Portfolio 6: Book Club

Portfolio 6: Book Club

For this portfolio, I was assigned to read "Breaking Through" by Francisco Jiménez. "Breaking Through" is an autobiographical account of Francisco's time in middle school and high school as a Mexican immigrant.

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Points of Disruption

• The fact that Francisco had to provide for his family and go to school at the same time
• My childhood and adolescence were relatively carefree and I assumed that others have had the same experience I did--that they could focus on growth and learning rather than spending all of their free-time working.
• The fact that the ICE agents took him out of class in front of his classmates
• This disrupted me because I didn't know that children were simply taken out of their classes (in the case of this happening at school) without a warning or without any respect or concern given regarding their emotional well-being.
• The fact that none of the adults in his school were entirely aware of his situation at home
• Prior to reading this book, I liked to think that teachers could be more in tune with what was going on in their students lives or their living conditions. It goes more undetected than I thought.
• The fact that adults discriminated against him because he was Mexican (even though he was just a child)
• We hear a lot about adults or groups of individuals being treated badly because of their race or ethnicity, but I didn't realize just how instense discrimination was for children--and that it was often done by adults.
• The severity and intensity of the work that migrant workers do 
• I never thought that share-cropping or working in the fields of California was easy, but I never realized how terrible it really was and that children take part in it as well. Additionally, I didn't realize the impact that that work had on the bodies of the workers (like with Francisco and his dad)
• That Francisco's family had to get a lot of their belongings from the dump
• I knew that families in poverty struggled, but I had no idea that they sometimes had to go to the dump to find essentials or goods that they could not afford otherwise. In the book it even mentioned that Francisco's mother had to find baby clothes at the dump for one of his younger siblings.
• That his family couldn’t just go to the store and buy things when they needed them
• I grew up in a household where if I needed something for school I either already had it at home or my parents would buy it for me. Coming from this background, it was disruptive for me to realize that this isn't the case for all families and that a lot of children are a significant disadvantage with school because of this (like with Francisco's typing teacher saying each student should practice at home on a typewriter, but Francisco didn't have one and they couldn't afford to get one, so he almost failed the course). 
• Francisco's father's statement that “Only rich people can become teachers”
• This disrupted me because I came from a family where I didn't have to really worry about the cost of college. It was a given that I would go and I knew that my family would be able to afford it. However, the same was definitely not true for Francisco.
• How Francisco's counselor initially assumed that he was going to go to a vocational school because he was Mexican
• Growing up, my counselors pushed me to go to college and I don't think I remember ever being told about vocational schools. This is disruption because I assumed the same was true for all students. It's hard to accept that one's race can determine how people may perceive your future, your potential, and your success. 
• The impact of Francisco's immigrant status on his school life
• It really disrupted me when I learned that Francisco failed First Grade because he didn't know any English--especially the fact that his teacher didn't do anything to help him and allowed it to happen. I was also disrupted by the fact that he often had to miss school for work. 
• Francisco having to study while at work
• I grew up being able to have my own space to study. I was disrupted when I learned that because of his situation, Francisco had to study while he was working late shifts at night. In one instace, he taped a poem he had to memorize to a broom so he could study while he cleaned the office he worked at.  
• Living alone with his brother to provide for their family
• This was a major disruption for me because I had no idea that children were often forced to live alone in the United States in order to provide for their family to come over and join them. I knew this was a reality for adults, but I had no idea that this happened to children. 
• That his family lived in barracks and tents rather than a house or apartment
• I've always lived in either a house or an apartment--never in a barrack or a tent. This is a disruption for me because I assumed that those who were poor lived in trailer homes in the worst case scenarios. I had no idea that this was a reality for migrant and poor families.

Descriptions of Stories From the Book that Clarify or Provide Examples of Ideas We Have Been Discussing in Class

• Cultural Capital
• When Francisco was in high school, he had no information about college or how to apply for college (like the cost, the role of extra-curriculars in college applications, or the material covered in college) because no one in his family had ever attended college. When he was a child, he also did not know what manners to use when dining out a restaurant (he and his brother copied the lady who took them out to eat and were nervous the entire time). These are all examples of the role of cultural capital in terms of one's success in any given society. Since Francisco was an immigrant, he did not have access to this cultural capital through his family or his own culture. However, he was able to gain cultural capital through interactions with peers and teachers as they helped him find the resources he needed to get into a college and succeed in everyday life. 
• Prejudice/Discrimination/Racism (Passive and Stealth)
• When Francisco was in middle school, he went to the town dances and met a girl named Peggy. They both liked each other and he was eventually invited over to her house so her parents could meet him. Her parents asked him if he was Spanish and when he said he was Mexican, they were more distant with him. The next day, Peggy began to ignore him at school and when he waved to her Mom, she ignored him as well. As he grows up, Francisco realizes that the reason why Peggy's family did this and why Peggy stopped seeing him was because he was Mexican. The same thing happens to his brother, Roberto, as well with his first girlfriend.
• Insitutional Racism
• When Francisco goes to visit a college with other high school students, he notes that the people he saw at the college reminded him of the people he saw in his high school and not the people he saw working the fields with his family. This story is an example of the reality of insitutional racism because minorities and immigrant communities were systemically blocked or forced to overcome more barriers to gain a higher education.This story also took place before and during the Civil Rights Movement--a time where insituational racism was very prevalent and more overtly pro-white.  
• Language of Power/Bilingualism/BICs/CALP
•  Francisco mentioned that he failed First Grade because he didn't know any English. He also was judged repeatedly throughout the story for having a thick accent that could "be cut with a knife" (like with what happened with Peggy's family). He was able to acquire English skills as he spent more time in the United States though. For example, his teacher assigned a book for him to read, but he didn't know a lot of the words. However, he didn't let that hold him back and he looked up each word he didn't know in a dictionary as he read. Additionally, when he had to go to a Rotary Club meeting after he was made the student body president he was asked to give a speech--without being warned ahead of time. Because of this, he got nervous and spoke in both Spanish and English. Francisco also was pretty good at knowing what to say, but not the meanings behind what he said (BICS)--he mentions that as a result of this, he often did not understand English jokes. He also struggled in his English classes in middle school and high school and also didn't do very well on the English section of the SAT (CALP).
• The Working Poor
•  Francisco and his family worked tirelessly and often worked difficult jobs in order to make ends meet. Even then, they still did not have enough money to have a significant savings account or to buy things that they needed. For example, Francisco had a job where he had to work before and after school.His Father also worked, but his back gave out on him after working in the fields for multiple years. For a time, his brother's janitorial job was what provided the main income for the family. Although his family was poor, it was not because they were lazy--they worked endlessly and no matter what they did, it was never quite enough. 
• Religion
• Francisco mentions briefly that when the 1960 election took place, he learned that some people chose not to vote for President Kennedy because he was Catholic. He doesn't delve into the topic beyond that, but for Francisco (who was Catholic), he was shocked and confused by why people refused to accept or respect someone for their religion. 
• Undocumented Immigrants
• Initially, Francisco and his family were undocumented immigrants who worked in the fields of California and they were turned in by a fellow fieldworker. While Francisco was in class, ICE agents came and removed him from the school--he was embarrassed and cried while they drove him to his parents. Three of his siblings were born in the United states and his mother had a green card, so they were intially going to split the family up--allowing some to stay and forcing the rest to go back to Mexico. His parents begged the agents to give them a couple days to get things in order so the entire family could go back to Mexico together since staying together mattered most to them. His family didn't cause crimes or harm anyone while they were here illegally, they were just trying to earn enough money to survive and stay together.

How the Stories From the Book Will Influence My Thinking About My Future Work as a Teacher

While reading this book, I gained greater insight into the lives of immigrant families and the influence that immigration (particularly immigration from Mexico) can have on children. Although this story took place in the 1950s and 1960s, I feel like a lot of what happened to Francisco still happens today--the poor working conditions, the need for every family member to help with the income, the inability to purchase basic needs, immigrant children have additional education barriers to overcome, etc. From Francisco's experiences, I have gotten a lot of ideas on how to help immigrant children in my future classroom. One idea that I had is to ask bilingual children ahead of time to speak in front of a group, rather than throwing it on them unexpectedly (to prevent what happened to Francisco at the Rotery Club meeting from happening to my students). Another was to introduce literature that immigrant children might relate to in order to help them understand and learn English (like with Francisco's English teacher who encouraged him to read "The Grapes of Wrath). Another thought was to take the time time to get to know my students so that I am aware of what is going on in their lives (like how Francisco's counselor did not realize that his family did not have a phone or that he was providing for his family). I think that it would also be a good idea to have materials and items that can be checked out by students in my classroom so they can still do well in class even if they don't have access to those items at home. I also have more motivation to make myself available to my students after school as a resource so that I can talk them through their assignments and give them the one-on-one help they may need (like Francisco's English teacher did for him). Overall, the stories from this book have influenced how I see my work as teacher because I realize more now that my students will bring the challenges from their personal lives into my classroom and that because of this, it is imperative that I am aware and accommodating of those challenges so that they can succeed and thrive at school.