Day 5

Talking about linguistic diversity made me think more about my language. Obviously, I speak English, but with what accent, slang words, or dialect? I speak with a Minnesotan accent and I am very proud of that. If I am away from home for too long and start to lose it I get scared that it will never come back. But it always does, when I talk to someone from home on the phone or the minute I step off the plane. My boyfriend is going to school in Idaho and we both make fun of the way they talk out there. But I can tell that he is starting to pick up their accents a little bit already. This all made me think that accents are not concrete, they are fluid. You can lose, change, or pick up accents in just a few weeks time. Our desire to fit in with those around us causes us to speak like them, even if that is not how we were taught. I wonder if this is true for immigrants. If English is not your first language can you still talk with an English accent? Or will you always have the accent of your home language streaming through the English words? I have a little bit of insight on this because of my aunt from Finland. She has been learning English since she was a little girl. She has been speaking English almost solely for the last 15 years. But still, with certain words...she has an accent, the kind that shows she's from a different country. When speaking, we put emphasis on certain letters and syllables. My aunt puts the emphasis in different places than we do. Even after trying to learn, she can not pronounce my sister's name right. To her, Mackenzie is MaCKenzie.

Day 4

Today we made a list of the pros and cons of having separate schools for immigrants or mainstreaming them into schools with everyone else.Maybe I am only seeing one side, but I didn't even see a need to discuss this because segregating the schools isn't even an option.Besides the fact that it is illegal, it just seems very stupid to have separate schools for different countries. By making the pros and cons of both choices, it made it seem that segregating countries was possibly a good option.

As for planning to mainstream the immigrant children, I found that it is a much more difficult task than I thought. Not only do the students need extra help with their English, but how are they adapting to America? Who is going to look out for them in a classroom of thirty students? Who pays for the extra help? What repercussions come from giving them extra help? Where is the line drawn? If it is embarrassing to be taken out for English help, is it embarrassing to be taken out for Math help? Should all the people who are bad at math be put into a special school? No. These are all issues that might be best discussed in each individual school district. That way all the personal circumstances can be recognized.

Day 3

Immigration has so many parts it seems impossible to sort it all out. Of course, there is the question of how immigrants should be educated and that is what pertains most to us as teachers. But before that question can be answered, many others must be discussed. Like we talked about in class, it is important to realize all of the ways that immigrants are different from us. Everyone has a unique background and as an American, it is very hard to understand where immigrants are coming from.

I took the practice quiz that was posted on Jake's blog. It is similar to the tests that people have to take to gain U.S. citizenship. Although, I probably could have passed the test...I would not have had a very high score. Some of the questions seem kind of ridiculous. I cannot understand why an immigrant would need to know how many times a congressman can be re-elected? I have no interest or knowledge of that and do not think that it is a necessary fact that proves my citizenship. (the answer is: there is no limit). So yes, immigrants should be allowed to come here and the test to become a citizen should not be full of random facts about our country. My aunt came from Finland to marry my uncle and she has been here since before I was born, just last year our family celebrated when she became a citizen. I was so surprised when I heard the news, "What? Nina isn't even a citizen?" The idea that she wasn't seem so ridiculous because she seems just like us, she has two kids here (both citizens), she speaks perfect English, has a great job, etc. Luckily she passed.

Day 2

In class today we talked about immigrants. The setting was set from a reading about immigrant children in schools. Although not a lot of discussion was done on the children immigrants, the discussion was very interesting. The main question we asked and attempted to answer was, should everyone who wishes to come to the U.S be allowed to come? I do not have one opinion on this issue. I identify with several view points and I cannot choose which one is correct. I think that everyone should have the opportunity to live wherever they would like to. If they choose America, we should be honored to have more diversity in our country and welcome them. But another point pushes me away from that view. Do we really have room for all those people? Are parts of our country already overpopulated? How will the school systems handle not just more children, but more children who need extra help adjusting and learning English?

We also discussed the view of America as a melting pot. Some people think that everyone who comes here, should just add themselves to the pot and blend right in. When all melted together in a pot, we'll all be the same. After discussing this for sometime, our class almost all agreed that instead of a melting pot which discourages differences, we should strive for a tossed salad in this country. This metaphor allows all of us to keep our own identity, but influence and be influenced by those around us. That way, we'll all benefit from each other's difference.

I wish to discuss the issue of immigration much more so that I may be able to decide how I feel about the issue and what I believe is right.

Day 1

In class today, we made a spider web about ourselves. We had a large sheet of paper, a toxic marker and a list of different characteristics that apply to everyone. The list included things such as: race, age, ableness, religion and language. With a little direction, I set out to put more description on the web. I started with language. It was easy to write in "English" as the first piece of web off of language. But after that, I had to concentrate to come up with the events, people and circumstances that influenced my language. I only got through language and age in this first day. But, we are going to be working on these charts everyday in class for a small amount of time.

I think that an activity like this would be good for all age levels. I can see myself and my students making webs like this in the first week of a school year. Similarily, I would not look at the student's webs, but I would have them share what they wish with the class at the end of the week. I think it would be a great way to find out where everyone is coming from. Also, this would help me know if any students have a different characteristic that I should pay more attention too.