Blog #4 Jeanne Positivity First, then rules

 

Blog #4   Nixt

This week’s reading in Lindemann raised some questions for me as a teacher and as a student.  Lindemann quotes the authors of “Student’s Right to Their Own Language” with “past change is considered normal, but current change is viewed by some as degradation” (p.66).  I respond to this with another quote from Lindemann of “On matters of divided or disputed usage, it’s best to give student writers options” (p. 69). 

This idea of right versus wrong that Lindemann addresses in this chapter covers centuries of this conundrum: how we study, how we create the materials of what we study such as basing our model on that of Latin and Greek, how we look at linguistics – prescriptivist or descriptivist – how we accept writing in our classroom – the example of dove vs. dived.  Add to this the ideas of sociolinguistics and intersectionality and the interplay and influence of the self on written and oral expression and we have more questions than answers.

So, I ask you – how do we best teach our students of diverse backgrounds, educations, self and world views?  Do we throw all rules out and just shout “go for it”?  Do we follow the rules so strictly that their papers look like they fell into a pool of red paint? Is the answer even more personal than that when we factor in our own personal biases and personalities? 

I keep coming back to my own personal philosophy of teaching which was founded on teaching the little ones – kindergarten, first grade, preschool.  First, I want them to enjoy school – being in the classroom, seeing friends, and learning.  Second, I want them to be having such a good time that they want to learn more and third, I want them to associate learning with all the good feels.  This philosophy isn’t’ particularly academic or really academic at all.  We hear so much about students falling through the cracks, about learning disabilities, social troubles, problems at home, hunger, homelessness and so many other factors which take these students away from anything academic.  How can we fix this?  It’s more than a new philosophy of teaching can fix.  It is more than a social or economic one.  It is synergy – all of these things must align to improve each other.  So, with the littles, my philosophy starts with creating positives and is driven on the idea that enough positives will help carry these students throughout a lifetime of challenges both in and out of the classroom.