Morgyn Carson

ECE 150

3/28/18

You Can't Say You Can't Play: Vivian Gussin Paley

Notes:

While reading the book I noticed that the majority of the students did not like the

new rule that would be applied to the classroom. I think this was because they were

considered the popular children that all hang out together while the other 4 students

were the ones being left out. When I read this it made me think about how much work

they put into avoiding or not including 4 students. The 21 students that didn't like the

new rule didn't like it because they would have to include the 4 outcast students. They

were already friends with 21 students. What would 4 more students added would be

affected?

Methods:

I had 2 chapters stick out to me while reading ​You Can't Say You Can't Play​. The

chapters were You Can Play: The Habit of Rejection and The New Order Begins

(Chapters 1 and 4). Chapter one stuck out to me because it explained how children start

to make groups and single people out from a young age and continue throughout life.

Children do this without even thinking about it. They may not even know why they like or

dislike someone. Children become friends over wearing matching shirts or both liking

the same color. But what makes them dislike someone? Chapter 1 also stood out to me

because it was when the rule was enforced. Chapter 4 stood out to me because it
explained how the rule was working. She did not expect it to work, but found students

following the rules out of fear. This shows how much effort students were putting into

excluding others because it was such a smooth transition. Students had to be nice to

everyone and include everyone. A passage from the book that really stood out to me

was “You see, the rule probably won't keep them from going on, but it will tell us what is

the fair thing to do when they happen” (81). This is a really powerful quote because we

can't just stop how children act, but we can make them stop and think. Children do not

necessarily have to be friends with everyone, but they do have to be nice to everyone.

Narrative Summary:

What I learned from reading this book was that there doesn't have to be a “boss”.

This is because if you have all the children working together for one common goal of

including everyone they will hold each other accountable. One child is not in a higher

position than the other. As I become a teacher it has taught me to be more observant of

the class and look for anyone being excluded. From the story, I have also learned to let

the children express how they feel. For example when she held the discussion with her

class in chapter 2. By doing this I may learn more about why they exclude someone or

why they act a certain way.