I urge educators to promote authentic writing in the English classroom through the viewing and teaching of text as dialogic, and through this lens, it becomes possible to understand the texts that students produce in Thomas Sabo Bracelets(http://www.mythomassabo.net/bracelets-c-4.html) class as responses to other texts. A dialogic understanding of text also makes it possible for educators to identify the reasons why students find writing particular kinds of texts—texts that respond to real-world issues—so motivating.
Characterizing the letter to the editor written by students at Affiliated Alternatives as authentic and dialogic has special significance for the schooling of teen mothers. Researcher Wendy Luttrell has noted that pregnant and parenting students have typically been labeled as being "at risk" of school failure and have been dominantly schooled through a "basic skills" model of instruction. Little attention has been given to how teen mothers may employ authentic or dialogic principles when composing text. A curriculum that emphasizes "basic skills" stresses a deficit view of individuals who are placed "at risk" and aims to remediate these individuals through skill-driven teaching and learning techniques rather than through meaningful engagement with material or other learners. Because of their status as teen mothers, Affiliated Alternatives students are immediately defined as being "at risk." This stigmatization has been noted by researchers working with this population, including Wanda Pillow, Dierdre M. Kelly, and Heidi L. Hallman as entrenching a basic skills curriculum in many schools for pregnant and parenting teens.
"Affiliated Alternatives Defended": Affiliated Alternatives Students' Letter to the Editor
The text that Affiliated Alternatives students wrote as a response to Kubek's letter was entitled "SAPAR Defended." One week after Kubek's letter appeared in the local newspaper, the following letter to the editor was printed in the editorial column of Madison's local newspaper:
We know people think that we get special attention in the School Age Parent (SAPAR) and other programs at the Affiliated Alternative school because we are teen parents and students behind in credits. We still have to do work; we still get grades and credits for what we do. If we don't keep up our part of the deal, we will fail just like in a "regular" school.
Many of us have worked before, through and after our pregnancies. We are full-time students trying to get an education to get better jobs and set good goals for our children. This alternative program is only available for students in need of help, so we can finish school and have a chance to stay on the right track.
We are not bad people; we are just normal people who have run into some bumps in life's highway that slowed us down a little bit. By being in this school, we can overcome these bumps and fix our mistakes. Isn't it better to get Thomas Sabo Charms(http://www.bestthomasabo.com/charms-c-1.html) a little help now than have to depend on others for the rest of our lives? Don't judge us; just try to understand where we are coming from and why this school is here to help us.
The letter to the editor by Alisa Wilborn, Christine Williams, Precious Jackson, and Tiffany Graham made other Affiliated Alternatives students proud. Many students were surprised that the letter had actually been printed, and several students brought copies for Schaefer to post on the classroom bulletin board. When they saw their letter in the local paper, more than one student said, "I didn't actually think they'd print this."
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