“Aria”

     I read the Rodriguez piece this week. I learned a few important things about how different the world can be for a child where English is not the primary language spoken at home. The author speaks of a private individuality and a public individuality. In his private home, he was able to speak Spanish and relate with his family in a different way from his peers and teachers at school. But his public individuality, at first, was shy and reserved because of the language barrier.  I think that this can sometimes, to an ignorant person, make a teacher believe that the student with the language barrier is somehow lazy, or not participating in class, when in reality, they are working twice as hard to process the information in an unfamiliar language. I can’t imagine how scary it would be for a first grader to be away from their parents all day AND not speak the same language as the teacher.  

     When Rodriguez goes onto to talk about how his parents stopped speaking Spanish in the home to help the children assimilate, it was very moving. Essentially giving up their way of life to make sure their children don’t fall behind, is very inspiring. But it also saddened me to hear how his life changed, it seemed like he lost a connection with his family that he really didn’t need to loose. There could have been other ways to help his assimilation other than deny his family of their culture. But Rodriguez sees the silver lining in all of this. He understands the necessity of assimilation and how it can positively effect a child’s life. This is an important part of the conversation for bilingual educators. Assimilation may have changed his private life, but his public life suddenly started to become easier. I guess what I really took away from this was that teaching children who are bilingual comes with a set of challenges, not just in the classroom, but also their sense of self and culture has to be factored into the conversation. 

     This video is actually from Sesame Street (I know, but I have a 1.5 year old so I watch a lot of it). I’m always impressed by their ability to take a really tough topic and turn it into something fun for kids. The feeling of having “two me’s” is something the author echoed, so I found this little song to be a lighthearted take for kids to better understand. 

Amazing Grace

I was struck with the weight of this week’s reading. I grew up in New Hampshire, in a fairly nice area. When I read Kozol, I was just dumbfounded that children have to grow up under those circumstances. We see commercials on television to help children in third world countries, but the way that this area of New York was described, did not sound much better.  Kozol paints a grim picture with his writing. And it is simply fact. He immersed himself into incredibly impoverished areas and gets to know the children and learn their struggles so he can help solve them. In the case of Amazing Grace, he spends much time in learning of the healthcare system that the children and adults have to use in the area. Honestly, it sounded like something from a horror film. Patients having to clean their own hospital rooms of blood before they are admitted and often wait days in the waiting room to be seen. If it were not fact, it would be almost unbelievable that this is America. In my opinion, and I think Kozol would agree, this is leaving people to die because they are poor and society has not placed enough value in these people’s lives.  

Reading Kozol is very eye opening. He records the injustices of the poor in an honest approach. He was criticized for not having enough statistics in his work, but to me, statistics don’t give you the same sinking, sick feeling that hearing of these accounts of what people have to go through first hand. I implore everyone to take the time to read this Amazing Grace piece. It did leave me with the question of, what can be done? And I think it really starts with changing your mind about poverty, and trying to change others. Calling out injustices when we see them, and not supporting those who are part of the wage gap. Also, as educators, we need to get rid of any sort of predisposed notion we have of poverty, and educate every child with same investment. 

USA, Land of Limitations- Nicholas Kristof

     I very much so enjoyed reading this piece. Not only was it impressive writing, but it was incredibly accessible to both sides of political spectrum. I think relating to people is the most important way to get them to understand your point. So, to the authors credit, I found that impressive. I appreciated his metaphor of height in relation to income mobility. This fact is a very sad truth and pretty depressing to think about. This idea that in America all you have to do is work hard and you’ll rise to the top, is, in my opinion, pretty obsolete. If you are not set up for success, usually by your parents and their wealth, it is likely that you will have no economic mobility.

     Kristof goes into to also describe the vilification of the poor. There is an idea that has been placed into America’s mind that somehow if you are poor it is because you have done something wrong or are a bad person. This is just simply not true. Kristof’s description of his friend Rick sounds like the typical working class person. Stuck in a cycle of poverty, and the punishments that go with it. This morning I was watching CNN and I was struck by a story that I thought correlated with this perfectly. A school principal in New Jersey was trying to fix the problem of school bullying. He noticed that most of the children being bullied were poor and had dirty clothes. Students would skip class because they had no clean clothes. Let that fact sink in. It is not these high school kids fault that they have no access to a washer and dryer, but thy are being punished for it. And ultimately their education is suffering, thus making sure their economic mobility suffers. The principal of this school decided to take the old football lockers and turn them into a free laundry mat. How incredible! Not only is it great for the kids who need it, but also for the kids who are volunteering at it to keep it going. That sense of community can be life altering. Here is a link to the video and article. Principal Cook is making sure that poor children can have pride in themselves and learn with dignity. I would imagine that Kristof would support his idea as a way to undo some of the damage done by classism.

“Students pick out their favorite detergent in the new laundry room”

     As future educators we need to take into account poverty and how that can add an extra layer of struggle into the mix for children. And we need to know that poverty is not a measure of how much worth someone has. I’ll end with a quote from Kristof that I think sums it up pretty well, “So let’s just drop the social Darwinism. Success is not a sign of virtue. It’s mostly a sign that your grandparents did well.”

About Me

Hello! My name is Nicole Ayres and I am excited to be able to introduce myself.  I am a currently enrolled at Rhode Island College as a secondary education major with a concentration in history.  My hands are what you would consider "full".  In addition to my studies (and most importantly), I am a mom to a toddler named Luna (yes, like from Harry Potter), a mutt named Barley, and two hairless cats (Kreacher and Gollum).  We have fun at my house :)

My summer was spent mostly at the beach and bringing Luna to all the fun places she was too small and newborn-ish to go to last year.

I work part time at Flatbread Company (the best pizza place EVER).  Prior to having Luna I worked there full time as a manager, but decided to go back part time after having her.  I have worked with the company for about 6 years and my husband and I met there.  He currently manages the kitchen and we have a great time collabing with local farmers and brewers.  To say that pizza is a part of our life is a little bit of an understatement.  My daughter will probably be able to hand stretch a dough by the time shes two. 

Im looking forward to all this class has to offer and getting to know a little more about teaching through the service learning project.  Thanks!