So what's your story?

Watch this fascinating clip that provides an overview of "how people get to know each other" when they first meet. This was based on research and surveys in multiple states from Hawaii to Maryland. Most of the "opening lines" involve some form of "where do you live" or some sort of question designed to place you in a category and give a wealth of quick information about who you are. In the accompanying article, "What We Mean When We Say Hello" (The Atlantic, Feb. 16, 2014) the author states that after we learn someone's name we commonly move on to , "...some version of “Where do you live?” But as you describe, you are really after an answer offering some social-economic-cultural hints about a person’s life."


Asking someone where they live, where they came from or what they do can be uncomfortable for some people because it forces them to offer a prescribed answer that involves the listeners own personal evaluative rubric.  In the video clip, one man suggests a better question, one that leaves the communication open to the person's preferences for an answer.  He asks, "So, what's your story?"  With that question you can decide what you want to share about yourself.  If you grew up in circumstances you'd rather not discuss with a relative stranger, you could reframe your answer and tell about the beautiful quilts you create, the teaching career you love or your wonderful children.  I think this question is also inherently more interesting because really I'd rather hear about what someone cares about and the stories that have shaped them than where they live or who their parents are. I plan to try out some version of this prompt the next time I meet someone and see what happens.  It could be that they will be so taken aback by the unusual tack that they'll just start to tell me where they live and how many children they have....  Interesting how we're socialized to follow dialogue and cultural conventions.   And, if you're interested in replying - I'd love to know - "What's your story?"

Stories are Powerful

This is a video clip from a project designed to both share the voices of the Arctic people and bring attention to the changing climate.  At the website www.N60.co you'll find many video clips of Native people talking about their life experiences and how climate change has shaped their culture.  There are also educational materials that explore both geography AND culture and they are designed to be used with K-12 classrooms.   In this lesson, "Your Story" students are encouraged to make a video clip about their own lives and share them.  The lesson offers many suggested resources as well as a storyboard graphic organizer to help students know what to include.

The idea is that wherever you are in the world you have a story to tell and your language and culture are important.  By understanding other people's perspectives in relation to our own we are better able to care for our world and each other.



Check out the site and I encourage you to think about ways to use these resources in your classrooms locally.  Think of the wealth of cultures and experiences sitting in your classroom today.  How much do students really understand their own cultural backgrounds and just as importantly do they understand each other?

What if all teaching is community organizing?

If you have ever doubted the power of literacy and learning, you only need to watch this video and think about how our interests shape us and drive us to learn.  I love how Constance Steinkuehler shares her vulnerability as a teacher when addressing a group of young men that she thinks are going to be excited to hear what she has planned for them.  She calls it the, "Tell me when she stops talking" phenomenon.  I think this happens for too many of our students too much of the time and it reminded me of how much I'd like to flip education on it's head.

It also reminded me of Paulo Freire, a literacy researcher who did flip education on it's head!  He created a movement that has been called "liberation theology" and "critical pedagogy" because he dared to teach the poor of Brazil how to read in 45 days - based on their interests - which revolved around being able to express their political opinions and vote - which required literacy skills.  Rather than teach them "from the beginning" about the "blue bus" or whatever it is we make beginning readers read until they're "ready."  Freire created "culture circles" that were based on a dialogue about events important in the community.  He spent time in the community and listened for themes, then introduced the topics and encouraged questioning and exploration.  He was so successful in empowering the poor through this method that he was imprisoned as a traitor for 70 days!  His most well-known book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, proposes a new relationship between teacher, student and society where they are co-creators of knowledge.  If we know that interest-based learning is effective - I mean, really - how can you NOT learn if you love something?  Then why aren't student interests more at the focus of what we're trying to do?  Why do we have to control all the learning and tell students what's good for them?  Then blame them when they don't want to do it "our" way?  Really?  Why haven't we evolved to a place where all learners can find their interests represented and take ownership for their learning?

Paulo Freire

A Brief Biography of Paulo Freire

The International Literacy Institute interview with Paulo Freire:

Like I Said - Income Inequality is a Factor

Today's New York Times had an article, Study Finds Greater Income Inequality in Nation's Thriving Cities, that supports my blog post from yesterday.  Income inequality is a real, measurable issue and it's worse in areas where populations have higher incomes (where there is a bigger income gap between rich and poor).  I remember traveling to San Francisco 25 years ago and one of the things that struck me immediately is that all of the service workers seemed to be black, Latino or Asian.  The other memory that stuck with me as a newly inducted Peace Corps volunteer ready to make the world a better place and wandering the city prior to departure was the bad traffic and the white woman who leapt out of her stopped car, ran up to the car in front of her and screamed at the driver through the window, "Learn how to drive you F****** chink!"  I apologize for the derogatory term - it still makes my heart stop today, but it drives home the deep racism that also often comes with wealth, privilege and the separation between classes and cultures.  The article (using information from the Brookings report) states that, "... in most other places, inequality intensified because the poor got poorer...  Low-income households lost ground and haven't gained it back.  And the pressures around cost of living are higher at the low end than they are at the high end."

From the Brookings report:

Inequality may be the result of global economic forces, but it matters in a local sense. A city

where the rich are very rich, and the poor very poor, is likely to face many difficulties. It may

struggle to maintain mixed-income school environments that produce better outcomes for low-income

kids. It may have too narrow a tax base from which to sustainably raise the revenues

necessary for essential city services. And it may fail to produce housing and neighborhoods

accessible to middle-class workers and families, so that those who move up or down the income

ladder ultimately have no choice but to move out.

So, while we're helping our ELs succeed academically, where will they go?  If the most "economically successful" locations are segregated, how will they "move up the ladder" to economic prosperity?  I confess I don't have any answers here - just raising awareness and looking for insights on how to create more pathways to success for ELs who work hard and want to be part of the American dream.