Efforts are being made to engage African American boys and other students in literacy by forming book clubs, involving male teachers, and using diverse literary materials such as graphic novels and rap.
Address behavior issues by giving students more responsibility - Positive interactions
Slow down - Take more time w/ fewer books, more in depth examination of texts
Be selective to find meaningful texts
Make lessons more engaging, allow students to talk more
Role models (especially that went to that middle/high school), "big brothers" from Duke, NC Central
Make it a priority to reach these kids in elementary school, don't wait until they become adolescents
seeking out qualified opinions
Collection development
send out more info (newsletters, web page info, family nights in media center)
Mindset adjustment, keep focused, more aware of actions
Help students see the role of literacy in their lives
Persist in reaching out to students- Don't give up!
More positive interactions crucial - Build relationships
More face-to-face time with students
Address achievement gap, even at successful schools
Win students' trust
changing culture
Difference between illiterate & alliterate
Do we have the "power" to make this happen in our schools? Buy-in is key - all stakeholders must be on board.
Decide your priority and make it a reality
Be accountable and make the students accountable.
Give them more responsibility
Get more money!- example: Mini Grants from DAE
Get buy-in from administrators, other media coordinators, and teachers.
Be mindful of our current situation, make the students aware, and have a plan of action.
Address the issue of high school kids who cannot read
Use more poetry.
Do more read-alouds
Work wirh classroom teachers to discover student interests.
Try to keep my schedule flexible.
Do booktalks and genre surveys to better advise readers.
Try to bridge the gap with parental support.
Alignments
Antagonistic disciplinary practices - How do we change that?
Need more positive role models in society (authors, characters, actors, etc)
Learn to listen--open up the line of communication
Should be part of their K-12 experience
Lack of preparation in early grades
Make it a priority
"Oversimplification"/"Overestimation" Is it a reasonable request?
(Failure Dance) Prove self to students
How to make 1st connections when your background is different from a child's experience?
How to tap into people with personal experiences to help students of related backgrounds
Annotated Bibliographies for Reader's Advisory- shared among School Librarians
Meta World- school, family, society- specfic to child
Meaningful Collaborations
Personal Connections
time to read
Lack of knowledge about student experience cannot be faked
How do we address issues of home life? % of AA males in jail, single parent families?
Kids need to know what our expectations of them are and that this WILL happen
Be PROACTIVE
Strategies must have consistency and follow-through over time
The reality is that AA males are being lost to the streets - curriculum must change
Use other librarians as resource people to help with materials selection
English curriculums can be changed to be more flexible
Testing culture in schools does not lead to meaningful connection to reading
Budget restraints sometimes cause gaps between where we are and where we want to be.
Shatter stereotypes of the librarian: we like to laugh and have fun.
Realize that kids express themselves in different ways.
Find books that kids can connect with.
TIME needed to get kids excited about reading.
To discuss reading
How do we "light the fire" for kids who don't read?
Find ways to get students who do not already read and write into the library.
ASPIRATIONS
Better communicate with families, community, and the kids
Keep a positive attitude towards A/A males and about them
p. 13 make sure kids know they matter
p. 20 Reflect before we reject
Improve classroom management
Listen to students, identify essential questions and supplement text with relevant poems and experiences
Read aloud to compensate for lack in home environment
Reframe reading/Literacy as a right, not a burden- Don't let it be taken for granted
Collaborative literacy- How can we create this in the library?
Chapter 3- Vital Signs of Literacy Development- We want AA males to be part of the literacy process.
Desire to connect with all students & demonstrate that we care- How do we go about forming those connections?
Connect to culture
Find the literature that does already exist
Move from talking to implementation
Need to do something radical to change the culture - we need more accountability
Parent forums
Parental education "literacy"
Find male teachers to form book clubs with male students - helps with book selection and providing role models.
Collaborate with public libraries.
Get posters and popular biographies into the media center.
Find appropriate, meaningful texts & match the students to these texts
Bookclubs for AA boys or any boys
Aspire to change thinking and open minds - i.e. graphic novels, rap performances in the library.
Make the media center match up with students' talents and interests
Inspire love of reading
AGREEMENTS
Library is a safe, judgement free zone especially when outside influences can be discouraging
6-12 graders who are overaged, retained, are embarassed and ashamed. Especially when put on the spot to read when they have trouble doing so. We must be sensitive.
It's not just about their literacy development, it's about their lives. That's why it's so important to find texts they relate to.
Culture of Poverty: we don't get resources that wealthier libraries, schools have.
Reflect before we reject
AA males may not see how education can work for them- Can't connect to the classroom setting
p. 6-7 "Exiles in American Soil"- Students have to make personal connections.
p.15 "failure Dance" people are giving up on students and not investing in them
90's "Punishment decade" - Reflected in schools
Lack of collaborative learning (student-student, student-teacher, teacher-teacher)
VOICES- We need African-American voices in the library.
p. 20 - We send people to the office so quickly
Everyone sometimes gets tired of trying and loses sight of the possibility of success
There is a lot of over-generalization and underestimation of AA males.
We lack quality texts.
Hidden racism still exists
Literacy instruction must change now
As a profession, we have not yet "gotten it right"
"School Success" and AA male talents and abilities not always aligned.
Influences of hip-hop culture
Kids may have preconceived ideas about teachers / adults - must develop trust first.
Lack of inspiration
Sometimes we have wonderful books but we don't know how to use them.
Some less gifted and will be more likely to give up - how can we change that?
There are expectations that they will be in gangs - not seeing other options
