Post for 2/19/09 - Dialogue Journals

The purpose of the program we are currently in is to equip us with the skills and training to become teachers. We have now been in this program for 9 months and we have yet to put our focus towards the assessment of our students. Since we "are going to be teaching in 3-4 week," it is of the utmost importance that we gain an understanding of what and how to grade (anonymous). Therefore, I found the assigned readings this week to be very valuable.

Adger's article places a strong emphasis on the variables that a teacher will encounter with students of a vernacular dialect. However, I unwittingly incorporated students that speak Standard English within the focus as well. I found dialogue journals to be one of the most valuable topics within both of the readings, due to the fact that I am going to be teaching a creative writing class. Adger states that, "A dialogue journal is a bound notebook in which a student and teacher communicate regularly in writing over a continuous period of time. Students can write as much as they want about topics of their choice. The teacher writes back each time the student writes - often responding to the student's topics, but also introducing new topics" (121). During my interview with my teacher at Central High, she informed me that it is incumbent upon the teacher to build a community and form relationships with his/her students during the first few days of class; only then can you begin to know your students and have a better idea of how to plan your curriculum. Dialogue Journals are one of the best ways to do this!

Going off of this statement, I feel it very important to share the following story of a student in one of my classes, for it shows the relevance of knowing your students as individuals and the necessity of being a flexible teacher:

My teacher (who teaches creative writing) was telling me a story about one of her students...we'll call her Allie. Through her writings, my teacher learned that Allie recently discovered a malignant tumor in her sinus passage and will have to undergo chemotherapy and surgery. With that, Allie is also the victim of domestic abuse. Her father repeatedly abused her and her mother, and her mother recently kicked him out of the house. The day my teacher told me this story, Allie was late to school. Her mother was unable to give her a ride and it was too late to catch the bus. Allie paid $15 for a cab and arrived to school 5 minutes after first period had finished. She went to turn in a paper that was due that day and the teacher refused to accept it. Allie implored her to take it, stating it was finished and that she tried her best to get to school on time. Needless to say, these "excuses" failed to change the teacher's mind. My teacher, as well as myself, were heartbroken, for both my teacher and I knew the obstacles Allie had been enduring over the past X amount of years.

It is through her journal that my teacher discovered this information about Allie, and Allie now consideres my teacher a mentor and shoulder to lean on, since she talks so little about her personal life to anyone. This, alone, shows how powerful a dialogue journal can be to a student AND a teacher. It also shows why we need to be flexible. Education does not revolve around the teacher....but the students. Because of this, we need to make sure our students have access to us, as well as resources, in order for them to succeed.

Although this blog does not address the major topics discussed within our readings, I felt it necessary to share. As teachers, we need to develop thick skin and discover methods and forms of therapy (yoga, blogs, a good book) to get us through some of the travesties that are bound to turn up in our paths.

-For Allie

Resource Link:
http://www.uslaw.com/library/Legal_Writing/Problem_Dialect.php?item=205380
This blog titled "The Problem of Dialect," talks about different connotations different dialects have and why we have these associations with them. It's very interesting and aruges that "there is nothing inherent in a dialect that makes it...superior or inferior to another."