Talking Points #2 "Why Can't She Remember That?"

        I found this article quite interesting because it talked about teaching in multicultural classrooms. Now a days, there are more ethnic students in the classrooms, then white students. The first quote that I really enjoyed was the quote: "Despite their diverse backgrounds, all children bring back to school rich linguistic abilities acquired through social interaction in their homes and communities." I personally can relate to this quote and on what the author is trying to say. When I was in elementary school, Portuguese was my first language that I spoke at home. When I would go to school, I would have an accent, and my English would not be correct. It took some time for me to improve my English. I did not go in the ESL program, I had resource help me. I was in resource for one year, until my teacher told me I did not need it anymore. The type of dialect a student has with someone at home or school affects the way a student speaks in a classroom. Since that person is already used to speaking that dialect outside of the classroom, the student is still going to bring it to the classroom, since they are already used to that dialect.
       Another quote that I enjoyed reading in Why Can't She Remember That is the quote: "Children who don't have many early books reading experiences learn their cultural lessons through interactions with family and other community members, from oral stories, and from observations of other people's behavior." Again, I can relate to this quote because I was raised and brought up without having any children's books in my house. I only started to get a children's book at the age of nine. I  would go to school, and that was where I would learn my childhood knowledge. I would also follow other classmates behaviors, since I really did not know at the time if they were bad or not. My aunt and uncle that were Portuguese with American background would try and teach me how to read and to also comprehend the story. My dad would not teach me because he could/ he still really can't speak English that well. I would be the type of girl in which I would follow other girls footsteps, and try to copy what they did. With time, I finally got out of the stage, and started to buy my own books, and I would practice reading by myself, until I got the hang of it.
          "In addition to the teacher using dolls and puppets to help read books in lively and engaging ways, children can use them to dramatize the story in the book or to create new dialogues and stories of their own." Again, I can relate to this because I felt/ still feel that I learn better with a visual, then with no visual. With a visual, children can have more of an imagination when they are reading a story. It opens up their brain more, and they have more of an understanding on what is going on. With a visual, it helps children, especially children with English as a second language have a better comprehension. Children learn faster and better when they have a demonstration of something that guides them in a reading. It is always good that teachers try helping the students as best as they can. It makes the children realize that the teachers are tying to help them.
                I so far find this article the best out all the ones that I have read. Maybe because I can relate to the children and what it was like to grow up with English as my second language. I feel like I have a better understanding of a story when I can relate to it. Teachers try as much as they can to help the students with the problem they have when it comes to reading. Speaking and reading English is difficult, and I give prompts to the children who learn real quick.

Jonathan Kozol- Amazing Grace Talking Point 1 Monica Ferreira

  In this article, I have found three interesting quotes that I enjoyed. The first quote that I enjoyed was "If poor people behaved rationally-they would be seldom by poor for long in the first place." When I looked at this quote and read it, to me it feels like it has to do with equality, and being equal. In Amazing Grace, everyone could spot the poor people. In my opinion by what this quote means, is that since the community already knows the poor people, they are rarely known for that classification as a poor person. That quote caught my eye, even though it seems like a vague quote.
  Towards the end of the article, there was another quote that caught my attention. The quote is "I think they hate you because you are not in their condition. I am in hell and you are not and so I hate you and I have to try to bring you down to where I am." In the article, this quote was referring to when the narrator passed by St. Ann's avenue, the dealers would open their hands and would ask what they wanted. The dealer would give the narrator a hatred look. I think it means that the dealer is hated by the narrator because the narrator is not in the dealers shoes for being a prostitute dealer. Maybe he would want to be poor like the narrator, instead of being in the shoes he is in.
     The last sentence of the article was another quote that caught my attention and that was, "It's not just hatred, it's as if they're laughing at theirs, and yours." Everyone  has hatred for everyone. There is always something about a person in which a person does not like. In reality, that is true. A person is never happy about themselves, and are always hating something about them, and about others. No one can just respect people, it's always about hatred.

      I personally enjoyed reading this article. It moved us from the topic of racism from the other articles we read, to more of where poor children live in a society, and what they have to deal with. It was a pretty fair reading. I understood most of it, and if I didn't, I would go back and read it over. It related to the other texts we read by showing what it feels like to be treated. The other readings were based on race and culture, and how they got treated. This article is based on poor children and their education, and it discusses on how society treats them. It's sad living in a society like this because no one ever accepts for people on who they are. If you were living where the narrator lived in the story, how would you feel? What it impact your life, or would it be a living condition you would get used to?

The Basic About Me :)

    Hello everyone! My name is Monica, and I am currently a sophomore at Rhode Island College. I want to become a Spanish and Portuguese secondary education teacher. I am thinking about taking out the Spanish and just sticking to Portuguese. I am Portuguese, and I love being proud of it. I participate in the Portuguese folklore traditional dance "rancho", and dance for the "Dancas e Cantares do Clube Juventude Lusitana." I am looking forward to this FNED class. Sometimes I have lack of confidence, and I can be shy at times. I am sensitive at times, and I can be emotional. I love to smile, and chances are you will always see my smiling! I like hanging out with my friends and my boyfriend. I am dedicated to my job. I work at Emerald Bay Nursing Home in Cumberland as a waitress. It will be 3 years in February. I love learning new things, and I like a challenge. I feel like this semester is going to be a good one. If anyone else wants to learn anything, feel free to ask! :)