Truth Tuesday: Three Ways to Speak English

On Tuesdays, I take 10 minutes for a mini-lesson on identity development and social justice with my high school students. We set a weekly goal and free-write about it for 5 minutes on Fridays.

Week 2: Three Ways to Speak English

This week, we watched this slam poem by Jamila Lyiscott:

My students were entranced by her performance for the same reasons I am every time I watch it (and, I'm guessing for the same reasons you are if you've also seen it.) We briefly talked about the main point of the poem and why she might have wanted to write it, and I then asked them why code switching is a strength. My students said that code-switching helps them make more connections with people, and allows them to be successful in different environments. I asked them why Lyiscott brought up her hair when the poem is about the ways in which she speaks, and they said that sometimes when you feel judged for one thing other things spill over into your mind. One student said that the ways he feels judged end up being connected in his mind because the common thread is the feeling of being misunderstood, so even if a person is judging him for something, it's almost automatic that he feels like he's also being judged for things like the way he speaks, dresses, his race, etc.

Then, we set our goals for Friday:

While reading their responses on Friday, an unexpected trend popped up--my expectation was that students would reflect on whether they are treated differently when they speak in slang than when they speak formally, but many of my students talked about how they feel like their accents make people underestimate how intelligent they are. This was most apparent in the letters from my ELD students, who are all immigrants and have lived in the US for less than a year. Here are some of their responses:

And many of my students also pointed out that it's hard for them to separate feeling judged because of the way they speak from other factors, here's a response explaining that feeling:

As for me, I told my students about a time when I was with my friends in India when we were in college. We were making jokes and being silly while waiting in line for a palm reading at a festival. When I sat down, the palm reader said things that you could easily infer by watching me interact with my friends (that I'm jovial and enjoy being around others) and said that I tend to be immature and don't take criticism well. I said, "okay, thanks!" so that my friend Bianca could have a turn. I was surprised when the palm reader stammered and said "okay? uh.. that's it?" perhaps because she was expecting me to feel hurt or defensive because of what she said. This situation ultimately didn't impact me (this person had no control over my life or opportunities) but it provided a moment of reflection on when and how others' perceptions of me don't align with my perceptions of myself. 

Truth Tuesday: Visualizing Intersectionality

On Tuesdays, I take 10 minutes for a mini-lesson on identity development and social justice with my high school students. We set a weekly goal and free-write about it for 5 minutes on Fridays.

Week 1: Visualizing Intersectionality

This week, we watched this TED Talk by Dave Troy:



My students pointed out that it was weird that Troy's map had "geek" and "african american/latino" on opposite sides of a spectrum, but didn't have "white" on it. They wondered if he assumed that POC couldn't be geeks, and why, when talking about his home city of Baltimore, he said "I'm here on the green side, down on the far right where the geeks are... Now, on the other side of the network, you tend to have primarily African-American and Latino folks who are really concerned about somewhat different things than the geeks are." They wondered why he didn't say 'down on the far right where the white people are.' They agreed with him when he says that segregation is a choice, and I pointed out that I didn't. I shared a story about how, when I was in high school, I always wanted to join the debate team but never did because I didn't think I'd be welcome in that space. I believed that many people on the team were friendly and wouldn't be assholes to me, but I had a gut feeling (or an anxiety) that they wouldn't take me seriously. I told my students that it makes me feel weird to think that segregation is a choice because me choosing to join a community doesn't always mean that the community wants me there and would include me. 

Then, we set our goals for Friday:

Reading their responses on Friday almost brought me to tears. I'm so proud of them for being vulnerable and doing the assignment, and so many of them wrote about how they felt closer to their friends after having that conversation. Some of them also pointed out that it felt strange/awkward to have a conversation about their values and identity because it's not something they do very often. Some found that it was hard to talk about themselves at all (which I hope, with practice, gets easier as the year goes on!) Here are a few excerpts from their letters:

As for me, I took the time and had lunch with a teacher whose classroom is near mine but I haven't really talked to all that much. We talked about why we became teachers, what we value in our students and this work, and how we like to spend our free time. So... sweet, I made a new friend!

When was the last time you a vulnerable conversation with someone in your community? I'd love to hear about it! 

De Young Museum & Bouquets to Art

I've seen museums do special exhibits surrounding spring lots of times, from paintings of Victorian flowers to bird sculptures, but the de Young's homage to spring this year blew me away.

Each year, they have an exhibit/fundraiser called Bouquets to Art that lasts for five days. You can imagine how a five-day exhibit at a huge art museum in a giant city would get crowded, and it was, even in the middle of the day on a Wednesday. I've been in my share of crowded spaces before but it felt really overwhelming being around so many people intentionally huddling around such a tight space. I lasted 30 minutes before I had to get out of there, but I'm still glad I went!

Here is my favorite arrangement:

And a few others I liked:

#BouquetstoArt at #deyoungmuseum is one of the most unique celebrations of spring I've seen at any art museum! 🌸🌷🌻🌺 #sanfrancisco #flowerpower

A photo posted by Grishma Singh (@grishmapolitan) on Apr 6, 2016 at 8:23pm PDT

Why We Can't Have Nice Things (Like Affirming Your Identity)

It's Tuesday, and "Julie" is crying. When I ask her what happened, she says that "Kate" is being mean to her in Spanish. I ask her if Kate knows how she feels. She shrugs and goes to tell Kate that she's sad. The two second graders come back hand-in-hand and tell me Kate has apologized for forgetting about The English Rule.

The English Rule, I learn, is exactly what it sounds like--you can only speak in English during recess. Some adult at some point in their lives (someone on recess duty, I'm guessing) decided that the way to stop kids from teasing each other in languages they don't understand is to stop them from using them entirely. Hearing that reminded me of the time I worked at ASU, when a manager decided that the way to avoid people leaving food wrappers at our front desk was to ban food altogether. This kind of behavior management is, I'm learning, ridiculously common. People arguing because of toys? No, let's not teach them how to share or respect each other's property, let's just ban toys from school. People arguing during lunch? No, let's not teach kids how to resolve conflicts, let's eat silently. Let's ignore these opportunities to teach kids really important social skills and ban things instead.

This is not the kind of educator I want to be.

Kate and I had a conversation about why it's not nice to tease people at all, let alone in another language.

"But Julie is my friend, I was just joking!"

"What's the difference between a joke and teasing?" (We had already talked about this last week.)

"Laughing with someone and laughing at someone..." (She remembered!)

"Can someone laugh with you if they don't know what you're saying?"

"No..."

She told me she hadn't thought about it that way before. She apologized to Julie again, not for breaking The English Rule, but for doing something hurtful. Before they left, I told both of them that they shouldn't think it's bad to speak other languages at school, and that it's cool that they know Spanish and Mongolian, respectively. I then learned how to say "Hola, me llamo es Grishma/Sain baina uu, minii ner Grishma baina" and taught them how to say "Namaste, mera naam Julie/Kate hai."

Taking "the thing" away when "the thing" causes conflict feels wrong. But it feels especially wrong when "the thing" is someone's culture. I don't want any child thinking their culture is inappropriate at school. You, your family, your background, your food, your holidays, your opinions, your personality--they're all needed at school. So speak in Spanish all you want, Kate. Just don't tease people.

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