3/21 Reading

Reference: Made in America Chapter 5

I will be following the similar pattern as my previous blog posts of this book.

1) "I love my country. I dream about it every night. I hope to see it again. I have no place I belong here. I do not belong with Latins; I am not at home here. The whites do not accept me. I am the only speaker of my language. I am Brazilian!" (pg. 107) - As we talked about a little today in class, it is hard enough being an immigrant in the United States and be expected to learn the language; among other things, students also need to find a way to fit in within their racial category within the country or more specifically, the school system. Sandra, who is Brazilian, obviously does not identify with the Latino community and does not identify with the white community, so where does she belong? There is no other ethnic group that she can be with, so what can Sandra do? I have to wonder what we as their teachers can do to help them belong and fit in; I guess that we can help them by presenting about their culture, having a cultural day dedicated to Brazilians or something like that, but then again, that might be too superficial. It's very surface culture and we want them to identify with themselves at a deeper level. I think she probably thought that being with the cholas would help her fit in better at the school since that is the goal of most teenagers, but it will never fully satisfy her. It is important to make friends and be involved at the school, and in that case, Sandra did have her bases covered in that sense, but it just makes me feel bad for these students who do not have everywhere to go essentially. I think as teachers we just need to be there, support them, and be a helping hand whenever they need us.

2) "Many immigrant students at Madison have a stronger sense of connection to teachers and gratitude to the school than do their U.S.-born Latino peers...they hold on to their belief that school is their route to success in this new land" (pg. 114) - I know I experienced this in the high school I observed in; even being there for 2 days, I saw how the students viewed their teacher and their ESL experience. Seeing the difference between her junior American Literature students and her ESL students was eye-opening. The native English speakers were rowdy, did not pay attention to anything the teacher said, and generally just acted like they did not want to be there at all. They continually complained, saying, "Why do I have to do this?" and "I hate English, this class is so boring", but the ESL students did not complain at all, listened very attentively to the teacher, and asked a lot of deep questions about their reading material. I think the difference might be the fact that the class is a lot smaller and there is more individualized attention with the ESL students versus the juniors who are English speakers, but I remember thinking to myself, "Wow, these students are so privileged. They have absolutely no idea what these ESL kids go through." I mean, you cannot necessarily blame them for being privileged; they do not know that they are privileged! They take it for granted that they know the language and that they do not have to go through what the ESL kids go through every day. Being in a foreign country has a similar effect, but it's not the same. When they learn Spanish or French at school, they are not expected to go out in the halls and speak it with their peers, as much as we foreign language teachers would like them to! The only way that they would ever know sort of what the ESL kids experience would be to study abroad in a country where they do not know any of the language. I wish we could do that to get through to them, but that's almost impossible in this economy.

3) "Racial paths" [in regards to belonging or not belonging] (pg. 117) - This concept is particularly upsetting. Students, on top of being in ESL, are placed into these racial categories and then are expected to behave with their peers and at school according to these categories. They are brought down by the stereotypes of society and how the teachers perceive them; it is why they are put in lower-track courses and then they are expected to not go to college and not pursue more white-collar jobs. It is because society believes that they will not succeed in their education. I am honestly not sure where that stereotype has come from, maybe movies or television, but it is really negative and really hurts their self-esteem and it breaks their spirit. It calls attention again to the student who got into Berkeley but could not go because her family could not afford it; the girl was originally placed in lower-track classes and then the teachers were shocked to see that she was performing way above what they expected her to. We cannot place kids into these categories. I know that sometimes our own backgrounds come into play and we do not always notice it, but as teachers we have to pay attention to these issues, and as ESL teachers the kids look up to us to be the voice of reason so to speak. They want us to be there for them emotionally, and to stand up for their rights because they do not have the words to do so. Like Tiffany talked about in class today, they are put into these paths where they honestly believe they will not succeed because they are illegal immigrants and therefore do not want to be in school. They would rather just quit school and start what society expects them to do, follow the paths of their parents and grandparents and perhaps even further back. I do not think we should stop them from doing what they think they should do because sometimes it is an issue of pride and what their family needs or wants them to do, but we should at least let them know that they can rise above what is expected and do what they want to do. We should support them at every step as their teachers; help them apply to colleges and write essays, things that will get them ahead in life.

4) "...what do you get for working harder? A diploma is a diploma. It's good for a job at Pizza Hut." (pg. 118) - This sort of goes along with the third quote I chose. I feel though that this is an issue of what every high school student in America is facing, not just the students in this book. Times may have been a little different in the early 90's, but the message is still clear; a diploma is just a piece of paper that gets you out of high school but means nothing in the real world. The students are absolutely right about that. When my parents were graduating high school, that was a very big deal. That meant you were now an adult and could go get a real job. Now it is just another step in the road toward becoming an adult. Getting your college degree is now the marker of being an adult and even then it does not always mean securing a job. Times are tough, and kids realize this more than we think they do. They know the truth of the matter, and there is no point in keeping them in the dark. As I said, being their teacher means being a role model and being someone who can help them through high school and beyond. We need to help them believe in themselves and believe they can succeed in college, giving them the tools to do so. We need to tell them that a diploma is a big deal for them, that it means that they have learned enough English and can survive in the real English-speaking world. It is an achievement and they should know that. I know I am scared of graduating and that my diploma is just a piece of paper, as well, but I obviously know that I am privileged and the ESL students are not. This statement just really hit me deep because I know how that feels and I have had friends that have felt the same way, white and Latino alike.