Considering the Community

1. Just looking around at the students in my class, it is clear that there are many cultural differences that exist between my students and me. There is a very big Hispanic population at Donelson Hills, and I am interested to see if this is reflected in the community at large. I am very excited to visit some places around the community to gain a better understanding of where my students come from, and to see some of the places they spend their time when they’re not in school. Before heading into the community, we talked to some teachers and the principle to see what insight they could offer about the community. They said that being on the border of Pontiac; it is a low economic area and many students are of a lower economic status. There is a trailer park just down the road from the school, where some of the students live. We decided that this will definitely be one of the places we visit and will hopefully provide us with a better understanding of where the students live and their lives outside of school. We also have overheard many students refer to the Family Video as a place they go with their families on the weekends. We decided this will be a good place to visit since many of our students go there on the weekends. For the third place, we decided to visit the local grocery store down the road from the school, Huron Foods. Since this is a local grocery store, unique to the community, we figure it would be a good place to visit and hopefully it will provide some insight into the community.

2. In the community, I expect to find many rental areas. Just on my drive to the school each morning, the area is filled with many apartment complexes. The principle has informed us that since it is a big rental area, there are many different students that filter in and out of the area. I also expect to see some Spanish words used around the community since there is such a big Hispanic population. In the local grocery store, there might be Spanish words used on some products. I’m trying not to have a stereotypical view on what the community might look like, but I feel like I associate certain things for lower economic areas. It’ll be interesting to see if these associations I make are true to what we find. I somewhat expect there to be single mom's out shopping, or people who are unemployed.

3. The community that surrounds the school is a lot different than the community I grew up in, which is something that makes me somewhat nervous. I’m anticipating that I might feel like an outsider when I walk around the community. I’m a little worried that our group is going to stand out while we walk around and snap some pictures, but I am also excited to see what the community has to offer. I hope to gain a better understanding of my students by visiting the community and I also am excited to see where the students spend their time outside of the classroom.

4. Literacy can definitely be seen in the places that we visited. For instance, the grocery store has a variety of products, prices, and ingredients that need to be read. Also at the Family Video store, there will be signs that can be read, and also the back of movie covers that people can read. In both of these places, there is conversing and communicating that is taking place, which is another form of literacy.

5. In our classroom, there are many different literacies. My mentor teacher has implemented a lot of visual literacy as well as digital literacy. We have a smart board in our room which we utilize and the students get the opportunity to interact with technology. We also spend a lot of time on the more traditional literacies, reading and writing. Reading and writing are highly valued in the classroom, and the students spend a lot of time developing in these areas. In the community, there are also different opportunities for students read. At stores, such as the grocery store, they read product names, signs, and prices. They also have the opportunity in both the classroom and the surrounding community to interact and communicate with people which is another important aspect of literacy.


Reflecting on the Community:

What did you notice?
The two major inferences I made after walking around the community is that there is a large Hispanic population, and the community is in a lower economic area. The stores we visited used Spanish as the language displayed on many products, which demonstrated to us that Spanish was one of the primary languages used in this community and is also highly valued. The grocery store had a security guard at the front of the store who surveyed people as they walked in and out. This made us believe that there may be a high crime rate in this community. The trailer park we visited was just down the road from the school, and some of the teachers told us that we do have students that live there. The trailers in the park were very close in proximity, and there wasn’t much space for kids to run around. There also were older model of cars, and rusty furniture on the outside of the trailers. This has indicated to us that this is a lower economic area and many of our student’s families may have to deal with economic problems. The family video store we visited had many great deals and family deals in particular. This indicates that the family video stores recognizes the economic status of the community and provides great deals so that families in the community can enjoy movie rentals.

What surprised you? What didn't surprise you?
The security guard in the grocery store definitely surprised me, and it made me question what happens in the community that they would need a security guard in a grocery store. I was surprised to an extent about the Spanish language used throughout the community; however, it made sense because there is a high population of Hispanics in the school and in my class. I wasn’t surprised about the people we saw out around the community, because it reflected what I see in the school everyday. I was also surprised by the amount of rental homes located in the community. This made me wonder how this affects the students at our school, and could contribute to the amount of students who filter in and out of the school system.

How has this community experience helped you learn about your school, students, and families?
This community experience has been very helpful and has given me a better perspective on my students. It has showed me what the students are exposed to as a part of their everyday lives. It has shed some light on the economic troubles that people in the community are exposed to, which ultimately affects my students and their families. Many of our students live in the rental homes and apartments that surround the school, which leads me to the realization that some students aren’t completely grounded in this community and move around a lot. I have also learned that because of the economic situation of the community, many students don’t have the resources to read at home. This ultimately affects their progress in reading, because they need to read outside of the classroom to ensure development. However, because of the lack of resources that students have at their homes, the school provides many opportunities such as various clubs that promote after school reading, and students are also allowed to take books home. The Spanish used throughout the community has also demonstrated the high value they place on the Hispanic culture and indicates that a big majority of the community is Hispanic. This shows me that my students are exposed to Spanish on a daily basis, and many of the students speak Spanish in their homes.

How will this experience help you in your teaching?
This experience will help me make literacy more meaningful to my students. In the learning to change video, I agreed with many of the points that were being made, in particular with making bridges between the teacher and their students, “It’s about providing the best quality teacher no matter where a student lives and making those bridges.” Although there were things in the community that I could not identify with, one major one being the Hispanic culture, it is important that I build bridges between myself and my students so I can make learning more meaningful to them. I also liked how they said that “We have a classroom system, when we should have a community system.” This is a philosophy I will bring into my teaching, because building a community in the classroom and getting to know the greater community is crucial in providing meaningful learning for my students.

How will it influence your thinking about your students' as literacy users and learners?
The community has had a big affect on how I view my students as literacy users and learners. The biggest realization I have come to is that fact that many students use Spanish as one of their primary languages. Throughout the community they are being exposed to both Spanish and English, and many of my students speak Spanish in their homes. This is definitely something to consider and build upon in the classroom. The community provides many opportunities for the students to use various forms of literacies. For instances, in the grocery store, they are exposed to signs, prices, products, and ingredients to be read. Knowing that the community provides opportunities for my students to use literacy, it is crucial to connect things they are learning in the classroom to things they see in their community. This experience has really opened my eyes to various ways to make meaningful connections especially in the context of literacy.