Final Project Proposal

Combat Bullying Through Literature

I will be researching how bullying affects students.  Because this has become a prevalent problem in all school systems, it is important to me, as a future educator, to be aware of this issue and to have a game plan to attempt to stop bullying.  According to StopBullying.gov, "Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be repeated, over time. Bullying includes actions such as making threats, spreading rumors, attacking someone physically or verbally, and excluding someone from a group on purpose."  I am passionate about this topic because too many children have taken their lives because they were bullied to an extreme.  It is extremely important to educate students about bullying, what it is, the forms of it, and most importantly, how the victim feels about the behavior the bully exhibits.  

As a future English teacher, I have the unique position to be able to educate students through literature.  For this project, I will be researching how introducing students to literature about bullying opens up conversation about their own bullying, and hopefully, encourages students to think twice before bullying another student.  According to the website Kids' Wings, “literature can build a door in the wall. By experiencing problems of fictional characters, these problem kids are better able to understand the consequences of their own actions and look for positive ways to change."  I plan to continue searching for academic articles and news articles about bullying.  To present my research, I will submit lesson plans based on literature that could be implemented into a classroom to educate students about the effects of bullying.  By reading literature with a protagonist that deals with bullies, students will most likely be able to relate and discuss their experiences with classmates and in formal writing assignments.  The key goal for all lesson plans will be to encourage students to think about how their words and actions are affecting their victims when bullying.

Works Cited

Lowe, Danielle F. "Helping Children Cope Through Literature." Forum on Public Policy Online 2009.1 (2009) Web.  Eric.  22 Apr. 2012.

Mosley, Melissa. "'That Really Hit Me Hard': Moving Beyond Passive Anti-Racism to Engage with Critical Race Literacy Pedagogy." Race, Ethnicity & Education 13.4 (2010): 449-71. Web.  Education Research Complete.  22 Apr. 2012.

Sharp, Kelly. "Breaking Down the Barriers: Using Critical Literacy to Improve Educational Outcomes for Students in 21st-Century Australian Classrooms." Literacy Learning: The Middle Years 20.1 (2012): 9-15. Web.  Education Research Complete.  22 Apr. 2012.

“Using Literature to Stop Bullying.” Kids Wings (2006).  22 Apr. 2012. <http://suzyred.com/bullying.html>

Paper 2 topic

paper 2 topic

Paper 2 topic

paper 2 topic

Week #6: BEV in the Classroom

After considering the articles we have read recently about Black English Vernacular, I believe that BEV should be allowed in the classroom.  Although SAE is the language of power, there is nothing inherent in the language that makes it superior to any other language.  Geneva Smitherman writes, “[BEV] was shown to be systematic and rule-governed, since it is not accepted by the white mainstream, different became deficit all over again, and in the process, Africans in America suffer further dislocation” (613).  Allowing BEV into the classroom will help to minimize the gap between to “prestigious” SAE and “inferior” BEV.  Perhaps by incorporating, or simply allowing BEV in the classroom, the disparities between SAE and BEV will lessen because BEV will be reaffirmed as a valid language. 

SAE is not the only language available to students, so it is important that the classroom reflects a diverse population.  The CCCC writes, “the need for varying dialects may arise from a speaker’s membership in different age or educational groups” (711).  This statement reflects the sentiments of James Gee, who argued that people used discourses to become a part of and blend into various groups.  When schools isolate SAE as the most important language to learn, they are, in a sense, contributing to students’ inability to be a part of certain groups.  BEV speakers identify with one another on the basis that they are all BEV speakers, which means that schools shouldn’t beat that out of students.  Although other authors, such as Lisa Delpit, have highlighted that it is important for all students to learn SAE, it is equally important for students to maintain their primary language, whether it is BEV or another language.   

Week 5: Paper 1 Prep

I chose to explore how linguistic diversity is dealt with in the classroom because I will begin my student teaching next semester and feel that this is an important topic to research. As a white female, I am entering into a school system whose population is made up of students whose backgrounds are much different from mine. With that in mind, I must be willing and able to adapt my teaching methods to fit the students I am teaching. To prepare myself for the diversity within schools, I am curious how other teachers have handled linguistic diversity in their classrooms. I don’t want to be a teacher that tries to eliminate the diversity within a body of students because diversity makes our society interesting.

Acquiring the ability to function in a dominant discourse need not mean that one must reject one’s home identity and values, for discourses are not static, but are shaped, however reluctantly, by those who participate within them and by the form of their participation. Many who have played significant roles in fighting for liberation of people of color have done so through the language of dominant discourses, from Fredrick Douglas to Ida B. Wells, to Mary McCloud Bethune, to Martin Luther King, to Malcolm X.

Delpit 552

This passage is important to my question about linguistic diversity within the classroom because it addresses the fact that students should maintain their cultural identity while acquiring a new discourse. The fact that Delpit highlights the successes of individuals who acquired a secondary discourse in schools shows the importance of students learning to SAE, the language of power, while still maintaining their own cultural identity. By giving students the knowledge of the language of power, teachers enable their students to become advocates for themselves, which is an important, lifelong skill.

The important concept/keywords are that “discourses are not static.” This is important because languages that are in contact with each other begin to change the other. As students sit in the classroom, they are being exposed to SAE and this incidental language contact can affect the students’ primary discourse, so whether or not the students want to participate in the secondary discourse, SAE, they are familiarized with it in the classroom. Some students will be resistant to learning a secondary discourse, but it is a necessary evil because students need to know how to speak SAE to succeed in the business world. Because of this, I feel that this is an important passage to consider when writing my paper because it highlights the need to show students the importance of learning the language of power, but also stresses that it needs to be done in a non-confrontational manner so that students will be willing to try to learn it. The question also extends to how is this achieved?

Week 4: Who are/have been my literacy sponsors?

Brandt describes literacy sponsors as the people or group who choose what is taught, how much is taught, and who is taught.  This is extremely important to consider because each group that decides to make another group of people literate do so with their own agenda in mind.  For example, missionaries go out in other countries and teach the people of that country about their mission; thus, the information presented is skewed to fit the "needs" of the sponsoring group.

On the very obvious level, my parents and family have been my literacy sponsors for my entire life.  They have helped shape me into the person that they want me to be.  My family instilled a certain set of values in me, which are consistent with their own.  Part of my family's values is a good Christian upbringing, so I was brought to church and Sunday school every weekend.  My WELS (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) church has another agenda that they want to teach their flock of people that congregate there every weekend to hear the word of God.  Although I know that their teaching are different from Catholic or Presbyterian, I don't know the exact roots of the teachings of the church. This is an interesting facet of my religion that I have never even considered because I have never known anything different.

I had the pleasure of attending public schools in Kenosha, WI throughout my entire K-12 education.  Up until the last couple years, I had never questioned the content, quality, or quantity of the education I received through KUSD.  A few semesters ago I studied the Texas Textbook Controversy (TTC) in a class at UWM, which made me realize that the education students receive in schools is the product of school boards.  Because content is based on school board members' thoughts and opinions about what students should learn, education is nothing more than political propaganda.  The textbooks that are printed are, more often than not, based off of the decision of two key states - Texas and California - because they are the largest buyers of texts due to the size of their states.  Textbooks in and of themselves are an expensive investment for states, but it becomes more costly for smaller states to rewrite a textbook to suit their needs/wants, so states usually buy the books that have been approved in either of those two states.  This becomes an issue because of the choices made in creating and approving a textbook.  In the TTC, the school board was essentially "rewriting" history to blot out the imperfections of the United States' history.

Because education has so many components, it is hard to trace who the sponsor of my education was.  Fortunately, I feel like I have more of a say in my education now.  When I first started going to school, I attended UW-Parkside because it was close to my house.  However, two years ago when the education department closed down, I was forced to go to a different school.  After researching several colleges, I was able to choose the college that seemed to be aligned with my ideas and needs.  I do acknowledge, however, that my education is still controlled by many sponsors - the government, DPI, UWM, individual teachers, ect.

Free week

The thing that strikes me as odd about both Gee and Delpit’s articles is that neither is considered with how individuals become literate in reading and writing.  Literacy encompasses more than just an individual’s ability to master Discourses.   In earlier discussions, we talked about how literacy is “pigeon-holed” to highly specific areas, thus, not covering all subjects we can be literate in.  Since these experts are so hung up on individuals being literate in navigating social circles through discourses, how important is it to consider other forms of literacy? 

This is something that has really nagged me because at the very beginning of this semester we were forced to consider all areas of literacy.  The main thing that I have began to consider, in regards to Gee’s Discourse literacy, is how Discourses aide individuals in acquiring other forms of literacy.  Because it is essential to converse with others to learn something new, I cannot disregard the importance of talking with other people.  Without social interactions, it would be more difficult, but not entirely impossible, to learn new tasks. 

Since Delpit’s article disputes Gee’s statements that discourses cannot be taught in school, I align myself more with her concept of literacy.  Schools create a place to increase various types of literacy.  Although schools have fault, some schools have more than others, each school’s goal is to increase students’ knowledge base and promote literacy in multiple subjects.  Subjects are taught independently of each other, but there are many areas that cross over into other subjects; thus, I disagree with Gee that secondary discourses cannot be taught because students are successful in school by learning the “language of school.”

Literacy: Redefined after reading the Gee article

My previous definition of literacy pertained to an individual's ability to master a skill, but there were many holes as to how an individual is deemed literate.  Although Gee's article changed my definition slightly, I still believe that literacy is an individual's ability to master a task.  However, Gee's article caused me to consider the role of interpersonal relationships on the individual's mastery of the content or skill.  Becoming successful in a skill is pointless unless the individual is able to share their knowledge, either directly or indirectly, with another individual or group of people. 

Because Gee was so concerned with how individuals interact with each other, I feel that it is important to include it in my definition.  Knowledge and information kept in isolation from others doesn’t help others because is knowledge is meant to me shared not hoarded.  Gee was concerned with how individuals navigated social circles and whether or not they were able to successful integrate themselves into it.  Since social interactions are a large part of our society, my definition of literacy has to take that into consideration. 

What is literacy? Response to D2L discussion

Surprisingly, literacy encompasses a lot more than being able to read and write at the proficient level.  My definition of literacy has been pigeon-holed to the realm of English education of reading and writing.  Through the D2L discussion, my classmates have pushed me to consider other definitions of what literacy entails.  Although I believe it is extremely important to be literate in reading and writing, those two skills are not required to learn another activity.  For example, an individual does not need to be literate in reading and writing to become literate in kickboxing.  Reading and writing literacy essential (or helpful at the very least) to learn another skill such as cooking.  In this way, various types of literacy intersect with achieving literacy in another activity.

While reading through the discussion, I kept wondering how people decide that they are literate.  Is literacy achieved when a person simply knows how to do an activity? Or are there standards and criteria that must be achieved?  I also found myself wondering if the ability to communicate about a specific skill or activity contributes to an individual's literacy. To me, the ability to communicate or teach another individual about a subject enhances literacy. It seems to me that discussions about a given topic are helpful because they allow the individual to articulate their knowledge of the subject while teaching someone else about it.  If while discussing a topic the individual mistakes or forgets something, then they know where they need more practice or  where to refresh their memory.