchildren, for example, are assumed to be competent until they show otherwise, while students of color are assumed to be incompetent until they prove themselves” (1). Michael has to learn the “hard words” because he needs to prove that he is competent, and in the future, articulate. I feel that society has dug out a hole for people of color. The only way for people of color to dig themselves out of this hole is to graduate from high school and college, and to learn how to speak in a “proper way.” People of color have to prove themselves to society. They have to dig themselves out of the predicament that society has placed them in.

My biggest challenge in this classroom is helping the students understand why they are learning the past tense versus the present tense or why there are two words that sound the same but have different meanings. When I was younger, I used to think schoolwork was just busy work until one of my teachers explained the reasons for the school lessons. Most of the students in the classroom do not see the importance of reading and writing. I think they would if their teacher would explain it to them. Instead, the teacher allows them to go on the computer when they are “done” with their work. I have looked at their finished classwork, and they are partially finished. I know Ms. Lee notices this and I see her ignoring it. I think if the student teacher was enthusiastic about teaching then her students would be too.