https://padlet.com/becciaashley/bashirali *****Question #1: How is the school's social hierarchy affect students' choice of language learning in New York City public schools based on your observation? Is this different in different districts? *****Question #2: What are some methods that teachers can use to engage students such as Maria to learn SAE? *****Question #3: “Teachers must also consider the consequences of using their position of authority when they attempt to impose SAE and its social norms on students.” (Bashir-Ali, 2006, p637) Teachers are the authority figure to students, what did the teachers in Maria’s school or even the school administrators do or not do that impacted Maria’s denial of her own identity and the perception of ESL students being at the bottom of the social hierarchy? Since language is associated with one’s culture, if we taught students in a submersion classroom setting where only proper English is spoken and used, would there be more Marias since they don’t see the value in their own culture and language? What would Maria be like if she was learning in an immersion classroom setting where students’ native language is acknowledged and used as a tool for second language acquisition? *****Question #4: How can we, as teachers, ensure that our students do not feel like they need to change who they are or fit in? What exactly can we do (and where do we find the time) to help them become INSPIRED when they walk through our doors and NOT make them feel like they are supposed to be following a “norm” that society sets for them? en-us 2020-03-17 22:48:40 UTC 2026-01-25 21:57:28 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet.com/becciaashley/bashirali/wish/531570529 1.The schools choice to include programs in our public school that somehow seems to be full of one race. I.e G&T programs are known to be filled with students whom had money to study the test or were in a school setting which exposed them to it. These programs have more money in their budget creating an unequal education within one school. 
2. As a teacher I would expose maria to various text and movies that use the language in which I would like to promote, Spanish and "proper" english. 
3.I believe there are ways to expose students to social norms without the pressure of denying your own culture or current language choice. 
4. I believe showing students that you as a teacher are human , make mistakes and at times do code switch allot students the ability to see the realism of language and its capabilities for no one way is right.

]]> 2020-04-26 17:50:44 UTC https://padlet.com/becciaashley/bashirali/wish/531570529 https://padlet.com/becciaashley/bashirali/wish/569055308 First of all, this article was fascinating to me because Maria had only been in the US and learning English for 2.5 years, yet her grasp of English (and of AAVE specifically) was so strong that her African American peers believed her when she said that she wasn't an ESL student and that she was Black and Puerto Rican, not Mexican. Clearly she had a gift for learning languages and probably could have used SAE quite well if she had a strong reason and motivation to do so. It made me question what the ESL programs were like at her school and if there was a state test (similar to the NYSESLAT) that she would have needed to pass in order to test out of ESL services--and if she would have passed that test, given that she refused to use SAE but actually spoke a form of English just fine. 
I completely understand Maria's desperate need to fit in with her peers and I think it's not unusual at all for immigrant and first generation students, no matter what their country or language of origin. I know I definitely felt it growing up. Most kids do want to fit in and be accepted, and even more so when they have an identity that makes them obviously "different." For Maria that security of fitting in with a desired social group was a much more basic need than doing well academically--think of it like Maslow's hierarchy of needs. She needed to fit in before she could even consider her grades, and perhaps that was enough to satisfy her, especially since worrying about her grades would have meant using SAE, changing one of the things she did to fit in in the first place. 
I'd like to think that Maria would thrive if she were in a class setting that celebrated students' cultures and languages and used them in the classroom in authentic ways in the teaching of a lesson. While she spoke Spanish only at home, it was at least higher up on her linguistic hierarchy than SAE, so maybe she would have been amenable to using it in class. That being said, why not allow students to use AAVE in the classroom if that's how they feel most comfortable communicating, at the very least as an entry point to engaging in discussion. I would argue that it isn't "uneducated" at all; AAVE uses specific grammatical forms and structures and there are correct and incorrect ways to say things--and code-switching is a valuable skill that empowers people to engage and communicate with a wider audience.   ]]> 2020-05-13 03:04:16 UTC https://padlet.com/becciaashley/bashirali/wish/569055308 https://padlet.com/becciaashley/bashirali/wish/572709371 This article was extremely interesting to me. It saddens me to think that there are schools across the United States who fail their students like Maria's school is failing her. The culture of this school is clearly toxic and its teachers are clearly not trained in building a community of trust or creating or adopting culturally relevant curricula. I really believe that students are and act as they do in schools because of the culture of the school. Imagine a world where these teachers were properly trained and informed on how to teach in the communities they teach, how to be compassionate and how to be relevant. Imagine a world where the students were celebrated and invited to share their experiences and differences and where those differences were celebrated. Imagine a world where students could express their ideas freely and not judged because of their language use. where students saw themselves in the text they studied, where the language they knew  and understood was used in print and where their teacher taught to understand them and not berate or exclude or belittle them.  ]]> 2020-05-14 13:55:52 UTC https://padlet.com/becciaashley/bashirali/wish/572709371 https://padlet.com/becciaashley/bashirali/wish/575804915 4. Personally, I found the article remarkably interesting because it discussed an ESL experience that was uncommon to me. After reading the article, I understand how Maria’s strong desire to fit in and master AAVE “trumped” any notion of ESL success and assimilation into American academic culture. There seems to be many levels of an intrinsic breakdown within the school discussed in this article. Since the student body consisted of 1400 students including 123 ESL students and represented over 30 different countries, in a “perfect world” this apparent “school culture” would need to be changed in a top down method. One would not expect a handful of ESL teachers (if even that) to restructure the way a school can run, which in turn affects each student. I believe the way in which AAVE has been allowed to become the “socially accepted language” within the school building is the overarching problem. Maria’s experience and complex way of denying her Mexican heritage and native language is one of many unfortunate cases. As a teacher, small changes can be implemented in your classroom so students can feel it is a “safe space” when they walk through the door. ESL students sometimes come to school with substantial mental baggage pertaining to the stresses of being in a new country, as well as the need to fit in and navigate a new society and language. I would advocate for the ESL teacher to work in conjunction with the guidance counselor to assist with creating that “safe space”. The acquisition of the English language is the desired result but as a teacher one is supposed to care about the “whole child” not just what they can acquire from a textbook. In addition, the teacher will need to be resourceful and seek guidance themselves to become more educated in the ways one can be successful in changing the narrative in their school/classroom. This may be something that can be addressed and learned over the winter and/or summer breaks. Inspiration can come from one teacher to one student and become so transformative that an entire student body can be changed for good.

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