Marco struggled with literacy when he was in school because English was not his first language and his past literacy learning experiences involved mainly reading and getting the words right or wrong. After learning that there is so much more than that when it comes to learning literacy, he was able to help his students in ways that he otherwise wouldn't have been able to. His struggles early on led to many benefits for his students. Reading this makes me think of my own relationship with math. I was always a language/social science person and had the WORST time with math. My experience was very similar to Marco's. Everything was very black and white and I don't feel like my past teachers tapped into my other skills to help me learn math. Hopefully I can use my math history to help students, just as Marco did.
Dual-language books are something that I've seen before, but never really given much thought to. These seem like such a great resource to have in classrooms and I hope that I can incorporate these types of books in my own teachings. It seems really great to get to know students at the beginning of the year and find out what other languages are spoken at home and then have specific dual-language books for them.
I fully agree with the authors, the way that a classroom looks is so important for learning! I am someone who is really sensitive to lights and loud noises. Even at home, I rarely have overhead lights on and instead open curtains for natural light or just use small lamps when it's dark outside. For me, bright pot-lights are super distracting and hurt my eyes. I would love to hear what students have to say about this. Would soft lighting make them sleepy? Or would it help them to relax and learn more comfortably? It could be possible to have both, but I know that I would love softer lights for a more cozy feel in my learning environment. I recently read a book called The Little Book of Hygge and it totally validated my angry feelings towards bright lights, as it emphasized the importance of soft lights and a warm and cozy atmosphere. Hopefully I can create a hyggelit classroom for my students.
Nonbook resources are something that I hadn't thought much about in terms of language arts. I don't think that I had much exposure to this as an early learner and the focus was mainly on specific books that were a part of the curriculum. I loved reading, so this was never problematic for me and I devoured all of the books and still remember them in great detail. I know that this is not the case for all students, so I will do my best as a teacher to provide students with other options that aren't books, based on topics that students are interested in.
Chapter 3 talks about language systems, and the way that adults teach children language without much awareness of even doing so. This is so true and I have actually been thinking a lot about this with my son this week! My son just turned one and he says about one new word per day. I'm typically a really quiet person, and when the two of us are alone together (which is often), neither of us say much and we communicate with a silent language. I've been putting in a conscious effort to talk more when we're alone and point things out to him. Despite my quietness in the first year (I remember going hours without saying a word), he is somehow an early talker! Even more interestingly, he says words that I don't even remember teaching him. I was trying to teach him to say the word "water" when he is thirsty, but instead he says "cup" when he needs a drink. I don't even think I call it a cup so I'm not sure where he learned this. Another thing to note is that the words that he picks up on seem so random. A lot of them aren't words that we use often in the house. I was so interested to learn more about this in chapter 3!