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Vivian,
When I think about the everyday texts that can be found at my school, one in particular comes to mind. It is a small sign that says “No Dogs Allowed” in red Crayola. It hangs on an interior door that just happens to be outside of my classroom. It is a remnant of the week when the kindergarteners practiced writing signs: “Gri Bash Rm” is another one of my favorites. I never paid attention to this sign before but after listening to this show I was taking a mental walk around my school and it caught my eye. First of all, no one ever posts a “No Dogs Allowed” sign at a school because it is common knowledge that you cannot bring a dog to school. Second, if you had such a sign it would be outside of the building not on an interior door. With these thoughts in mind, I try to think like I am five years old. This is what I came up with:
The most exciting thing ever has just happened to me: I GOT A PUPPY. She is so cute, small and black and she will play with me for hours and doesn’t get tired or have to stop playing with me to go do work. I love my puppy and right now I cannot think or talk about anything else. I have written at least three stories about her in writing workshop. The terrible thing is, when I have to go to school in the morning and mom has to go to work we have to leave my puppy in a cage. Mom says she likes the cage and that it makes her feel safe but I dunno…I would not like a cage. I am not allowed to bring my puppy to school so when Ms. M asked me to write a sign I angrily scribbled, “No Dogs Allowed” and I put it on the door behind the security guard’s desk because Ms. M wouldn’t let me put it on the outside door. This was the next best thing. I can’t wait to get home to play with my dog again.
Ha! Ha! I had fun trying to imagine where that sign might have come from. More to the point, thinking about the everyday texts at my school really opened my eyes to the fact that the artwork and signs and posters and books that decorate the walls of my school each have a story to tell and can convey meaning without saying a word.
Thanks and see you soon,
Rachel

What an interesting take on reading every day texts! Sometimes I think the more subtle messages are the ones we need to worry most about.

Thanks Rachel

Wow, I was thrilled and amazed to hear about how little Miles drew the doctor into buying a painting from his artist friend… It was really interesting to hear the vocabulary MIles used with you in referencing the roles of the artist, consultor, and business manager. I wonder where he and his friends heard those words and how they figured out how to associate them with the roles they had? I would say that there is a good chance that one of the students parents had exposed them to the idea of being a consultant or business manager.

As a math teacher, this really opened up my eyes (well, ears really) to giving students more meaningful context. Within, this mini business… Miles and his friends investigated interests through surveying, created a pricing structure, and marketed and advertised their product. This really is an applicable way of building a business.

For my Algebra I students, I give them a project where they must choose a product and survey 50 people (5 teachers, 10 other adults, and 35 students) about how much they would pay for their product of interest. After collecting and organizing all that information, the students must analyze the data by calculating the mean, median, and mode to determine the “fairest” price the product should sell for. They have to analyze the data, create graphs, and then write a little brief summary justifying their price.

Next year, perhaps we can take the project a little bit further by having the students come up with a marketing strategy or proposal and to use the data they collected, the visual graphs they produced, and the summary to present for a potential business plan. This way, the students could value the project in a much more meaningful way and understand the importance of surveying, analyzing data, and for creating graphical representations of data.

-Will

Hi Professor Vasquez-

“So common we do not carefully take notice of them.” When referring to everyday texts, we really do not notice what we are looking at. It is very important to really scrutinize what we absorbing from the world around us.

I love this moment that you had with Miles, he sounds like a future businessman, ready for a buyer. Listening to your synthesis of his actions and the curriculum is amazing. I am sure that the teacher your were observing took a great deal of time with the activity for the day, but your statement that Miles breezed right through, enlightens how sophisticated his organizational skills already are. If his age group needs to know how to classify and group, he already has it down.

I know that this student must be a DC-metro student by referencing “consultant” in his roles. Being from Utah originally, I did not know what a consultant was until I moved to DC after college. Picking that up, from his everyday texts speaks volumes about the place that he comes from. One can assume that either an adult in his life, or his other business partners’ lives works as a consultant.

This is a great story, and I love that he was trying to get you to buy the more expensive picture, way to stick to your original choice!

Lara

Hi Vivian,

Interesting podcast, I like the way you analyzed every line of your conversation with Miles. I have a couple of questions. In this podcast, you’re discussing everyday texts. What are the texts in this situation? Is it the role that MIles and his business partners have learned to play, presumedly gleaned from parents or other adults? If it is, I think this says a lot about role play in learning different discourses. In essence the students are bringing in something from their environment outside school, then learning about it and experimenting with it by playing the roles. It would be interesting to think about some different ways to first bring in pieces of discourse that are present in the different outside environments of students, and then let them explore using the language and communication structures needed to accomplish the tasks as appropriate for the role they are playing. Lastly, they can reflect on their interactions, why they made the choices they made. Instead of simply replicating what they see around them, they can step outside of the roles and explore the way language is used.

In fact, role play is used a lot in communicative methodologies to teach English to non-native English speakers. Why not use it for native speakers to explore in depth the way their first language is used?

Erin

After listening to this podcast I am immediately struck by the sophistication of Miles’s language choices and I can’t help but reflect upon how different the make up of the language used by students in one class can be to the language used by students in another class. I believe that it is important to connect the language skills that our children bring to the classroom with the language of the standardized curriculum but first we must make sure that we assess the language skills that our children already possess. In this way, we can then create more relevant learning opportunities that connect to our students personally rather than simply “privileging the traditional texts”. I agree with Luke that, “new literacies refer to new times and places where learners acquire literacy” and this podcast reminds me that, as a teacher, I must be aware of those different forms and contexts where my students come in contact with these everyday texts. I then must engage my students with those “untraditional” texts so as to enrich the standard curriculum and develop critical literacy conversations in the classroom. It is necessary that we as teachers highlight our students’ everyday texts so that we can help our students develop into critical beings, questioning those messages that surround them in the forms of advertisements on buses, trains, television, internet, radio, etc. If we do not bring these texts into the classroom to be analyzed by our students and we only adhere to the strict standards of our District’s curriculum, then we are doing our children a major disservice. Teaching our students how to negotiate meaning from the everyday texts that they encounter and allowing them to understand how to make choices with the language that they use and that they experience can truly create a population that critical examines the world around them. -Katie L.

While listening to this podcast, I couldn’t stop thinking about the artistic entrepreneurship that occurs daily in my own first grade classroom. Each afternoon, three fourths of my students choose to go to the “art center” during their free choice time (this year, Legos, blocks, and puzzles have played second fiddle to crayons, markers, glue, and scissors). The social heirarchy that unfolds at this time is remarkable: the students with the most artistic skill are suddenly heralded as kings and queens as the lesser skilled students scramble to sit next to them, copy every line they create, and beg for an original piece to take home. Thus, it doesn’t surprise me one bit that Miles and his friends would capitalize on this particular skill!

The way you retold your conversation with Miles made me smile; I could picture this precocious student with his mental wheels spinning. I was particularly interested in the way that the classroom instructional techniques and routines — the categorizing, role assignments, etc. — were reflected in Miles’ transaction. It’s always easy to see the obvious connections students make from lesson to life, but I appreciated this deeper analysis. As for the idea of everyday texts, I like that this account comes across as a postive example. I am often struck by how much seemingly inappropriate material my six-year-old students are exposed to. We are a class who worships traditional texts (books); I am now wondering how I can embrace the everyday messages in the world around us to create wholly literate children…

-Kate F.

I think that what stands out the most to me is Miles extensive vocabulary as well as his use of language. His use of language is not how the majority of students in my class speak at the beginning of the school year. Students have a tendency to use a lot of slang language in the classroom at the beginning of the year, however I teach them that the classroom is not the place for that type of language. I encourage the students to use standard English so therefore I model it for them within the classroom. Miles is very impressive.

Hi Vivian,

As an Economics major, I liked and was impressed to hear the aspiring businessman at age 7. I thought two things as I listened to your interesting interactions with Miles. He definitely has some natural tendencies towards business as he so easily put himself in the role of consultant, took surveys to know what people wanted, and basically constructed the essential foundation of a small business with himself as consultant to figure out what the consumer wanted, the artist producing the goods, and the business manager to keep track of expenses / revenue / profits. Secondly, I think that even if this student is a genius he must be mimicking a parent in the business world. It’s amazing that he was able to take such initiative and to be so business savvy at a young age.

I like what you say about “permeable curriculum.” Miles knew to go back to where he was supposed to be when the teacher was looking, but if this business was part of his school curriculum, if he was allowed to cultivate his natural interest how easy would his transition from education to work life be and how much more successful would he be as an adult???

Great stuff,
Natasha

podcast 36 cleanly illustrates the potential power of relevancy in the curriculum, and how it can really bring home ideas that we educators are trying to transmit to the students. the original idea of the class’ exercise was to sort and categorize depictions of insects using student-generated defining characteristics. however, Miles, Kyle, and Antoine took the concept a step further and APPLIED this to a scenario that was pertinent to their lives - making money! without a doubt, this is what we want our students to do; as an educator, it’s pretty evident that learning occurred that when a student can take a brand new concept and apply it immediately in their lives. in this case, miles discussed the ways in which he and his colleagues (at this point, why even say fellow students? they’re running a tight, little enterprise) had categorized interests of people, types of drawings, etc.

last, although the teacher didn’t berate miles and crew for “not” conforming to the original, scripted plan, from the podcast, it seems like they weren’t congratulated on taking the concept a step further. such actions also would have let them know that their ideas, while appearing to be contrary to the lesson, actually meshed seamlessly with it and were very valuable and applicable in the real world.

i expect that, one day, i’ll be working with miles, kyle, and antoine and calling one of them by the moniker “boss”.

Just realized I called Miles the consultant when in fact he was the business manager. I apologize for the error. Sorry about that, Natasha

Hi Professor Vasquez,
This idea of new text is something I try to install in my students. During dear time I try to sit in front of the class and read a news paper to show my students a model of reading current literature. My students often try to bring me new papers so that I can see that their paying attention to what’s happening. I have bunch of kid’s post that I give tem as an option. My students also write about current issues going on in the school.

I think this topic is so very important! I find it extremely important that students understand the relevance of what they are reading. I find that the lin is making the text we read applicable to the lives of our students. Isn’t Myles a clever little boy, I was absolutely amazed by his use of language, while also comparing him to the students I work with. I belive my students should be equipped with the knowledge and skills to use this type of language. The literature that we use in the classroom can serve as a great tool to introducing our students to new and different language. Language development also provides students with the opportunity to critically examine everyday texts. This podcast also directed me to the transactions that take place in my classroom daily and the understanding children have behind the interactions they are making with other students. My job now is to combine the three. Thanks for sharing.

What a great example of an everyday text! I found it interesting to see the ways in which these students were exhibiting such advanced skills, which they appeared to have discovered on their own. Miles and his colleagues had developed a working business, complete with techniquest to try to get the best sale from each customer. It was interesting to see that these were things that students were doing on their own. In school once, I had a project where I was asked to develop a business. My teachers arranged it so it fit iwth what we were learning in class, including some information about finance and managing a business. I still remember doing this and enjoying it. To me, what Miles, Antwan and Kyle have done is more meaningful, because they formed their system, doing research and dividing the jobs based on their skills. These students are mastering the desired skills though something they are invested in. Impressive kids!

Miles is a savvy young guy who seems to have a firm grasp of human resources and public relations skills. I would love to see how this student develops and how he performs in other areas of school.
In beginning a unit on persuasive writing I had my tenth graders examine print advertisements that they see every day. Students eagerly participated in a discussion about what they see advertised the most. Upon further study my students explored the psychology behind advertising, the uses of colors, fonts, and graphics. These are the everyday texts that they studied. I brought in a variety of magazines and asked students to identify ads that made use of each visual technique. Their findings surprised them as well as me. Many magazines that target this demographic sell candy, alcohol, and fragrances. Celebrity (or should I say has-been-celebrity) endorsements were also rampant.
In analyzing these texts I predicted that young people will become so savvy of persuasion that they become numb to it. The story of Miles heartens me because it illustrates a child who capitalizes on this saturation of media. At such a young age he recognizes these techniques and manipulates them for profit. The fact that he completed his class assignment and immediately went back into his pitch made this vignette even more of a pleasure.

Hi Vivian,

First, congratulations and good luck with your upcoming talks on podcasting. Through listening and talking with you about your shows, these exciting events will be fascinating for you and surely in result will give all of your listeners more to think about. Your inquisitive and informative shows always leave me wanting more!

Also, I am so glad to hear Hilary’s voice and words again. Thank you for bringing her ideas and awareness to the larger world community to get even more people thinking. Those of us who heard her that day have already been trying to reflect further on our personal practices and also apply ideas to our school.

Thanks for everything!
Carol

Thanks Carol! A big part of my work connects with thinking with awesome teachers like you! I always appreciate the support and enjoy the work that we’re doing with your second grade podcasters!

Hilary is such a thoughtful and inspirational colleague and friend. She always leaves us with new wonderings. I can’t wait for her next visit.

hugs
vivian

Hi, Vivian (and Carol!)…
I was so sad to have to miss Hilary’s visit, so it was great to be able to hear her here. If you have any more recordings of her visit, I would love to hear. It is always so inspiring to hear her and talk with her, and with you as well! You are an incredible support to so many of us! I miss working more closely together.
Shannon

Hi Shannon,
Thank you for the kind words. They are most appreciated. Keeps me going! It has been too long. We need a get together!

I’m glad you enjoyed Hilary’s audio!

Hugs
v

Thanks Vivian and Hilary for posting this talk. We met at school to debrief after the conversation at AU and had a laugh looking over our notes–half sentences, phrases, words like bidurian. At one point I wrote “ask Vivian what she said.” You must’ve said something smart.

I’ve been thinking about identity–Hilary talked about how it goes somewhere within this model. I know we have more than one identity. We design and redesign text–how does that impact our identity or identities?

Thanks for the link to the paper because I should reread it. Also Choice Words.

Happy day.
Kath

Vivian,

Listening to Professor Janks talk really helped bring her Interrelated Model to life, especially the interplay between power and access. Her recounting of the interview project she did really displayed “access” as a two-way street. My research for other classes on marginalization in the formal education system also leads me to consider this point. Members of non-dominant or marginalized groups do not only need to have access to the culture of power, but their culture, values, perspectives and experiences must have access to (or have a place in) the learning space. This is the issue I’ve seen with the multicultural models used in different countries, especially in Western Europe. They make a valiant effort to provide mother tongue and cultural instruction for recent immigrant groups and ethnic and linguistic minorities, but they do not bring these cultures, perspective, experiences etc into the mainstream classroom with majority group students. Then of course Thinking about bringing different and minority group experience, etc into the classroom, leads to design consideration….. It really is an interraleted model, and an enlightening and practical way to think about creating critical literacy into education programming, wherever it may be.

[…] Original post by Vivian […]

Thanks for your comments Kathleen and Erin. How interesting that from different perspectives you both are getting at, and raising issue regarding issues of identity and identity construction. And with this of course, as indicated in Janks’ interrelated model ,are issues of access and re-design.

The instance you share is very powerful in demonstrating why and in a sense how Janks’ interrelated model could make a difference for often marginalized individuals and people.

Thanks
vivian

Dr. Vivian,

Thank you for posting Dr. Janks’s talk. It really left me thinking about what we possibly could do here in the states in creating dialogue about the harsh realities of slavery and the renaments that it left. Dr. Janks mentions that when we talk about giving kids access, we talk about giving kids access to priviledge knoweledges. We have to think about how to extend the range of what knoweledge is priviledged in the classroom. The TRC pedagogy did this with having children to find out real facts from both ends of the spectrum. I think that is a wonderful and excellent way to more beyond the stigma of apartheid. It this method was applied to teaching children about slavery/African-American history, their experience and knoweledge would be richer.