Memo #6

One story of Campano's that particularly stood out to me was the one of his student Ma-Lee. This Hmong girl was ridiculed by teachers due to the fact that she was quiet and "defiant" because of her unwillingness to talk in class. This lack of contribution was not recognized as a means to assess her surroundings, but as one of disobeying the classroom environment by withholding her participation.

Campano realized that Ma-Lee had something to bring to the table, and slowly but surely coaxed it out of her. When she felt comfortable enough, Ma-Lee, through writing, let Campano into her personal life and what she had dealt with growing up where she came from. This eventually led into her joining a group of other students with multiple cultural backgrounds, and Ma-Lee feeling more empowered with her voice. Culminating with an essay that was edited and went further into depth about her emotions being an immigrant and how she wants to defend her culture.

What struck me about how awesome this piece was, is that Campano gave the avenue for Ma-Lee to go down to express herself, and she took it. Instead of chalking her up as defiant and stubborn, he worked diligently, but patiently to break her out of her shell, and feel more comfortable being who she is in front of others.

If teachers do not allow students to be who they are, and encourage them to embrace their identity, then how do they expect them to participate or feel comfortable enough in the classroom to get involved? As educators we have a duty to make every student feel comfortable within our school building, to allow them the basic needs of Maslow's hierarchy, so they can grow and learn to their fullest potential.