Week Cinco

Many of the reading this week reminded me of when I was going to school. My parents came from China not long before I was born. They were rooted in Chinese tradition and I didn’t know any other way of life until I started going to school. Kindergarten was somewhat of a breeze. I didn’t know much English, but how much English does one need to know to sculpt beautiful masterpieces out of play-doh? First grade started to get a little tense. The higher powers figured out I knew very limited English and off to ESL I go. There were some communication issues in my regular first grade classes, but I powered through and made it safely onto the next grade and the next. Sometimes there were minor challenges, such as struggling with basic reading and writing homework without the help of my parents, who at that time knew less English than I did. And then there were more earth-shattering challenges, such as not understanding assignments completely and failing tests because of it. I remember being afraid to ask questions in class because that is not the way I was brought up. But things got better when I finally got a grip on English and started reading every single book in the library. I was doing great in my classes because I finally understood what the teacher was saying. But in life, nothing is easy. Prior to starting 6th grade, we moved from South Seattle to Shoreline. Moving from an area that was predominately Asian, Mexican, and Black to an almost all white school, shocked me. I never realized how different I was. Although I didn’t experience all out racism, I always felt this weird vibe that I was different and most of my peers viewed me differently. I was picking up on little things that made me feel very different from my classmates, such as bringing Chinese food for lunch. One “ewwww, that looks gross” from a classmate was the end of my lunches from home. After that day, I hate the disgusting cafeteria food until I finished high school.


The readings last week made me think a lot about my own experiences at school. It wasn’t until college that I realized I loved being different. I thoroughly enjoy my culture’s traditions, history, beliefs, and (most importantly) food. I would never want to change who I am, but it’s sad that I didn’t see that until later on in my life. I am not saying that any of my teachers are wrong for not providing a “cultural bridge,” but I would like to use my own experiences to provide the inspiration to do so between my students and I and also with the students and each other. In chapter 4 of To Teach, Ayers writes about getting to know the students involves not only respecting their culture, but actively including it in the classroom. Ayers writes, “The cultural bridge is begun by responding sensitively to the deepest realities of children’s lives. Children are simple allowed to love, respect, cherish, and retain what they bring to school- their language, for example, their perceptions, their values. This becomes the base for the bridge, the place from which lines will be cast, and bridgework extended.” I see more and more different races, backgrounds, and cultures in schools now and I strongly believe that it’s very valuable to acknowledge the differences in students so each one can grow up to be a strong individual. I am constantly learning. Even as a teacher, I don’t want just spew out information, I’m teaching to learn as well. By keeping my mind open, I think I’ll learn from students as much as I’ll be teaching them.


I think I brought up this point before. I believe that Ayers has great thoughts and suggestions about teaching and getting to know students. What I’m concerned about is the flexibility in schools to actually implement some of the ideas. Ayers mentions activities that involve the students getting to know one another, field trips, and exploring the community. They all sound like great ideas, but how is this all possible? It really doesn’t sound like most schools allow teachers to stray away from the curriculum.


One question that was brought up in class was the individualism of teaching. Do teacher’s personal beliefs and teaching styles hinder student learning? In the Buchman reading, Role over Person: Morality and Authenticity in T eaching, it was mentioned that in elementary and secondary schools, there’s evidence that teachers are tweaking their curriculum based on personal preference. For example, if a teacher finds math difficult to teach, he or she may spend less time on math and more on another subject. Hmmmmmm….. this seems so unteacher-like to me. I believe a part of teaching is giving up on some individualism, and doing what’s in the best interest of the students. It’s like becoming a parent. It’s not fair for the students to lose a part of the lesson because a teacher prefers another subject. However, I did think about it another way. What if the teacher is passionate about science and gave up a little bit of time in math to put more emphasis on science? We talk a lot about being passionate in teaching and that does show in the classrooms. Does it hurt to be a little more enthusiastic about one subject over than another? We can’t help but to bring individualism to the classroom. But I guess that big question is at what point does that take away from the student’s learning?