Meier “Why Can’t She Remember That”                                                              

Quotes:

-          “At one point when the teacher asked, ‘how many mittens are there?’ Gabriela (a pseudonym), the bilingual Puerto Rican child sitting next to me, turned and asked me, in an exasperated ton, ‘why can’t she remember that?’”

I thought this was an interesting quote because not only does this little girl sound quite intelligent, but it also shows what some of her classmates are probably thinking. During my service learning I see a few students who don’t necessarily raise their hands to answer some questions I find to be obvious ones. Until this reading, I hadn’t thought about the fact that at home asking an obvious question may be an unusual thing for them. This quote also ties into the paragraph about the African man explaining how in his culture they do not state obvious answers. Keeping these culturally ideas in mind and wording things in possibly a different way is important.

-          “The children were too noisy, they were always calling out, always commenting, always jumping up to punch the monsters in the book or to act it out. They were not listening.”

I found this quote to be a bit sad. This teacher may have a disruptive class and that could be why she sounds so frustrated. However I like how involved (even in a disruptive way) the kids are with the story. She thinks they are not paying any attention but I believe it’s just how they express what they are being told. She should have kept in mind that these are very young children that may not be used to the regular silent reading time. Patience is key.

-          “One Asian American educator wrote, ‘I turn the pages, book after book, and ask where are we?”

This quote ties the story together. I personally could not relate to seeing imagines in books that didn’t look like me when I was a child. Reading from the point of view of those who did go through experiences like that, I felt a bit of sadness. Books are a part of our education that we cannot avoid and I know that for most students it’s not always enjoyable. I do feel that being able to enjoy reading as a leisure activity is important and also very beneficial.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:

I enjoyed this reading a bit more than most of the others we have read so far. I found it to be an easy and beneficial read for someone like me who could not truly relate to what some of these students felt. I’ve always had books where the kids or people in them were white, like me. If I hadn’t had that I may not have the love for books that I do now, which is something I didn’t realize before reading this.