SCET Journal 2020/2021

Language Matters »

Further study on developing strategies for teachers to get to know their students amid a frenetic, fast-paced setting of semester classes would help teachers learn from their students; I simply had more opportunity to learn from Andi and Roxanne because I taught them for two years, a rare circumstance in many secondary settings. Related studies would include investigating ways to develop teacher curiosity in non-offensive ways—ways we can ask our students what they prefer and how they perceive the texts we read in class. Finally. studies are needed on the social impact of AVID programs and their potential to foster positive social connections among high school students. Conclusion As a veteran ELA teacher, I sometimes think I have experienced just about all that school can offer, but then students like Andi, Roxanne, and Emily

enter my classroom, and I soon find out that I need new words to express the new lessons I am learning when new students enter my class. That is how I felt as I grew to know Andi, Roxanne, and Emily, and that is why listening to my students holds so much value. Privileging their voices and their experiences teaches me how to serve my students in a more eq- uitable and honorable way. From this interview and from my experiences listening to them in class, I am better equipped to find meaningful texts for whole- class instruction, more knowledgeable about how to honor my students’ cultures and heritages, and encouraged to continue asking my students about their experiences. I am not sure that my lexicon has precise words to convey all that I have learned by listening to their stories, so maybe my job is just to keep listening, even more closely, so I can pick up the lingo.

REFERENCES

Baker-Bell, A. (2020). Linguistic justice black language, literacy, identity, and pedagogy . New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. Canagarajah, A. (2013). Negotiating translingual literacy: An enactment. Research in the Teaching of English, 48 (1), 40-67. http://www.jstor.org/stable/24398646 Canagarajah, S. (2016). Translingual writing and teacher development in composition. College English, 78 (3), 265-273. http://www.jstor.org/stable/44075117 Chase, S.E. (2005). Narrative inquiry: Multiple lenses, approaches, voices. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The Sage handbook of qualitative research (pp. 651–679). Sage Publications Ltd. Clandinin D.J., Pushor, D., & Orr, A.M. (2007). Navigating sites for narrative inquiry. Journal of Teacher Education , 58 (1), 21-35. DOI: 10.1177/0022487106296218

Connor, D.J. (2006). Michael’s story: “I get into so much trouble just by walking”: Narrative knowing and life at the intersections of learning disability, race, and class. Equity & Excellence in Education , 39 (2), 154-165. DOI: 10.1080/10665680500533942 Cummins, J. (2010). Foreword. In O. García & J. Kleifgen (Eds.), Educating emergent bilinguals: Policies, programs, and practices for English language learners (pp. ix–x). New York, NY: Teachers College Press Enright, K.A. (2011). Language and literacy for a new mainstream. American Educational Research Journal , 48 (1), 80–118. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831210368989

Gee, J.P. (2014). How to do discourse analysis: A toolkit. 2nd Ed. New York: Routledge.

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