Frances Vitali Intellectual Property

Literacy Autobiography by Frances Vitali

THEN

When I was young, we had many siblings and I learned mostly from my two older sisters, Susan and Jeanette. We had books available but was not read to as much as encouraged to explore reading on our own. I was enamored with Childcraft series, musing over the illustrations, fairy tales and stories, which intrigued my imagination. As I grew older, I relished in the delivery of stories, whether jokes or narratives, I found it particularly amusing the way someone said something which tickled a response from me. People would say, “that wasn’t funny.” I would respond with “the way they said it was!” I still have the Groucho Marx jokes from one of my Scholastic magazine publications. In school, I enjoyed reading Scholastic magazines and would order books monthly. At home, I also ordered Bazooka gum, Mallow Cups, cereal box tops and other products that if you collect so many of the rappers, you could send away to receive this wonderful trinket or novelty toy. I have lots of cavities to show for this sweet practice. That is where I started learning about consumerism and disappointment. The product that I received in the mail was never a reasonable facsimile to the posted picture. Yet, I continued to send away for products-magic tricks, trinkets, novelty items, that enticed me into chewing more bubble gum, eating more mallow cups, eating more cereal, and writing addresses on envelopes with the anticipation of receiving something wonderful back in the mail with a high level of optimism, yet healthy skepticism.

I was influenced by my sisters who read Mad Magazines and I read Archie comics and others I cannot remember. I was an aficionado of cartoons and religiously watched the Looney Toons on Saturday, with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Roadrunner among my favorites. Weekdays, I watched the Three Stooches, 8^th Man and Astro Boy, balanced out with Loretta Young and Filmdom’s Finest show as I grew older. I liked movies that touched my heart, that spoke to my emotional side. As a family, we didn’t go to the movies often for we had enough family fun and playful drama in house that was available and free! We played board games like Monopoly, CandyLand, Battleship among others, and War, Old Maid and other card games.

One lasting childhood memory I do have is watching The Gene London show (one of several TV children shows such as Sally Star, Captain Kangaroo), a children’s hour, where stories were told at the end of the show and Gene London would draw pictures as the story unfolded. This was my kind of entertainment. I still remember the ritual song he sung to all viewers announcing we were in for a treat of another story:

Let’s pretend that it’s story time and I’ll tell a tale to you. I’ll tell you a story of make believe and all your dreams will come true. And when the story’s over and when we reach the end, we’ll live happily ever after – WHERE? – in the land of let’s pretend! [I still remember the melody, too.]

Stories left an indelible impression upon me growing up! This has remained a common golden thread throughout my life. Stories have become a way of teaching as content and context and are central to giving voice to those whose voice has been silenced. Given the opportunity and responsibility in narrating or telling someone else’s story, one uses their role as a cloak of privilege in advancing someone else’s voice and perspective, especially when their perspective has been minimized.

It is no surprise that the best place to find stories became a favorite place of curiosity and mystery. I loved the library and would walk several miles on Saturdays to the Germantown Library to collect books to read during the week. I had no clue what I was doing once I was in the library, mind you. I was too embarrassed to ask a librarian how to look up books or how to find anything because I wasn’t sure what I was even looking for. So, it was a wonderful mystery of discovery, cherry picking, and browsing. Problem-solving at its best! In my exploration, I did find the Borrower’s series and the Occults section. While my peers where reading Nancy Drew, I was reading about Pythagoras and the Divine Triangle, Colors, Auras, Numerology and Astrology! Libraries were a haven of all good feelings: anticipation, hope, discovery, imagination, surprise, fascination, wonder, ideas, curiosity, which surpassed the excitement of sending away for novelty prizes and the disappointment that followed. Leaving the public library with a stack of books left no room for disappointment. Stories sustained me –fictional, non-fictional, humorous, serious, old, contemporary, of all generes.

Significant Book

In seventh grade or so, I remember reading about exploitation in our geography text. South American Indians in the Amazon were being exploited for their land, plants, trees. Their way of life was being compromised because of unethical greed. That had a profound impact on my sense of justice, which has been fine-tuned throughout the years. In Howard Gardener’s Multiple Intelligences, my strengths are linguistic, musical and humanistic. I am acutely aware of equity, fairness, and haves and have nots. Stories of Tom Dewey and Albert Switzer were my heroes. Their causes championed the underdog!

NOW

I like to read, write, think, imagine, talk and tell stories. Listening is the skill I am trying to work on-to not just hear-but to listen more closely.

I used to read a lot of fiction and now, the most fiction I read is in children’s literature. Master teachers know children’s literature! Journal articles, academic books on education, technology, information science, education, language, culture, anthropology and ethnography are what I read most. However, with the confluence and blurring of the disciplines, everything seems to be fair game and of interest because everything is interrelated and interconnected.

I maintain several journals to record my ideas, thoughts and inklings and refer to them frequently. I like to clip articles for the various files I maintain.

I am writing more for professional publications and becoming more disciplined and organized in my writing and reading practices. However, the process is anything but methodical or predictable. I enjoy the creative process of writing. Starting with one idea and seeing the evolution throughout leading to the final draft. I enjoy and seem to expect the revelations of connections that come when I least expect them seemingly out of the blue! I expect and receive miracles all the time!

I use the computer a great deal in drafting, organizing, and creating what I read and write. I use technology as a tool to express and describe my thinking and ideas. Different formats for different purposes. Web pages have become a modus operandi for reading, organizing, presenting, referencing, processing, and creating information for me. Instead of Powerpoint, I prefer prezi, emaze, blogs and websites to organize and present my thoughts.

I also enjoy poetry and writing music and putting lyrics to music. I always have a story or snippet of a melody rambling in my mind at any given time.

I like to speak in public and enjoy listening to others speak. I like to listen to others’ stories and capture them in audio, photos, video to retell. I think that stories are the heart of what makes us truly human. Stories are my theme for learning everything -- people, places, events, history. Commercials are now capturing the essence of stories in promoting their products. As Gerald Vizenor explains, “You can’t understand the world without telling a story. There isn’t any center to the world but a story.” Master teachers know the significance of stories and how to use it as a strategy, practice, and art in their teaching and learning.

High School Interview

I interviewed A.G. who attended a small charter school in elementary and middle school grades in a rural community in Northwest part of New Mexico. A.G. relates the transition from middle school to high school as intimidating citing the change of pace, changing classrooms and homework as new experiences in which he had to adapt.

“I went from 180 kids in my school charter school and on my first day of school, I walked into the field house (where basketball courts are) and there are 100 kids just standing around. WOW!”

In middle school, my class of 20 comprised of 6,7, and 8^th graders, with 60 divided in three grades.” A.G. credits his First Period Health teacher for helping to ease him into everything-routine, schedules, changing classrooms, pacing. “Assignments are harder. I never had to go between buildings before. We didn’t have a gym or library. We walked to the library as a class. I never had to go between buildings, so changing between buildings in between class is radically different.”

A.G. explains that he never had homework in middle school. “I never had to work in middle school. Activities are more intense and more in depth now.” A.G. tried out for a pick-up choir who performed recently at New Mexico State University, where his mother and grandmother also went to support him. The choir trip was three days and although not a competition, the choir performed under the direction of a guest conductor from Temple University (my alma mater in B.A. Music Education, & Masters in Music Research)- Choir Trip three days

In middle school, A.G. did activities as a class or by grade level. Now he gets to pick his entire schedule and I didn’t know what happened.

At Mosaic we all did activities we had as a class and now I can pick my entire schedule to put it together and that was weird to do on my own. I didn’t get PE this year. I didn’t realize there were only semester Freshmen courses-. I didn’t realize there were only Freshman semester classes like Health last Fall and now NM History Spring now.

A.G. admits that academic demands are getting harder: “Last semester I was a 4.0. I have 3 Ds and a C this semester so far.”

A.G. mentioned one teacher in particular who he said was “extremely interesting; his demeanor is interesting.” As I probed A.G. described his history teacher Mr. S. who “wants to be like a student and at the same time like a teacher but fails miserably at both.” A.G. continues:

“The subject is fine… It is like he tries to be a student---tries to crack jokes. He tries to be a student and a teacher. He tries to crack jokes and no one will laugh. He likes me for some reason. He tries to make us sing the state song, and to get us to sing any song, is not going to end well.”

I asked Andrew about bullying if he ever observed any or was the recipient of such dynamics. His reply was one of

In middles school, A.G. played guitar. A.G. has been active in scouting since elementary school and his mother is a Scout Leader. He has continued with scouting and is finishing his Eagle project and will eventually move to Venture scouting where it is coed and has merit badges.

A.G. was in Washington, D.C. visiting the White House with his scouting group last summer. Asking A.G. if he saw himself as a future Scout leader he replied jokingly that ‘I couldn’t deal with myself, let alone deal with four of me in a room.” A.G. knows himself and feels very confident about his abilities. He is articulate, with an impressive and expressive vocabulary. A.G. can make fun of himself while at the time is brutally honest and critical for he is aware of his astute intelligence. One needs a sparring mind to match his level!

A.G. has pursued an interest in playing guitar in middle school and continues lessons in his high school guitar class.

His favorite subject is choir. Considering music, he has Guitar lessons graduating from private lessons and learning classical guitar in high school. “I am playing and learning a different kind of guitar.” A.G. has pursued an interest in playing guitar in middle school and continues lessons in his high school guitar class. However, he said, “Lunch make me smile.” My left hand is getting callouses and my right hand less severely.

One thing I asked him as we talked-anything else I need to know: "Backpacks get a lot heavier!"

A.G. and I are similar in that we both shared a love for music. I played in the high school orchestra and that was my favored subject. I had music lessons, weekly sectional rehearsals, and spent much o my time in the orchestra music room. Clearly I was not as intellectually gifted as A.G. and although my parents supported me in high school making sure that we did our homework and contributed to our school functions, they were not as involved in my high school experience as A.G.s mother is. A.G.'s mother participates in choir fundraisers and plays a central role in his academic life, perhaps this is because A.G. is an only child. A.G. has talked of being an engineer and going to UNM.

You will be introduced to two high school teaching colleagues who are both UNM graduates of our master’s program in secondary education. I have visited their classrooms and have talked to both about teaching and learning frequently. Both are also National Writing Project Fellows who consider themselves as teacher researchers and teachers who write and writers who teach and think that writing with their students is a natural extension of thinking.

Stephanie Jaquez is a 2017 Golden Apple Awardee and engages her students in Socratic practice for the past 15 years. Nancy Nelson converts Rosenblatt & Gee’s theory to her classroom practice in her teaching of Language Arts. Nancy also engages her students in Socratic practice, also. Nancy Nelson is a 2018 Golden Apple teacher nominee

It is a privilege to share these two teachers with you and their teaching practices.

Please read their practitioner research and the related articles provided PRIOR to viewing their videos.