After reading Dr. Vasquez's book, I was throughly amazed by the questions that her JK students were asking. I know kids are naturally curious, but the depth to their questions were so much more meaningful than the usual "why?" Dr. Vasquez mentions that one of her student's parent told her that her students "ask questions that matter"(p. 141). I think that is what really struck me the most. The way Dr. Vasquez was able to get past the superficial surface and dig deeper is very well documented in her book. I think a big factor is the audit trail, which is so appealing to all types of learners and really helps connect the dots. I think this should be done in every classroom, and at home as well. I plan to create a similar audit trail for my child, something on a smaller scale, but portable, such as a notebook. The great thing about critical literacy is that it can go in so many directions, the pages will fill up quickly.
I especially like how each theme in Dr. Vasquez's book was linked to social action. The children learned at a young age that they do have a voice and can make a difference by creating alternative solutions. What a wonderful lesson to learn at such a young age. I wonder if these same children continue to be activists in and out of the classroom. Dr. Vasquez, have you been able to follow up with this group and see how they are doing?
I also wanted to mention that I really enjoyed the conference last Saturday. Even though I am not a teacher in a classroom, I appreciated all of the ideas that Dr. Harste had for us. He was able to give us a lot of "take-aways" that I am curious to know if the teachers in our class where able to implement any of them.
Have a great week!
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I teach in a classroom, and Dr. Harste inspired something that I will be trying with my students. I teach high school biology, and I have wanted to read the students a children’s book to introduce a new subject. But I was unsure how much a 27-student class would get out of me holding up a book for them to see. It may not seem novel, but the way that the pages were scanned and projected is exactly how I am going to read You’re Full of Genes. I am looking forward to the attempt and will let you know how it goes.
I think that the idea of encouraging social action among our students is very important, especailly because their voices often gets stifled. Activisim among students should be encouraged if it's for a good cause. For example, at the heat of the immigration debate I encouraged my students to write their congressmen/women about what they felt about the issue. I think that acitvisim is a significant way to help fight some of the soci-economic disparities in out society.
Hi Kristina,
For a while I kept in a touch with a couple of the kids and then all of us moving around made it hard to keep track of each others' whereabouts. While we were in touch though the kids and their families continued the kind of work we had started in the classroom. I wish there were a way to have kept in touch with all the kids. I wonder about them often and treasure the time we had together.
Thanks
v.
thepowerinlearning,
I'd love to hear more about your letters to congress. Great idea.
the only absolute,
what I do is to take digital photos of the pages. Works very well for me.
vivian
I was also impressed by the thoughtful questions the students in Dr. Vasquez's class were asking. It was inspiring to read about young children thinking on such an advanced level. Before reading the, it would have been hard to believe that students so young could go beyond asking the questions and take the social action in response to them.
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