As I walking into the high school stadium where the little league football game was being held, I saw big banners and posters all decorated with the teams’ colors and players names. Just being there I felt included in the community. The parking lot was filling up fast with cars filled with parents, grandparents, siblings, and friends. The families all walked in together with their children, they would be carrying all their belongings and once inside they sent their children off onto the field and gave them a kiss and a “good luck”! The families and spectators then proceeded to the stands to find places to sit to watch the game. As they were walking up the bleachers they would find other families whom they had created relationships with and sat down together and got right into conversations. The siblings of the players would find their friends or make new ones, and were found running up and down the bleachers and in the open areas around the field. There was also a concession stand where you could find families lining up to buy drinks and snacks for one another, as well as football and cheerleading merchandise. Everyone was dressed up in their team’s colors and with signs and/or noise makers. As soon as the national anthem began playing, everyone stood up and placed their hands on their hearts. The teams were lined up at the 50-yard line ready for the game. Before, and during the game everyone was cheering in the stands for their teams and their children. The players on the field could be seen looking back at the coaches to read the signs he was giving them for the plays to be ran. Some parents were there for enjoyment and others were more intense about the game. Nevertheless you could tell they all shared the same purpose for being there, for their children. There was a sense of pride and unity in the stands, and I enjoyed being a part of it! The cheerleaders were constantly cheering and getting the crowd involved. At the end of the game the players shook hands with the other team and had a team meeting in the end zone. This is a way to “debrief” so to speak on the games accomplishments. The players then took all their equipment and met up with their families. Most of them could be over heard making plans with other families and friends for the remainder of the day. This one sporting event turned into an entire day social event!
When thinking about what or what did not surprise me, not a whole lot surprised me. I grew up in the same community and had friends, family, and neighbors growing up who participated in the same little league. I got the same welcoming and joyful feeling that I did when I was a part of it as a child myself. However, there were two things that surprised me a little. First, I noticed about the event I went to, is that despite any socioeconomic, racial, or linguistic differences, all families were engaged in this meaningful and purposeful literacy activity. As Compton-Lilly states about these children who come from families with differences they all bring “rich experiences and understanding to classrooms that teachers can build upon, access, and develop” (page 449). I was not expecting to see all these families participate in this event, and knowing this know I can utilize their experiences and understanding in the classroom. Another was that, the age of my students are six to seven years old, so they were the ones I watched (in this league there are games all day ranging through first grade to eighth grade), and some of the attitudes and responses that some of the parents had were surprising to me. Some of the parents were into the game a little too much and were all about winning. These were the parents that were yelling from the sidelines and walking up to the child and telling them what they did wrong and what they should do next time. This was very shocking to me considering their age and the fact that it is a little league team and should be played for fun, to make friends, and learn how to be a team player.
This community experience has helped me learn about my school, students, and families by knowing how they spend their time outside of school and work. It was nice to see and observe the community members in a non-school environment. The students were more open and less structured. They were free-willed and having fun. The families were involved and filled the stands. I also learned that a lot more of my students and the rest of the students in the school participate in this sporting event. It was a place where they could all come together and participate in the same event and communicate in all different ways such as reading (plays, signs/banners, scoreboard, cheers, concessions), writing (sidewalk chalk drawing, phone numbers, notes) and orally).
This experience will help me in my teaching by knowing more about my students and their families’ funds of knowledge. Meaning what they know outside of the school setting and how they can bring it into the classroom to make learning more meaningful for all. Compton-Lilly puts this into easier terms to understand; “All these funds of knowledge can be used to create rich and relevant literacy activities for children” (page 457). Due to a majority of my students participating in this sporting event, I could incorporate it into my teaching. Such as perhaps I could start the day with a chant or a cheer, like “break on three”, and also to have the students sit in a group to debrief about what we had accomplished during the days work. Football and cheerleading also have different literacies that I could bring into the classroom, like a class scoreboard for games or goals, more signs around the room, etc. It will also help to show me just how important looking beyond classroom walls is especially important for educators who work children from diverse communities, as Compton-Lilly expresses (page 450).
My experience overall will influence my thinking about my students’ as literacy users and learners through knowing that they know more about literacy such as reading, writing, and oral, than they think. Having had the opportunity to observe my students outside of the classroom environment I could grasp more about what they know and how they learn best. It will influence my thinking about how they know a lot more than I thought they did, they use literacy everywhere they go. It is just a matter of exposing them to these kinds of literacies in these ways in the classroom not just out in the community. I feel that once the students understand they are using and learning literacy everywhere they go, they will be more welcoming to the learning happening in the classroom!
No comments:
Post a Comment