Excerpts from Delpit

I thoroughly enjoyed both of these selections! The first piece clearly explained my current dilemma: will I be teaching lower-case reading and writing or Reading and Writing? Because of my love of English I tend to enjoy reading and writing for their own sake, but I need to learn that not all students will be as enthusiastic about it and I will need to create real-world applications for them to understand the purpose of specific styles of writing and reading. I also enjoyed this selection because it encourages first year students to "be mean" and demand success, even if at first it makes you the unpopular teacher. Students always complain about the teacher who "actually makes us do work, a lot of it!" While this is truly intimidating for first year teachers who are eager to make their place in a new school, it is important to remember that our primary job is to make sure those students leave our class well educated. While it may lose us popularity points at first, in the long run teachers who demand excellence are the most respected.

The second piece really struck a chord with me because I live in the northernmost Appalachian area of Ohio and I am planning to teach in a low-income or poverty area. While the area I grew up in is not as socioeconomically deprived as is depicted in the selection, there was definitely a distinction between the educated middle class and the "unintelligent hicks." Even northeastern Ohio has its fair share of southern accents, and those students were viewed as not being able to learn as well as others. Reading the story of Donny literally brought tears to my eyes as I was made aware of the extreme prejudice these students face and the stereotypes that I harbor in my own mind. If I expect to teach my future students I must start now removing those prejudices and realigning my worldview to include the idea that all students, not just the ones who talk like me or have educated parents, can learn. 

My only concern in reading these selections was that by the time these marginalized students reach my high school English classroom it will be too late for me to make much of a difference. By that time the students' opinions of school and literacy will be pretty well set, and their lack of education may prove to be more than I can handle. What impact can a high school teacher have on a student who has been ignored and passed along since early elementary school? Especially when schools are so focused on teaching to the test and following a specified curriculum?