Blog post 7 Rodriguez

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In this article the author knows it was necessary to be taught the codes of power, in this case it was the dominant language of english.  However, he also recognizes how it negatively impacted his life and took away a large part of his identity by not being able to speak spanish at home.  The author speaks of the loss of connection to his family at home and the loss of his personal identity, but concludes that this is necessary to achieve one's public identity

https://alexandraalessandri.com/isabel-and-her-colores-teachers-guide/

I chose to look at this article through the lens of a children’s book on translanguaging, titled “Isabel and Her Colores Go to School” by Alexandra Alessandri.  This book is about a girl who doesn’t want to learn English, but has to because she is starting at a new English speaking school.  Isabel associates English with cold and dark colors, while she is drawn to the warm and vibrant colors she associates with Spanish.  The teaching guide and book mentions how she brings her colores to school, meant to represent her personal culture and language that she brings with her into the classroom.  The idea of translanguaging is teaching a class that incorporates more than one language into the lesson.  This book would help in a translanguaging classroom because it has words in both English and spanish.  Another emphasis of this book is using alternative and non verbal forms of communication in scenarios where language can be a barrier.  One way of doing this is through art.  Isabel and her classmates are able to relate to each other by working on art together.  Translanguaging is an opposite view from Rodriguez’s view, as it wants to keep the individual culture of every student while still teaching the culture of power.