The Joy of Language

I am currently reading an excellent book by Robert W. Buinsma called The Joy of Language. It is the best book about teaching English from a Christian perspective that I have ever seen. Whereas some so called Christian literature attempts to canonize phonics or take a reductionist approach to language arts education, Bruinsma takes an honest and reasonable look at a broad spectrum of educational literature- from Vygostsky to Piaget, whole language to basal readers- in an attempt to find out how to best teach language to children.

Buinsma's conclusion is that in order for language to be effectively learned it must be put into a context and community. Most kids do a fine job of learning language until they start to sit in school desks and then their development hits a brick wall. Most teachers blame this phenomenon on the students' lack of will power or lack of aptitude. Bruinsma proposes that, especially when it comes to elementary school students, the answer is none of the above. The reason many students language learning capacity slows down so much in school is that the information is presented out of context and fragmented. When a student learns language in the home it helps them navigate and make sense of their world. When a student learns reading, grammar, or writing in school they get it in sometimes indecipherable chunks and then they get a letter grade for it.

Brunisma's solution is to make language exciting by providing interesting things to read and problems to solve that the student cares about. He also reminds us that the ways of learning often required in school are almost the antithesis of the ways of learning that are required by most homes and the workplace. When a father teaches a son how to mow the lawn he doesn't sit them at a desk and teacher them theory and facts. The son watches the dad and eventually gets his turn. The son will develop more and more competence with the mower until the dad lets him mow the lawn all by himself. Yippee!

As I am preparing to leave for Singapore I am increasingly thinking about what God has placed in my life that would make such an opportunity appeal to me. One person that I always keep coming back to in my memories is a high school Japanese teacher named Carol Lund. She made us speak Japanese as much as possible, sing hokey songs, do exercises to Japanese rajio, and solve problems. I think she would have been a big fan of the Hiragana Song. At times she treated us almost like elementary school students, some of my classmates hated her for that, but to me it always made sense because we were infants in what we were learning.

As I reflect on my own teaching I realize that I too have been guilty of presenting material in fragmented chunks. Why should a kid learn to find predicate nominatives except for the grade that I give him or her? Unless you just like playing with language, why should a student create ten sentences that use adverbs in different ways? Even if I did dictate the formate, I nearly always let the kids pick their writing topics, hoping they would select a topic that sparked their interests and passions. At times I seemed like I was in a double bind. If I went by the old Holt book it was boring and the students disassociated themselves from the material and if I did a simulation the students felt like they were "playing pretend." If I treated the most struggling high school students in a way that I was consistent with their apptitude level or had my classes singing hokey learning songs they probably would have burnt down my house. (However, I once parodied Fifty Cent's song In 'Da Club to teach the writing process, but I decided it would have been met with too much ridicule to even provide a shred of learning for the students so I held it back.)

In conclusion, I really like Buinsma's book, but I am not quite sure how to implement those ideas in a way that is relevant to an entire high school classroom. My largest class had twenty eight kids and I find it incredibly difficult to contextualize all of the learning objectives in a way that is relevant to all the students in the class. Maybe it is an impossible question that will never have a pat answer. Maybe the mark of a master teacher is that he or she never stops mulling over that mission, but yet they get better and better at fulfilling its goal.

To conclude, I'll post that song parody. No student ever saw it, but somebody ought to read it.

In Da' Class
A Parody Written without Regard to SAE
(With Sincerest Apologies to "Fity" cent and the St. Lunatics)

Write, write, write
Write, write shawties
On your paper
Start with an introduction on your paper
Explain things clearly on your paper
Proofread and check
All Your Paper

[Chorus]
Plagiarisms when you dub, don't give me any crud
Listen in class I've got the aides, if you want to make good grades
I want to see success don't want to see you flub
So think before you write, don't give me any crud

[Verse 1]
I like double spaced with a twelve point font
Roll out two pages deep and a title in the front
Some students mess with Hartley, don't show any love
Don't listen in class, throw spit-wads up above
To double space control down with 2's up
Read 7-7-4 in the book to see what is up
Listen to teacher in class- writing's easy and simp.'
His truck's been hit with shells, but he don't walk with a limp
At Maries county student's saying we write a lot
You need to know sequence of events and understand the plot.
You need to write well to prove you're not loco
Control what you say, put it in a choke hold
You're feeling focus man, your thesis on your mind
You need to elab'rate on text ev' within your grind
I hope you've studied writing and you're feeling the flow
Two supporting points down just one left to go

[Bridge]
"Chronic"-o-logical is a sequential o'doe
Or you can list important things
Like Plot, like theme, like diction, imagery
Don't need to be rich, I shop at K-Mart and don't have change

[Verse 2]
You should love writing, way more than you hate it
Primary sources come from the ones that seen it
Ambiguities, Complexities, and Nuances are a part of life
You should discuss them in your writing- right?!!
You've got a simile with "like" or "as" you know you're on
Metaphors are direct comparisons to what you've done
If the school is on fire don't let it burn
Teachers don't make money, so please have concern
Be consistent in your writing, don't switch the style up
Work hard when you write
Watch the grade points pile up
If you fail in school and just drink bottles of bub
You know where you be..

Don't act like you don't know when your writing is due…
Work hard in the class..

Peace Out..