Book Club Plus comparison

I see many representations of the Book Club Plus model in my second grade classroom. Although the students each have a reading book called Storytown, along with the rest of the school, it has not been used as anything other than a resource for them to use when they finish tasks early. For example, if children finish their morning work they are allowed to pull out their Storytown books and silently read. I am actually very thankful for this because I feel that my CT does a great job choosing texts that relate to the theme of each week. Also, because these Storytime texts are not forced upon the students, they seem to really enjoy reading them during the few extra minutes before transitions.

As mentioned earlier, our school uses the Radner model’s weekly learning priorities in which each week there is a certain focus or theme. I feel that my CT does a great job of picking texts that both go along with this focus as well as explore content that is meaningful to primary-grade children and specific enough to provide questions for discussion, as the BCP recommends.Our time for Read Alouds has a designated time and place as the BCP suggests which is every morning, after our morning meeting,on the carpet. During this carpet time the children have to both listen and speak. My CT lets them know whether she will allow them to ask/answer questions along the way or if she is going to read the book all the way through first and then go back to discuss.We also talk about the difference between an author and an illustrator and the genre of the book. For example, this week is all about predictions and my CT began by reading the first few pages of Flat Stanley and then stopping and making a prediction of what would happen next. The class talked about whether or not they agreed with her prediction before she started to read again. Later she stopped and asked the students to write a one sentence prediction of their own, as well as a picture of what they thought would happen next. My CT often gives the children opportunities to talk about the text, or “think alouds” in which they make connections, inferences, and predictions. The focus or theme of each week draws on the week before so for that reason students are able to make connections between the book we are reading one day and one we have read the day or week before. In this area, my CT keeps a book shelf that holds only the books we have read for Read Alouds so that the children are able to view what we have read as a class which also makes it easier for them to refer back to during discussions. There have been a few books that we have read more than once, each time with a specific purpose and we usually always have some sort of an extension that occurs from a Read Aloud. Every week so far we have done a graphic organizer in which the students have to recall three characters from the text, illustrate an important part of the story and then write a summary that includes who, what and why.

One part of BCP that I really agree with and happen to witness in my classroom is students having ownership of literacy. Each student in my second grade has their own book box with their name on it. Students are allowed to visit my CT’s personal library to pick out five books, using the five finger rule, to store in their box. During D.E.A.R, students are instructed to grab their boxes and bring them to their desk. I really love that the students get to pick not only one, but five texts of their own to read and you can tell they like it as well. My CT’s library is also an element of the classroom that I really like. It is in a corner of the classroom and includes over twenty bins that are labeled according to themes and genres, which makes it really easy for the children to look for books that interest them. There is a very diverse quantity of books and each one has a card inside, the kind you would find if you were to check out a book from the real library, which allows the students to take these texts home.

Each afternoon we also set aside time for Writers Workshop, in which each table is responsible for a bin that contains dictionaries, a thesaurus, and a folder for each student. In this folder is a booklet of three pages where the children are to write about the beginning, middle and end of a small moments story. We come back to these booklets every day for the students to reread, edit, and add more detail. Students are also responsible for keeping a Reading log and readers response journals. The reading log is kept in their individual book box and when a student has finished reading a book, they write the title, circle whether it was fiction/nonfiction, label it as hard, easy or just right, and then put a smiley face or frown to indicate if they enjoyed it. In their readers response journals, students take their opinion one step further by writing about the book that they are currently reading or one that they have just finished. If they are still reading the text they may make inferences or predictions and if they have finished reading, they can tell what they liked most about the book, summarize it or take it one step further and write what they think will happen next.

The one element of the BCP model that I have yet to see in my classroom is group reading. My CT is still very busy finishing STEP assessments for each of the students and until she can complete this, she doesn’t feel comfortable grouping the class. Once she is aware of everyone's reading level, she plans to incorporate daily guided reading and centers that include opportunities for children to read together or what she calls “buddy” reading. I feel really fortunate to be in a classroom in which the students have many opportunities throughout the day to read and write as well as view and discuss literacy.

Book Club Plus! Instruction vs. Literacy Instruction in room 106!

Book Club Plus framework seemingly focuses on a range of literary activities including community share, independent reading, writer’s workshop, shared reading, teacher read aloud and guided reading and literacy centers. This model focuses on the use of themes throughout all avenues, and especially focuses on creating authentic literacy contexts in the classroom. The instructional elements concentrate on the four core target areas: comprehension, writing, language conventions and literary aspects. This model creates an environment that gives students varies opportunities to engage in texts, talk and writing as students read, reflect and create.

Literacy instruction in my classroom occurs throughout much of the school day. The students have numerous opportunities to work with texts at a multitude of levels and through various activities. The school day begins with a teacher read aloud. The students engage in listening, speaking and strategizing to understand the text. There is much talk and discussion through such scaffolding by the teacher. The morning is similar to that of Janine’s morning routine, as described in Chapter Two. In this event, the teacher read aloud for both classrooms are used as the Book Club story. There is substantial discussion based on this book as well as modeling, scaffolding and facilitating strategies and skills through opening community share. In this instance, the Book Club Plus model parallels instruction in my own classroom. “In [both of these] settings teachers explicitly teach and model strategies that students can use to prepare for reading, to record ideas and responses, to make meaning as they read and to monitor their progress” (44)

From here the students engage in a writing element that directly correlates with the reading strategy presented at community share and teacher read aloud. The students follow by writing a piece on the comprehension strategy for the day. For example, today the focus was on visualization. After modeling, scaffolding and facilitating, the students were asked to complete a journal that described the “snapshots” they saw in their minds during the story and to create an illustration of what they had pictured. The students are also asked to engage in independent reading throughout the day when their work has been completed.

After the community share and teacher read aloud, there is an hour literacy block, which focuses on center work and guided reading groups. The students participate in writing, listening, independent reading, computer and word study centers. There is also a rotation into guided reading. I have yet to see this take place, as centers will begin next week. Currently the teacher is STEP testing in order to understand where the students are at and what needs to be improved. The teacher creates guided reading groups based on this information and their reading levels (hopefully these scores will be dynamic and thus reading groups will change). During this time, the students have been given time to read independently.

When time allows, the teacher will also facilitate word study. Here, the students are subjected to phonemic awareness (blending, segmenting), letter sound knowledge and spelling. Shared reading occurs on occasion.

In the afternoon there is also a block of time given to writer’s workshop. Here the students are given opportunities to write and create. In the morning, students are able to write and engage in critical thinking about texts. However, during this time I have only seen students creating based on their own lives. This time does not seem to meet the objectives described in Book Club Plus (Writing into, through, out of). However, the students are focusing on “what good writers do”. This does not seem to parallel the model from BCP, which seemingly focuses on writing in conjunction with reading.

“Language and literacy skills are learned through socially interactive settings that allow children to play with language”. In the classroom the students are often part of the discussions. Whether it is teacher led, student led, whole class or small group, there is frequent discussions happening in the classroom. These discussions occur in language arts, mathematics, social studies and science. Some discussions however are more meaningful than others. Though in my opinion, I feel the students should be given a greater chance to really articulate what may be going through their minds and more opportunities to investigate and construct their own knowledge, just as the Book Club Plus framework explains.

Overall, I believe that there are several avenues in which the Book Club Plus framework articulates that are also apparent in my own classroom. However, I feel that my classroom does not integrate all avenues into themes that would create a cohesive literacy instruction. Rather my classroom touches on all aspects that are covered throughout Book Club Plus but are not easily connected. Book Club Plus seemed to integrate all literacy instruction into themes that would be present throughout all the avenues.

LauraM - Literacy Instruction

I have noticed in Book Club Plus, they emphasize standards and benchmarks in their classroom goals. Unfortunately, my classroom lists rules with no explanation. For example, I have seen in classrooms teachers have a poster of what a good listener looks/acts like, or what a good speaker looks/acts like. These posters emphasize what and why. In my classroom none of this is displayed, instead the list of generic rules in the classroom is expected to be enough. When it comes to communication, the rule is “Raise your hand before you talk.” No elaboration or any more talk about communication roles.

For literacy to take place in my classroom, students read on their own from a book they self choose from our classroom library. There is no system to their selections, nor is there really an objective to their reading. In Chapter 7 of Book Club, they list ideas of what expectations are, they give examples, and even ideas for introducing students to Book Club activities. It is unfortunate that my classroom has not made this an important part of their school days. I feel that book club activities can be effective, but students need to be taught expectations for it to work.

The discussions throughout the class have all been teacher led. I can not recall one discussion where students were asked to speak to other students, or where the lesson being taught was taught in a way that demanded students to have an effective classroom conversation.

Lisa O Task 2- Considering the Community

Prior to visiting the neighborhood of Bret Harte, I had envisioned a setting much similar to what I had experienced in inner- city Detroit. However, as I become familiar to the area, I begin to realize my accusations about the community were entirely unjust. I had envisioned a community consisting of filthy streets, broken down homes and poor school structures. After simply traveling to and from school, I have found the community to be clean, well established and completely different from the initial thoughts. I am excited to further explore the community of Hyde Park and investigate the surroundings and culture of my students at Bret Harte.

To become prepared to teach this community of learners, it is imperative that I become familiar to the larger contexts of the city and neighborhood of my school. Exploring the community will enable me to become more familiarized to social and cultural norms of my students. I will then be able to create conducive lesson plans that reflect such norms.

For inquiry one, I plan on visiting Washington Park and Medici 57 Restaurant. These settings are both well- known to the residents of Hyde Park as well as to my students. Washington Park will provide me with more insight about the people of this community, both adults and children. The students mentioned their love for parks and playing outside after school. From speaking to staff members, I was also informed of a well-known restaurant near my school that was famous for "feeding Obama!" After discussing the environment of this location, I thought it would be a neat place to observe both math and literary elements. I also hope to visit a local farmer’s market, observing interactions of community members as well as getting a better understanding of the community and events that students and parents may be involved in. This exploration didn't really go as planned. Being that it was middle of the day on Thursday, I had a hard time finding parking, easily become frustrated, and continued on my way without really seeing the park at its fullest. I, however, did spend a great deal of time at the farmers market, investigating interactions and culture while also the interactions with literacy and math. Here, I really focused on the diversity of the crowd, both seemingly in socio-economic statuses as well as culture, ethnicity and age. It was really interesting to see all the different people coming together and interacting. I really saw here what one teacher had discussed... "Hyde Park is like the melting pot of Chicago".

In the park, I expect to see a lot of physical activity of both children and adults. I expect to find children that are enjoying the park amenities as well as adults taking advantage of gorgeous outdoor scenery. I do not necessarily expect my findings to be parallel to the biases surrounding the “dangers of Southside of Chicago”. In both the park and the restaurant, I expect to see a range of literary and mathematical components, from street signs to menus, to prices and maps. As for the farmer’s market, I am really unsure as to what to expect. I am assuming there will be a great deal of signs and prices as well as a colorful assortment of food! I am expecting to find mostly women in this setting due to my own stereotypes. I am also assuming that there will be a wide range of economic status of customers at this farmer’s market. Overall, I expect to find rich cultural and social aspects of the community atmosphere as well as an abundance of math and literary components. I also set out to explore the community on foot, investigating life on the streets. It was very interesting noticing all the math and literacy that students get to see and deal with on a daily basis. For example, students are constantly consumed in a culture that deals with money, directions, reading, speaking, communicating and so much more. Looking within this community and really thinking about such contexts can help to create lesson plans that are meaningful and powerful for the students. Using examples and pulling from their daily lives can increase motivation in the classroom and make the lessons relevant for each student. I knew that once I had an eye to look for math and literacy, those contexts would not be hard to find. But I was shockingly surprised at how much literacy and math was really in everyday life.

Outsider? Been there, done that! I felt just as an outsider would have coming into a new school and new community. This area however allows me to adjust the stereotypes that may have formed previously around urban communities. Simply observing my surroundings, I have found the area around my school to be enjoyable and pleasant, and I would hope an outsider would say the same! Some outsiders, however, could look past the smiling faces walking the streets, the mother’s walking with strollers and rather completely focus on other characteristics of the neighborhood. For example, a white outsider would most likely immediately notice the black culture and thus, form bias conclusions on the area in general. As I become more familiarized with this new community, I feel less as an outsider. However, that feeling has not totally left me feeling confident with my surroundings. It may just take my all year to actually feel "part of the community", but I am getting closer. I am feeling more comfortable and more knowledgeable about the community in which I am teaching. This is important for all educators to understand the neighborhood in which your students come from. This can allow educators to create an atmosphere that is conducive to all students' learning and successes.

Throughout the areas I expect to find interconnections among reading, writing and oral language. In a restaurant setting, it is necessary to be literate in speaking, reading, writing and communicating as well as be able to understand the use of numbers and prices. In the park, I expect that visitors may need to familiar with a sense of direction using both numerical literacy and environmental literacy. I expect to find numerical literacy on buses, street corners, addresses, prices, etc. I also expect to find visual literacies everywhere from street signs to stop lights. I also expect to find cultural literacy as people are aware and familiar with the surrounding area. I hope to witness a community that is able to comprehend street signs, understand popular slang or other cultural realms of the neighborhood. I noticed a community that makes interconnections with reading, writing and oral language. Whether that be in a restaurant or on the street, everyone is interacting in one way or another. It may just be a simple hello, or a casual wave or smile, but residents everywhere are using communication. Before confronting a police officer a simple smile was exchanged. In order to comprehend such a gesture, one would use emotional literacy to convey as well as understand. When asking the local police officer about the community and how it differs for other communities, he responds by discussing its diversity. However, with this conversation underway, a resident hereby interjects and speaks with the police officer of issues surrounding the neighborhood and being how the community is being portrayed. This women voices her opinion to the police officer and expresses her concern with the "beggars" on the street corners. This is just one of the many examples of communicating in this area. This gesture did in fact surprise me. This women was genuinely concerned about the environment and safety of this neighborhood as well as businesses.

I am excited to get better familiarized with the community in order to relate more to my students. I hope that they will begin to realize my knowledge about the community as well as continue to inform me of their own lives and culture.

This community investigation has allowed me to become more familiar to the students as well as to the people of the community. It has allowed me to visit places that have been recommended by students and thus, has allowed me to see what the students may do outside of school. With this experience, I have focused on mathematical and literary contexts which will be helpful when doing my guided lead teaching. I will be able to reference to areas and places my students are familiar with and therefore yield higher motivation. I can now pull from such resources to include in my lesson planning. Compton-Lilly states that "looking beyond classroom walls is especially important for educators who work with children from diverse communities." For example, I am to be able to create lesson plans that expand upon and further discuss areas of their own community. I have learned that this community delves into matters of literacy and mathematics in their everyday lives. It would be beneficial to bring those strategies and experiences also into the classroom.

Contrary to what one may think and to the popular belief that “students are receiving little literacy tools at home”, I have recognized that students have been exposed to many literacy and math contexts. As mentioned in Compton- Lilly’s article, in which her own investigation “revealed that despite socioeconomic, racial, and linguistic differences, families in all three communities were engaged in meaningful and purposeful literacy activities…noting that even children who were considered deficient by school standards brought rich experiences and understanding to classrooms that teachers could build upon, access and develop.” This belief stood out to me and parallels what I have found by investigating the community of Hyde Park. These children bring knowledge from their day-to-day lives into the classroom. Therefore, students may be more apt to understand when activities are related to the lives outside of school. It is our responsibility to be the "detectives", locating and analyzing data in order for students to grow and further develop.

MeganB Task 2: Considering the Community

In order to try and find out what places my students visit in their community, I waited until Monday and then made it the question for their daily morning journal. I asked them which places they visited over the weekend and then went back and read their answers during lunch. One student answered Chuck E. Cheese, two others said a football game, and the rest of the class responded with a family members house. I made a mental note that in the future I should have explained that if the students did not go anywhere to include where they would have wanted to go or places that they pass on the way to school, as many of the students raised their hands to say "I didn't go anywhere!" In speaking with another intern, Jen Flanagan, we quickly decided that Chuck E. Cheese would be a great place to visit because it is an environment that incorporates Math and Literacy in a fun way. After noticing that many of my students ride the bus home from school, we also decided that a bus stop would also be another useful place to visit to show that Math and Literacy are important aspects of everyday life.

Jen and I plan to go and visit these places on Thursday late afternoon. We could have went earlier in the day, but since most children would be in school, we wanted to wait until later to see if we could actually witness school-aged children at these places.I assume that the demographic in these two places will be similar to that of the elementary school and surrounding neighborhood, mostly African American. I expect that Chuck. E Cheese will be filled with families, mostly with children due to the games and activities offered there. I expect to see children interacting with other children as well as adults. I assume there will be many opportunities for children to engage in literacy and math in the form of reading a menu, witnessing their parents paying for the check, playing games and seeing scores increase, counting tickets to obtain prizes, reading directions to electronic games as well as those that may be on the back of their children's menu. I do expect that I may see more mothers than fathers escorting the children to this restaurant, as some fathers may not be off work this early. I make this assumption only because I see more women outside when I leave Woodlawn each day. The bus station I expect to be more busy than Chuck E. Cheese and possibly less children present. By late afternoon, I assume that most children will already be home from school, unless they take part in an after school program. I believe we will see adults coming to or from work. I feel that we will see Literacy first, as we will have to read first the Bus sign, telling us if we are in the correct place to get us to our desired destination and then again when the bus is approaching, where we will have to read the front of the bus to make sure it is the correct one. We will have to pay attention to not only the bus number, but bus direction and then when getting on the bus, we will either have to insert a specific amount of money, or a card for which we will have to keep track of a balance.

The first place that we visited was Chuck E. Cheese and my expectations as far as seeing signs of Literacy and Math were met but my expectations of the demographic and social interactions was a little off. I was very happy to see that there were some children present. I had initially been worried that it would be too early for most families to go out to dinner, but thankfully I got lost and our observation began a little late. I had also anticipated the demographic to be similar to Woodlawn, in that it is mostly African American but I was surprised that this was not the case. Most of the families there were of mexican decent.It seemed that the children were accompanied by adults both male and female which surprised me initially since I figured there would be mostly mothers. I thought that I would find children playing together in the gaming area however, most children were accompanied by one or more adults, who kept to themselves and the game they were playing. There was little if any interaction among the children at Chuck E. Cheese which was very shocking since it is clearly a restaurant aimed for children's enjoyment. The staff at this establishment were more than willing to let us explore while the families seemed a little uneasy as we walked through the area. There were many signs of Math as children increased their score, obtained tickets that they would later exchange for a prize worthy of their amount and in the exchanging of money for tokens. As far as literacy, I was happy to see that Chuck E. Cheese hung large signs around the restaurant that directed customers to things like the salad bar, beverage station, and bathrooms as well as directions that were in a larger font for the games and token machine. I was a little disappointed to see that they did not offer a children's menu as they have one large menu posted at the counter.

Upon reaching the bus stop, I was a little nervous to see how the people waiting outside would take to Jen and I snapping pictures of their transportation, since the people at Chuck E. Cheese seemed less than amused. I was pleasantly surprised that all of the four people waiting outside were very friendly and wanted to know all about what we were doing and where we were from.This particular bus stop is a few blocks away from Woodlawn, and when we told the four people this, they were so enthused it was hard not to feel welcomed by the community! I was also worried that at this time, around 5:30pm, that we would not see many children at the bus stop. There were four people waiting for bus 67. Two teenagers and a man with a young child, who I assume was in some sort of after school program, since he was wearing a backpack. The teenagers and the man all had a bus card with a balance that they would have to keep track of as it decreased after each ride. They all had to first read the bus sign in order to make sure they were in the correct place to get to their desired destination.

The first week of school, I left earlier than I do now and witnessed a lot of teenagers hanging outside together on my way home. As a person who has now worked in CPS for a couple of weeks, I realize that the school days are shorter than from where I am from. An outsider, may look at these children and wonder why there are not in school and then make an assumption that this area is unsafe due to a large amount of children dropping out. They may also stereotype these groups of children as gangs and dangerous. At four o'clock in the afternoon, a student could very well have been home from school, changed and then out with friends and an outsider would not know this to be possible. Although I think of myself as part of the school community, I realize that it may take longer to see myself as a Hyde Park Community member. I have made some connections with people who are active members of the Hyde Park community though, which makes it easier for me to give the benefit of the doubt before making assumptions. For instance, an outsider may drive around and see that the majority of people are African American and assume that this is a choice or that if they are not this race they would not be welcomed. I have had the opportunity to work in Woodlawn as a minority and have been so graciously welcomed by the staff, students and parents, so I may be more willing to be open minded than an outsider would.

I believe it will be fairly easy to see a connection between reading, writing and oral language in both of the places we will be visiting. In Chuck E. Cheese, students will have to read a menu to order, where they will use their oral language and then either see the waitstaff writing down their order, or using their crayons on their children's menu to play games/puzzles. At the bus, many times people will have to write down directions if they are traveling to a new destination, read the bus signs, and converse with other passengers or the bus driver in order to make sure they are going in the right direction. I believe that both place will also have a large social factor in which people will be speaking to each other about their day.

Since I started this project by asking the students where they spent their weekend, I thought it would be interesting to go back to this with an even broader question. By asking them what places they have visited in general rather than just over a few days time, I feel that I will be able to get a lot more feedback. Once the children start recognizing that they have been to some of the same places, I hope that they will begin to realize that they are part of a school community. I think it would be great to start using these places as examples when we talk about subjects in class and to also talk about how they see Math and Literacy in these places, as they may think of something that I don't. Most importantly, by giving students the chance to see that Math and Literacy exist outside of the classroom, they may begin to look at these subjects as entertaining and useful for everyday activities!

Task 4: Post-visit

On the Friday after my visit with Jen to the bus station and Chuck E. Cheese, I was checking the Homework Journals for the week. One of the prompts for writing asked the students where they went over the weekend and I actually read a few new responses and decided to visit a nearby laundromat. The little girl wrote in her journal how her Mother took her there over the weekend and I thought it would be a great way to incorporate both Literacy and Math in that you have to read the directions for a wash cycle and use a certain amount of coins to both wash and dry. Since I went on a Friday after school, it was pretty quiet and there were not any children. This was not very surprising to me, as i'm sure most people wait until the weekend.

These visits into the community helped me to realize that I need to be more aware of my students situations and lifestyles. The fact that a trip to the laundromat is a typical weekend activity tells me that many of the students may live in apartments. There is another bus stop right infront of Woodlawn, which many students take home with their parents, which could mean that these families either choose not to have a car or can't afford one. Both of these observations are very different from my upbringing which is why I think I was a bit naive when I went into this assignment. I was expecting to get a lot more entertaining and diverse answers to a questions like, "Where did you go this weekend." It made me more aware of the area and the things that my students experience in a typical day or week. Catherine Compton-Lilly writes that “conducting this research has helped me to recognize my own cultural blinders”. (456) I have to say that this community project made me really rethink the way I thought about the area and made me more aware of any assumptions I was making.

Visiting places in the community that my students often do and then reflecting on it made me remember why I applied to be part of an Urban student teaching in the first place, which was to give myself an experience of elementary school different than my own. Sometimes after reading my second grader's journals, I realize from their responses, that some of them have seen things that I haven't and it is scary. Their worries and fears are much different than mine were at that age and this experience will help me to take this into consideration wherever I end up teaching.If looking back on what they did over the weekend does not excited them, then I need to change my direction and find something that does. It makes me want to find out what their interests are and to come up with new writing topics that will intrigue them. It also encourages me to keep books in the classroom that have characters, plots and places that my students would be able to relate to. I think all three of the places that we visited could be easily used to come up with math problems my students could relate to. In Chuck E. Cheese and the laundromat, coins are needed which gives the students to learn place value and equivalencies. I could easily create story problems for all three places and use addition and subtraction to find the value of a bus card. I realize how important it is to use examples in both Math and Literacy that are relevant to the students, in order for them to become engaged as well as to make connections to everyday life.

Laura M - Task 2

My group and I decided to visit Giordano’s at the intersection of Blackstone & 53^rd, the grocery store nearby our school, and the YMCA two blocks from our school. We chose Giordano’s because I had asked students what some of their favorite things or places to eat were and many mentioned Giordano’s. We were aware that many students attended before and after school programs at the YMCA since it is so closely located to our school and decided it was a good community location to observe. Then we chose the grocery store because most children have some sort of experience with a grocery store and can identify familiar sights within the store.

I don’t expect to see many families at Giordano’s similar to those I see at my school. The majority of students get free or reduced meals at school, and for their family to go to Giordano’s seems unrealistic. When students mentioned Giordano’s I figured maybe they had been there once or only on special occasions. This could be an Archetype I have of students’ families from my school. My prediction was correct, the population in Giordano's seemed that it mainly consisted of people from the University of Chicago along with a group of police officers on break. It surprised me how empty the restaurant was. At the grocery store, I suspect I will notice it feeling a little more grungy than stores I am used to. I am biased in this because many experiences I have had or observed on the Southside and around my school’s community has not seemed very sterile, or comfortable. It all seems to be lower socio-economic classes with run down buildings. I did not do the observation at the grocery store, so I can not speak to it. However, my group members did say that they felt it was run down. At the YMCA I expect to witness a friendly environment with positive activities and people. I am biased with this as well because I have experiences with other YMCAs in low income area and they always amaze me at how they stick out in a run down community and how well kept and managed they are. This YMCA was very well kept and had a friendly staff. I was surprised at the age ranges of after school programs present there. There was a basketball team waiting for their league game to begin of highschool boys, there was an area for younger children, as well as for students in upper elementary grades. Other people were swimming laps, working out, and just simply chatting with friends. It is impressive to see a program in such an area that can create a safe, comfortable place for all.

Up until this week I have felt like a complete outsider. I know I still am one but I feel a little less intimidated and a little more in place. So reflecting on when I felt like a complete outsider: I think they would feel intimidated, I think that they would pass judgments on children, families, and home lives. I think many outsiders would not stop at the locations we have chosen to stop at, and that alone is an example of an outsiders Archetype.

One thing I know that I will see is a food menu at Giordano’s. In this there will be numerical literacy, along with reading literacy, and will be interconnected. In order to understand the menu, you must be literate in both of these areas. At the grocery store, my group and I were hoping to find a produce scale. This would be something that is interconnected again between numerical literacy and reading literacy. People using this scale must be capable of making sense of the scale, and to do so must be able to read the words and numbers on the scale along with comprehending what they mean.

I expect to see posters and signs of events, programs, or information in the community. This is an example of a traditional literacy, reading. A type of oral literacy which could be possible is the news playing on TV at Giordano’s or at the YMCA.

After completing my observations, I have had many expectations confirmed as well as some proved wrong. For example, there were no examples of oral literacy that I could find. There were many signs and posters around all three of our locations. At the YMCA many of the signs and posters were beneficial to the person reading them. They gave directions, information that could be opportunistic, and history. When I was forced to be conscious of literacy, I realized that it was just about everywhere. To me, being literate means that you are able to communicate with people in any way provided. This could be reading, writing, numerical, computers, emotionally, etc. In the community these instances are everywhere.

This community involvement has helped me understand student's home lives a little bit better, it has helped me realize that the students are in many ways like I was at their age and at the same time live completely different styled lives. For example, they like the YMCA, they like playing with their friends, their parents enforce rules, their parents provide opportunities for them. Then it is different because as a child I had to be in before dark, my parents never had to leave me at the YMCA without them, I was never in after school care because my parents were able to be there instead. I guess the main thing I realized about my students that I was ignorant to, is that their parents care about where they are, what they are doing, and how they are doing, they are just unable to show it in ways similar to my own experiences. The VoiceThread from the PowerPoint: Teaching Alongside Families was very informative to me and has made me think about my assumptions. I find myself relating with the first speaker (the newer teacher). I had the same negative assumptions about parental involvment and have been proven wrong, in a big way.

This will influence my teaching, because I will recognize more of the students responsibilities at home or lack of time at home to complete homework. I will realize that a student may need an authentic activity to motivate them, and now I will be able to provide them with one after being involved in their community.