The reading summary is done by:
ENGL300-1: Andrea Dimitroff
ENGL300-2: Janesha Boyce-Ford
Due on: Monday, Sept. 12th, 2011, some time during the day/evening.
The responses by the whole class are due by class time on: Wednesday, Sept. 14th, 2011
The text you need to read is here (the article about Carrie Secret from Oakland School, CA).
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by Andrea Dimitroff:
Embracing Ebonics and Teaching Standard English: An Interview with Oakland Teacher Carrie Secret is part of a book called The Real Ebonics Debate by Theresa Perry and Lisa D. Delpit. In this interview, Carrie Secret, a veteran teacher at Prescott Elementary School, is asked several questions. In response to those questions, Secret does a lot of explaining about the Standard English Proficiency program (SEP) at her school.
Secret has had the same class of 31 for the past 5 years; 26 of her students are African American. In speaking of the SEP, Secret said, “we in the Oakland SEP…dared to honor and respect Ebonics as the home language that stands on its own rather than as a dialectical form of English.” Secret also said the SEP’s mission statement is “‘We are teaching you a new language, not fixing the home language you bring to school.’ ’’
Under this program, students are guided through curriculum based on the three principles of culture, language, and literacy. Secret says culture is a crucial aspect of the curriculum because, if you disrespect someone’s culture, you are disrespecting (or even rejecting) him. Teaching students grammar is more than just worksheets and drills; Secret says, for students to really be impacted or changed, they must know the content of what they are learning and ways to use speech in different contexts.
As for conduct in the classroom, Secret never condemns her students for speaking Ebonics, because Ebonics may be all they know how to speak. Instead of condemning the students, she merely tells them to translate what they said into English. Secret constantly reads to her students and practices things with them like pronunciation, listening skills, and dictation. Secret points out that student who use Ebonics are not readily aware of their patters of speech; therefore teaching them to listen for the difference between Ebonics and English is key. For reading, Secret uses a lot of literature written by African Americans (some of these works are in Standard English and some are in Ebonics). Using works from African American authors is important to Secret because these authors provide great encouragement to her students. Secret also uses literature from authors of other ethnic backgrounds according to the needs of her non-African American students.
Secret shares the typical class routine which includes a variety of things like exercises, music, group instruction and independent work. Respect is a standard that everyone is the classroom is held to (this includes the teacher). Secret says, “My relationship with the students is a high priority with me.” This type of attitude toward her students causes their relationships to extend beyond the classroom walls and out into the community.
The last question Secret answers is “What has been the most encouraging aspect of the Ebonics controversy? The most frustrating? [sic]” The most encouraging fact for Secret is that parents (of Ebonics speakers) who refused to come to school before SEP are now coming. Secret says even her own mother could relate to this. The school support of SEP is also noted in the article. The most frustrating aspect is the misrepresentation of SEP by the media.
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by Janesha Boyce-Ford:
In the article, “The real Ebonics debate power, language, and the education of African American” by authors Theresa Perry and Lisa Delpit it discusses Standard English Proficiency (SEP) and its teachings. In the article interviewed Carrie Secret, a school teacher at Prescott Elementary School. Secret, has been teaching the same class of 31 students majority of who are African American for 5 years. The authors asked Carrie Secret to explain the teachings of Standard English Proficiency even though the teaching varies. At Prescott SEP is taught as a home language not as a derivation of English, they don’t attempt to correct the students grammar but instead build on it. “We are teaching you a second language, not fixing the home language you bring to school” said Secret. Which in is a god ideal because you don’t want students to feel inadequate. Standard English Proficiency is based around three principles: culture, language, and literacy. The program not only teaches students to speak English but also to write it and understand it correctly. You can teach children anything but it means nothing if they do not understand what they are learning which plays a part I both the literacy and language cornerstone. The program gathered its cultural components from the Center of Applied Studies and Educational Achievement at San Francisco State University which is under guidance of a African American teacher and teachers many teachers who are involved with program.
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ReplyDeleteThis article about a teacher by the name of Carrie Secret and how she embraced teaching children who spoke in AAE or Ebonics. Secret believed that instead of harassing the children for not speaking proper English, she embraced their culture and used it to encourage the practice of proper grammar. I believe this is a very good way to teach because no one likes to be told that he or she is not right and the way she or he was brought up was not right. So instead of doing that she gave the children an insight to see the proper way without making them feel less intelligent. Overall I believe Secret is an excellent teacher with outstanding methods to embrace her student's diversity.
ReplyDeleteIn Carrie Secret’s interview, she is asked several questions concerning her pedagogy. In her response to those questions, Secret primarily explains the Standard English Proficiency program (SEP) at her school, Prescott Elementary School. Secret is an experienced and dedicated teacher, who (in her teaching) has embraced the children who speak in AAE, or what more commonly referred to as Ebonics. Secret believes that, instead of harassing the children for not speaking proper English, children of their culture should be embraced and encouraged to partake in the practice of proper grammar. This is probably one of the most effective ways to teach; it allows the students to hold onto their culture, rather than assimilate into the white culture. Besides, no one enjoys being told that he or she incorrect/wrong, which could be contributed to how he or she was raised. Thus, Secret’s method is to provide insight on proper grammar without forcing the students to feel less intelligent. Overall, Secret is an excellent teacher with an outstanding pedagogy as she embraces the diversity of her students.
ReplyDeleteThroughout Carrie Secret's interview, she answers a number of questions about her teaching position at Prescott Elementary school. Personally, I would have loved to have a teacher that cared this much about me when I was younger. Carrie Secret describes the relationship she has with her students as something special and not very common. She expects her students to inform her of what they need out of her on a daily basis. She is there not as a person of power, but a person of caring. I think all of her different techniques that she uses in her daily teaching plan are all amazing. She talks about how getting the students attention for an hour and a half at the beginning of class is quite possible, but anytime after that is kind of a waste of space. I was surprised to think that at that young of an age and child could pay attention that long, but after reading this passage it sort of makes sense. I also like how she describes how translating Ebonics into English was doing nothing for the equality of languages, making her decision of not incorporating any type activity into her teaching plan. I believe if every elementary school had a teacher of this callibor, all students that were taught by them would be an overall better student.
ReplyDeleteI think more teachers should be taking the approach that Carrie Secret is taking with her class at Prescott Elementary. Secret reveals in this interview that despite the words of caution from her peers, she decided to tackle the situation head on. Her class comprised mostly of African American students, Secret's challenge was to teach the state required SEP, or Standard English Proficiency program, to a class that is very used to speaking Ebonics, or AAE. Instead of teaching SEP as a means of correcting the student’s native dialect, Secret believed in the idea that teaching SEP would be like teaching the students a new language, rather than replacing AAE. Secret encouraged her students to speak Standard English while at school. She stressed the encourage aspect of her approach because she didn’t want the kids to think they were not allowed to speak Ebonics outside of their school activities. Secret’s teaching style seems to be effective in that she is being respectful to the heritage of her students by allowing the Ebonics while teaching the importance of being able to communicate with Standard English.
ReplyDeleteThe article “The real Ebonics debate power, language, and the education of African American”, by Theresa Perry and Lisa Delpit, discusses an interview with a teacher named Carrie Secret. In this interview the teacher expressed the importance of teaching Standard English to students who speak Ebonics. In her eyes she is giving the students the tools to further advance themselves in today's society. In my eyes, Carrie Secret is one of the phenomenal teachers in the world. She has brought a new program to the African American community. I love the SEP program and how inspirational it is to African American children. I strongly agree with Secrets motto of not changing the students' original language and just basically teaching them a new one all together. I feel this is important because it lets the students know that they are not incorrect for speaking Ebonics. It lets them know that they are not illiterate and just that they speak different. I feel the SEP program gives students a sense of confidence and gives the ability to move forward in this world.
ReplyDeleteThe article "The real Ebonics debate power, language, and the education of African American" deals with a very important issue. The issue that is addressed is teaching students who speak Ebonics, which she describes as a language, standard English. She does not want to change their language, and she does not want to say that their language is wrong. Instead she goes about the process by incorporating second language learning techniques. The SEP program seems to be to be a wonderful thing. They way in which this woman has gone about teaching her students is excellent, she is respectful to the different backgrounds and cultures of her students and this is a very important quality for teachers to have.
ReplyDeleteThe article "The real Ebonics debate power, language, and the education of African American" is essentially an interview with a teacher in the SEP program. The interview with Carrie Secret was actually enlightening for me. I normally get really irritated when I hear Ebonics and I found it ridiculous that it was considered a language, when in my opinion it was a dialect. After reading this article I became more understanding of the situation with Ebonics. It never occurred to me that someone might not realize that they are pronouncing something incorrectly. Secret's approach to the SEP program made a lot of sense. Instead of correcting the students for "improper" english, she treats Ebonics as it's own language and uses SEP as a way to teach a new language.
ReplyDeleteThis article, "The real Ebonics debate power, language, and the education of African American" is basically an interview that partakes in the SEP program. I believe this interview was extremely useful for many people. I have heard Ebonics used often throughout my life, more recently here at SIU and the fact that some people get mad at others for speaking this way is intriguing and confusing to me.
ReplyDeleteI have always considered Ebonics a language merely because I find language to be a way of speaking that someone has grown up learning. If I learned Ebonics at a young age, I wouldn't notice a difference of speaking. It is the same way that a southern speaker hears an accent of a Northern speaker, but they cannot see a difference in the way they pronounce things, and vice versa.
I think the SEP program and the way Carrie Secret approaches it will help a lot of people in the long run and I believe more people should pick it up.
Embracing Ebonics and Teaching Standard English: An Interview with Oakland Teacher Carrie Secret was an informational read. In this article, SEP was spoken of quite often. SEP is the Standard English Proficiency program. This program is located in some schools and is geared to help AAE. AAE is African American English. This can also be known as Ebonics. The article goes on by talking about SEP and how it works. The SEP program emphasizes languages and content and encompasses all the areas of curriculum. It shows children the power in using correct linguistics. SEP is successful because it uses culture to enhance reading development. It also does it by respecting the child's culture. I found this article helpful and informational.
ReplyDeleteThis article was very informing. The interview technique really helped me to understand the topic at had, which is using correct language in class. the system is made to push students to speak proper English. Good motivation article.
ReplyDeleteIt is in interesting move for teachers not to correct students, but to build off there improper language techniques. Im not against it, I just could never imagine my teachers taking that path of teaching. It must already be past the point of no turning back if that is the way the teachers handled it.
ReplyDelete