Task 2: Community Visit--Jen Flanagan

Upon beginning this assignment, I asked my Kindergarteners at Woodlawn Community School where they like to go outside of school. They said things like, “my Granny’s house, the park, Library, McDonald’s.” All great answers, but answers that weren’t of much help. I wanted to go into a place that was different from any place I had ever been. I knew it was impossible, at least this early, to go into one of my student’s grandparent’s house. I have been in many McDonald’s, especially the one in Woodlawn. I knew what to expect at that McDonald’s which is why I chose to not go into one. I want to go into a place that is unfamiliar and fresh. Megan and myself decided upon to places to visit, Chuck E Cheese’s and a local bus station. During lunch one day, I was sitting at the girl’s table. When I asked them where they have their birthday parties, most of them responded with “Chuck E Cheese.” I thought this would be a great place for Megan and I to go. We also chose to go to a bus station because we know that a lot of students take the bus into school with their parents or they ride the bus to get to places. We figured this is an essential part in the lives of our students in which we need to become more familiar with and we knew that we would see Literacy and Math at both places.

At Chuck E Cheese, I expect to see children playing with their siblings or parents, parents socializing, as well as a lot of reading and math conversions. Literacy will be seen from students reading the directions of the games, the menus, and the signs as to the prizes that they win with their tickets. I expect math to be seen when children have to read how many coins they need to play a game, counting how many tickets the have, and parents figuring out the bill. I do expect to see more African American people rather than Caucasian people due to the demographic of people that do live in the Chicago Land area, in the surrounding areas of Woodlawn and Hyde Park. I also expect to see a lot of mothers at Chuck E Cheese rather than fathers. I think that a lot of fathers will be working, so mothers will bring their kids. I expect that there aren’t going to be a lot of people there due to the fact that most of them will be in school. However, Megan and I have decided to go around four in the afternoon so that most students will be out of school.

I expect to see only a couple of people at the bus station. I am expecting to see families, maybe getting ready to go home from work or school. I am sure there will be certain people who are traveling alone, to wherever their destination will be. Literacy will be seen from the passengers reading what bus they are looking for, reading signs—such as how much they need to pay, maps/directions, etc. Math will be seen when people have to figure out how much money they have, the distance in which they have to travel, how much they might have left on their bus cards, etc. I do expect to see more African American people, as stated before. This again is due to the demographic in the surrounding areas and from what I have seen already driving home from school during the past two weeks.

I would consider myself an outsider, to a certain extent. I consider myself an outsider because I am still not familiar with the area/s surrounding Woodlawn. People in the area do not know who I am or anything about myself. Since I do no live in Woodlawn or Hyde Park, I am an outsider to those students that do live in that community. However, inside Woodlawn Community School, I am not an outsider. I am a teacher, part of the family within their community.
If an outsider was to come to Woodlawn, I think they would be concerned with the population and the demographic. Especially if they have never been to an area like Woodlawn. They would see people in the streets, people not minding one another, hollering, etc. This is something that I am already used to being in the school’s community for about two weeks now, but a “true” outsider might not.

As stated earlier, I think there are going to be many interconnections in the two places that we have chosen to visit. Reading is going to have to be done in both settings in order for people to do what they need to do. For example, at Chuck E Cheese’s, students need to read the directions of the games in order to start playing. At the bus station, people need to read the bus’s that are passing to see what bus they need to get onto. Writing will mostly be seen at Chuck E Cheese’s when parents are paying the bill (and they have paid with a credit card or debit card). Oral language will be seen in both settings, though mainly at Chuck E Cheese. This is due to the fact that communication is essential in almost all aspects of the things that we do. Children need to listen to what their parents/friends are saying at Chuck E Cheese’s in order to act accordingly.