Double Entry Journal #3

This reading was very interesting for me, especially since I grew up in an area that has a dialect common to West Virginia. This reading described many ways to go about literacy development for students with dialects. One of the most important things I have read was that these children should be allowed to use their dialects in the classroom. I think this is very important for students. By not allowing them to speak how they were raised, it makes them feel as if they should be ashamed of how they and their community are. It stated in the reading that test scores and writing languages increased by allowing the students to speak how they do and compare that to the English language. This brings me to the second thing that I learned about literacy development. I found it very interesting that by allowing the students to continue to use their language, it made their scores and education better. I thought this was great that the students could see the differences between the way they speak and the common "English language." I believe this practice is better than making the students stop speaking their language completely. I believe this is a better solution to having students understand English. They can see what and how they are speaking compared to others. I have also found that by doing these kinds of literacy development, it can inspire students to continue to learn and achieve higher. By using a students own cultural traits to help them learn is amazing.
If more teachers in West Virginia taught this way, more students could be successful at reading, writing, communicating, and many other areas of studies. If we want our students to be successful, then we should teach in a way that would allow them to be able to reach success.

When I was in school I had wonderful teachers who allowed the students to talk how they did at home. The teachers would allow discussions and talking the same as having a conversation. These teachers also wanted the students to succeed, so they had to write in "proper English." Looking back I think this was a great technique to use in order to make the students feel involved and part of the class. I also had some teachers that weren't so good with the literacy instruction of non-dialect students. A few of the teachers I had would correct the students if they mispronounced a word and have them say it "correct" before moving on. I don't believe this was good literacy instruction for these students. First it singles them out and also makes them not feel smart or good enough. Maybe if these teachers would have practiced good literacy instruction, they would have succeeded more.

There are many relationships between the strategies presented in the article and inclusive practices. The one I see most present, is the fact that these strategies include all students no matter how different. It includes and allows everyone to speak how they are usually do at home. I think this is a great practice for all teachers.

Teaching About Resources is a great writing about the dialects in students. The great thing about this article is that it is written by Kirk Hazen from West Virginia University. This is great because being in West Virginia there can be many different dialects. I would really recommend reading it.

Resources:
Epstein, P., & Herring-Harris, L. (2011, September 15). Honoring dialect and increasing student performance in standard english. Retrieved from http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/3655

Hazen, K. U.S. Department of Education, Center for Applied Linguistics. (2001). Teaching about dialects. Retrieved from website: http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0104dialects.html