Excerpts from Reflective Journals | Excerpts from Literature | References

This principle applies not only to the realm of teaching and learning, but to all aspects of life. Do not ever underestimate the influence one hour in the classroom with students may have on their lives as well as your own. Seek out positive successes one day at a time and record them. This will make them more accessible, memorable, and easier to identify collectively.

Excerpts from Reflective Journals

• March 12th, 2002 (Wave I) – “Victoria did not want to leave—I was thrilled!!!! She said, ‘That’s it?? No.’… Really, I loved it tonight—even though we only had two students. They were two students who really want to improve, you can tell!”
• March 26th, 2002 (Wave I) – “I asked her [Marisol] how it had gone reading Jam and Ice Cream and My Cat Likes Milk to her little boy. She confessed that it had been tough, so I took advantage of our one-on-one time and we reviewed. Again we began reviewing the letters of the alphabet, just identifying them verbally as I showed them to her in a random order. She’s getting better and better! Then she was ready to practice reading Jam and Ice Cream to me.”
• April 9th, 2002 (Wave I) – “Marisol really is looking for validation, but enjoying her progress little by little. I truly think she is progressing, even though it may seem miniscule to her, or to others.”
• April 16th, 2002 (Wave I) – “Although some words and inflection are still difficult, she [Marisol] has progressed—this is so exciting to see!”
• April 18th, 2002 (Wave I) – “I wanted to read them one of my favorite children’s books, The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood… Then we moved on to the book, for the sake of time. You should have seen these women!!!! They were absolutely glued to their seats! Indeed, this is an excellent book to share. In fact I really want to teach this one and have them learn it because it was one of the ones that the teachers shared also in their classrooms these past months. So, I read page by page, but we also translated (to be sure we were all understanding) and discussed certain questions about the plot, etc. that arose. As we did so, I pointed out how this was a great model for how we should read books with our children. We ended up going overtime a bit because they wouldn’t leave without hearing the ending of the story, and then…the immediate reaction, ‘Can I borrow that book?’ YEA!!! That’s exactly what should happen. I ask them every time about going to the Public Library, and each time they go off about their health problems, and how busy they are, etc—life basically! So, I have made them aware, at least, that they can check books out of the school library, if they are very responsible about bringing them back. Estela has my book until Tuesday.”
• May 7th, 2002 (Wave II) – “I used the last seven minutes of class to open it up to them to share any positive experiences they'd had since we last met together. They were actually eager for this time! This was a gold mine for me! I loved listening!!!
  Maria - She brought a book called Dinosaurs Before Dark that is maybe 50 pages long, big print, with a few chapter divisions in it. She excitedly shared with us the basic plot, pointed out where one of the words she brought in to ask about came from, and commented on how much she was enjoying it. We discussed what a popular item dinosaurs are with children, and she admitted that she too was really enjoying this “kids” book.
  Amelia – This young mother commented on bringing her young two year old to the library in the past couple days. She said he loved the books that were thicker, and not just paper in texture (some that were more cardboard-like, and different in size). She commented on how he obviously couldn’t actually read the books, but he loved holding them, carrying them around, and looking at them. She loved being there with him. Way to go!
  Teresa – This sweet grandmother watches her grandkids during the day, and is now dealing with the struggle of potty-training the almost-two-year-old. Her great success came in that she took him to the bathroom with a sack of toys, with a Franklin the Turtle book also in the sack. She said, “Now, you’re not going to believe this, none of you, but he sat there on that potty for an entire hour!!! He was just looking at and reading that book.” I was thrilled! She had the chance to see firsthand what a world a book can open for a young child—and she was a tool to help in that. Also, her enthusiasm notably affected the rest of the class, as we were all surprised and excited for her.
  Dolores - This busy mother also managed to make it to the library this past week. She shared with us how the kids absolutely loved it, and they each took about four books off the shelf immediately upon arrival. The older sibling tried sharing her books with the younger one, but of course the younger one wouldn’t sit still so well. Plus, the younger one was attracted to different books than the older one. Dolores commented that it was really just neat to see them there, interacting, and getting so excited over books. I agree!"

Excerpts from Literature

• Neuman, Caperelli, and Kee, 1998, “Gains in family literacy can more aptly be described as ‘short stacks of small wins’ (see Weick, 1984). These are indicators of improvements that produce visible results. Buying something on sale after having read the weekly circular, writing home to a relative, or voting in the town elections for the first time are examples of such incremental, important changes in behaviors resulting from participation in family literacy programs. Very often, once accomplished, one small win precedes another, leading to demonstrable patterns of specific solutions to problems that families are now able to accomplish. Together, these bundles of small wins can become a series of changes that cannot be detected or reduced to simple gains in standardized test measures” (p. 251).
• Paratore, 2001, “The high attendance and retention rates achieved by ILP [Intergenerational Literacy Project] parents suggest that the program offers learning experiences that adults perceive to be worthy of their time and effort. In addition, writing samples indicate small but steady gains across all learners” (p. 104).

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