I believe that coming up with a definition for the word "literacy," is a very complex task. One reason for this is that as time continues, the importance of various teachings and ideas is altered. Previously, my definition was based more on the knowledge and comprehension of reading and writing, having an understanding of these tasks across various subjects and genres, and being able to relay that knowledge to others. After the class discussion and our readings, my definition was broadened. I began to see that literacy included not only reading and writing, but also seeing and hearing. According to Literacy for the 21st Century: A Balanced Approach, literacy encompasses the ability to convey ideas and messages which can be found in illustrations, written text, and speech. In order to be truly literate, one must focus on more than "the surface features of reading and writing" (pp. 11), such as writing neatly or properly decoding written text. In Tuesday's class, there was much emphasis on the fact that in order to be a literate learner, it is necessary to find meaning from written and spoken language and to be able to communicate that meaning to others. Many people are beginning to look at literacy in a much more complex light and this class, along with our readings, has helped me to be able to see how truly multifaceted it is. For this reason, my ideal literacy learning environment needs to be well-rounded. It would need to include all of the different aspects of learning to allow my students to properly develop their literacy skills. I would have different centers around my classroom to allow students to practice these skills. Some of these centers would include listening activities, stations to practice writing skills, and stations in which students would read and have activities which show their development of meaning of the readings. I also strongly believe in the benefit of technological literacy, so I would my ideal environment would include practice with computers. I would like to have many books for students to read, books on tape, and many illustrated books for children to practice developing meaning from pictures. In Tuesday's class, we watched a video about a kindergarten classroom and how literacy was practiced there. I really liked how the teacher incorporated different cultures in her teaching practices, and I believe the use of teaching critical literacy is important as well, whether I am teaching a homogeneous or heterogeneous classroom. My ideal literacy environment would allow children to embrace literacy and to take a leadership role in their learning, just as the students did in the video. I am sure that as this class continues, I will find more aspects which I would like to include in my own classroom in the future.
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Elissa- You bring up a lot of great points in your post. Like you, I changed my definition of literacy once we had a class discussion and many other ideas were brought up. Do you think that throughout our journey as educators we are going to be constantly changing our definitions of literacy according to what is believed in at the current time? I think it is a possibility especially since you mentioned how various ideas and teachings are altered over time. I agree that seeing and hearing do play an important part in literacy. I like the quote you chose about focusing on more than the surface features of reading and writing. There is definitely more to being a literate person than just neat handwriting. One must be able to take in and understand what he or she is reading or writing and then be able to share these thoughts with others. You mention how this class is making you see how multifaceted literacy really is. Do you think that without the literacy emphasis in this class that you could have deduced that on your own or would it have taken you until you were in front of your class seeing children trying to become literate people to find this out? I agree that the readings really help to show opinions and methods that had never crossed my mind. Literacy is definitely something that I want to have a huge impact on my future students. I like your idea of having centers around your classroom for literacy learning. How would manage student participation at these centers? I think it is a great idea and I hope to use them in my classroom too but I was placed in a classroom last year where during literacy stations the class became a zoo and it was a free for all and the teacher just ignored the class and worked one on one with certain students. It was a terrible example of classroom control. I learned the way not to do literacy stations in my classroom but it did not deter me from using them at all. I also value the teaching of critical literacy for many reasons. I think it would work well in either a homogeneous classroom or a heterogeneous classroom as well. You brought up a lot of great ideas in your post, many of which I agree with.
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