Reflection

Based on a notion that if I can understand and speak the language of my students, then I will be able to translate and siphon essential, educational material from myself to the student (Landson-Billings, 1994), on Wednesday, July 13, 2011, I spent a brief afternoon trying to understand the urban, youth culture in order to better my approach as a teacher.  Additionally, by spending the time to commune within their cultural framework, I tried to gather an appreciation for the language and speech patterns as to negate any stereotypes or bias that I may have had for urban speech flow and vocabulary usage. By observing them within their natural states, I could, in theory, uncover their "deepest emotions [that are] vital" to the spoken soul found in urban communities (Rickford and Rickford, 2002).What I observed in this activity can be broken down into four main categories: Brandish, Teasing as Endearment, Musical Communications, Dialectal. Below, I will review the different language styles that I observed at relate them to ways I can improve the classroom setting.

Brandish

The observation on the Metro Rail is the perfect example of explicit, show off behavior. There was a lot of unnecessary, loud swearing, as well as flagrantly disrespectful behavior. This abomination of the Ebonics language, used in a way to simply entertain and scare, stirs controversy and inflates the already pervasive stereotypes that Blacks are ignorant and unable to learn. As Depit (2002) remarks, people use this behavior to a sign that Blacks are not smart. In Robert Towsend's documentary (2010), one black comedian suggests the alternative theory that urban youth use vulgarity as a way to establish themselves as a legitimate entity.

This brandish behavior is a form of communication that really expresses that the child just wants to be respected and heard. Using George Kelley's (1963) idea of constructive alternativism, a teacher can view this behavior from the perspective that the student must be allowed to positively contribute to society, as well as feel that his or her contributions are notable.  I can tackle this type of behavior by allowing students time to ask questions, challenge ideas, as well as display work.

Teasing as Endearment

I did still do not understand the use of negative adjectives as a way to express endearment toward peers. Comments such as "big head" and "ugly" were often said with giggles and smiles and later followed by hugs and laughter. This style of communication can not be tolerated in the school environment as it could easily be misunderstood as teasing. Ultimately, while the goal was to respect and understand the culture, this seems cruel and unusual. The only way to navigate around such behaviors would be to provide teachable moments on constructive feedback and positive praise.

Musical Communication and Dialectal 

These two forms are placed together because these seem to be the most natural and positive outlets of oral communication between the observed demographic. There was a confidence and strength in the student when she used the language. Without knowing it, oftentimes the lyrics were brilliantly written and contained history lessons, great word play, or figurative language. The ease at which some of these students would rap or sing to certain beats reminded me of the ease in which actors recite Shakespeare. Ultimately, I was convinced that I must incorporate more music into my classroom.

Music and lyrics seem to be the overwhelming

Overall, I enjoyed analyzing the activity. The activity in itself was a challenge for me because as a teacher I wanted to correct, correct, correct. One thing I learned however, is that it is not always necessary to correct as it is to simple expound upon what they already know.