Olivares' Reading Response to Ladybugs, Tornadoes, and Swirling Galaxies

“Our fear has us hearing a million voices in our heads, ‘She needs to be held accountable. What message does this send to the rest of the class? She can do whatever she wants? Is she listening? Is this a power struggle? What should we do?”

    

        I would be worried to about what should be done with this little girl who isn’t listening and has been avoiding work all year long. But she was engaged and the teachers move to have her write about her work was just about the best result that could happen. I may not have thought of that at the time and may have forced her to come join the group, which would have turned the girl off more in the long run.

            This book isn’t giving me anything new, yet at the same time it is. The advice it gives advice that I have been hearing and it makes perfect, logical, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that sense. But what’s new and infinitely more valuable to me is how the teacher’s do it. It’s all nice to say theories to me, but if there is no scaffold, no model, then I feel lost on my own in a minefield. I’m like the beginning ELL students that need that structure to begin to get my writing feet moving. That was another thing that surprised me. We been talking about the Schaffer Method as a bad thing, but it is useful. For beginners or ELL’s just learning to write English it is an invaluable lifeboat. It’s not the end of course, but having models of how things work helps wonders with those who are clueless.

            How these teachers organize their classroom is one thing I am glad to have. Desks that are the kid’s size, comfortable rugs were a given, but there were some new ideas, like pens so that they don’t erase their thinking, or even writing while standing up. That was a brilliant idea that I loved and it makes me want to try it. I know I hate being confined to a desk for hours and so do kids.

            This book is a lot about ELL’s, but in a place as diverse as California that may be a boon. I’m guilty of thinking, as I was reading, of ELL’s as little Spanish kids in a classroom trying to write and read, but that’s not entirely accurate. It’s anyone who’s primary language wasn’t English. Actually, everyone in California used to be an ELL because we all had to learn to write English. It’s just that those speaking the language had a big advantage.