Journal Entry #2

“They worried that they would pass him along until he eventually dropped out of school, just as they did her and her husband had both done in the seventh grade.” This is very present in the education system still today. Teachers are faced with problems like this every year. They are challenged to make a difference, but when forced with one or two students that really struggle it easier to write them off as a student with a learning disability. They don’t say that they are mentally retarded, but say they have ADHD or ADD. Then they have a reason to just pass them on and it is no longer their problem. Not every teacher does this, but it does happen. It also does not mean that the teacher is not a good teacher. He/she might not be properly trained to be able to give their fullest and do not understand how to reach out to these students. This goes back to our first journal dealing with inclusive education. Literacy knowledge is something that kids do not even know that they have. According to the text As Soon As She Opened Her Mouth, kids understand that you look at a piece of paper with letters on it and it means something. They do not necessarily know how it works, but understand that when write with a pencil on a piece of paper, it can be read. That is an important step in the developmental level of children. They show better results as readers and more active learners as they grow if they have better literacy knowledge when entering their early years of schooling. Students who live in lower socioeconomic settings are more likely to struggle early on due to the fact that they reportedly do not see much of. This means that they are not around it as much. When children are raised in a higher socioeconomic environment, they seem to gain more literacy knowledge. They see their parents read and write more often and therefore gain a better start on understanding “the big picture.” Some teachers are guilty of just passing students along that struggle with the basic fundamentals of reading and writing. I believe that is a problem that can be fixed and at Fairmont State by starting to train future teachers and educating us about these problems that we will face will help with the solution. Some teachers are not aware of the problems due to ignorance and habitual styles of teaching. It is a new age and time for a change for the good. Proper English is the correct way to speak. We live in a world of slang and abbreviations which make it difficult to achieve proper English. Proper English is still used in our court systems, education system, and many other professions. ********************************************************************************************************** “This mythology has even been accepted by the people living here.” I do not believe this one bit. I for one do not think that people are starting to believe all of the nonsense labels that they attach to the Appalachian people. We do not give people to believe it and to me I think it is very immature and ignorant to think that we are a bunch of inbreeded hillbillies. People that think that are just uneducated on this topic and since we have the freedom to write, speak, and film whatever we want people with continue to believe this garbage. There is no mainstream positive message being delivered about our culture and where we came from. ***************************************************************************************************************