Tompkins Chapter 3

While reading through chapter 3, the chapter reminded me of a student in my field placement. Her name is Haja, who has come from Africa with very little education. There has been a war going on in her country, so she and father has come to stay with her mother’s sister who lives in Michigan. On page 85 of chapter 3, it says that young children are active learners “who construct their own knowledge about reading and writing with the assistance of parents, teachers, and other literate people. These adults demonstrate literacy as they read and write, supply reading and writing materials, scaffold opportunities for children to be involved in reading and writing, and provide instruction about how written language works.” Helping students with reading and writing and working with these students in these two areas is not just the teacher’s work, but also needs the involvement of “others” around the student, including parents. School is not the only place where learning takes place; it also takes place outside of school with the interaction with others.

Unfortunately, one of the problems my CT and I have encountered in class with Haja is that there is no one at home to sit and read with her even for five minutes. We have noticed this when she started to bring her book bag without a signature and has been continued for months. The students in my CT’s first grade class have a book bag that they bring home to read with an adult. When the book is read, the adult signs the sheet and returns it the next day. When the chart is full, the student receives a book prize. While other students have been continuing this process successfully, Haja was bringing back the same book back without a signature. My CT has told me that there is nobody reading to her at home. Her father and other guardian are also ignorant about things that happen in school. They have not shown up on Parent-Teacher Conferences. When Haja was the student of the week, nobody came to class to participate in her interview. What worries my CT the most is that she does not have other learning opportunities and opportunities of improvements aside from school, especially in a situation where she is far behind than other classmates in the class. Sadly, my CT decided to complete the book bag in class, daily, with the help of helpers in the class. Now, Haja is read to in class by other helpers in the class, and she does not take the book bag home. This shows the importance of parent-involvement and providing students with opportunities as much as they can be provided. Haja could have been a better reader and speaker by now.