Blog Post 2

My definition of literacy has definitely made a major change since I started college. It's made an even further change since I've started taking more in-depth teaching classes. Upon the start of college if you would have asked me what I though literacy was I would have answered something simple like "The ability to read and write." Now, however, I know that it is so much more expansive than that, and is actually a very hard term to define since there is so many things that go into it. Literacy is using reading, writing, speaking, and listening in infinite contexts to explore the world around us. Literacy is a never ending concept that is such a vital part of life.

My ideal setting for literacy would be a comfortable one, most of all. I think comfort is a major part of learning. If a student is not comfortable in their learning setting, chances are they are not going to be focused on learning. I learned this throughout this past year in my placement and by comparisons to other classrooms I have been in. In the classroom I am currently in, the classroom seems to be set up around literacy. A large part of the classroom is what is called the "Den" which includes a couch, many book shelves, a giant carpet/rug and a bench. The students absolutely love this. If they are given the opportunity to be one of the six students allowed to read in the den, they feel so special and work extra hard. The rest of the classroom features comfy chairs and carpet squares, so everyone has somewhere comfortable to read other than their desk. Every student also has an opportunity to read new books each week. My Mentor Teacher has a very wide variety of books, all organized by genre. The students each week get a time to "shop" for new books, which means they trade in 6 books and get 6 new ones of their choice for their book boxes. Every day students are given around 20 minutes of "read to self" time and also have a segment of class where the teacher reads a chapter book aloud. Also, the students have a 20 minute writing block as well which allows them to open their composition notebooks and write whatever they please. It could be a story, an opinion, spelling word practice, anything as long as they are writing. Throughout the school I am placed in, literacy is one of the main concepts they want the children to learn. Many classrooms feature special reading places just like the "den" in my classroom. One classroom, like Kati mentioned, even has an old row boat filled with pillows for students to read. I love this idea! It gets the kids SO excited to be there and take part in reading that day. Giving students a motivation to read is a great way to help them love reading and become a wonderfully literate individual.

I think that it is so important for every student to have access to a wide variety of books in all different genres and levels. I think the fact that my mentor teacher has provided her students with this resource is amazing.  She has been a great example of a teacher who prioritizes literacy but also does a great job with all of the other subjects. She truly values literacy how I believe everyone should.

Definition of Literacy

Before taking classes at MSU, I would say my definition of literacy would contain just reading and writing. After class and discussion, my definition of literacy is now reading, writing, speaking and listening; communicating to others by writing and speaking, and understanding others through reading and listening.  After our class discussion, I realize how important each of these components is, as they each complement one another. One must be able to convey thoughts and ideas through writing and speaking. To understand not only other people, but also the world around us, we must be able to read and listen to others’ words. Literacy is a connection to people and the rest of the world.  My ideal literacy-learning environment would encompass all of these components. It would be a classroom in which students would have the resources at their hands. They would have access to all kinds of books, since students are interested in different things. I have seen the bag of books in some classrooms where the students would have books in a bag, and they could read them when they’re finished with an assignment, or during read to self.  I like this idea, because some students need more than one book in case they get bored with one, or feel like reading a certain type of book that day. By having literacy resources at their hands also pertains to writing. Having the opportunity in class to write, such as a journal topic or creative writing, would be ideal to get students excited about writing. Students would also need to have the opportunity to speak their minds in class, to their peers and the teacher. The students also need to listen to their classmates in return.

In my fifth grade classroom, my MT has a reading section of the class, with a carpet and beanbags. She has huge bookshelves with different genres of books. The genres vary from war stories, to animal stories, urban books, science fiction, journal-type books, etc. She also has baskets containing multiples of popular books such as Diary of the Wimpy Kids and American Chillers. The students can check these books out to read. At the beginning of reading time, my MT gives the students 30-45 minutes for read to self. The students are allowed to bring in a small blanket or pillow and are allowed to go wherever they’d like throughout the classroom to read. Then, they go to their desks and write in their journals about a topic given by their teacher. Right now, the fifth graders are all reading Maniac McGee as a class. They write about it and discuss it as a class, which covers all the components of literacy. This definitely fits my definition of literacy. My MT gets the students excited about read to self, since they are allowed to choose their seating and aren’t forced to sit in their desks. They also get to read books that interest them; so writing in their journal is fun for them.  I’ve also noticed in my placement how excited the students are when it is time to read, write and discuss Maniac Mcgee. I think that since the students like the book, they are motivated to discuss and write about it.  When the students write about the book, the questions aren’t found straight from the book. The students really have to understand the text to answer. There are also questions that ask the students to go into the character’s shoes and write how they would feel. I think that my MT could incorporate more writing and discussion into subjects other than reading as well. 

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When I first thought of my definition of literacy I said that it was, having the skills and components needed to read and comprehend literature, which opens doors and can act as a vehicle to the rest of the world. It is a connection. I still think that this definition is an accurate definition for my perception of literacy, however after doing the assigned readings this week I see that there are some things that my definition is lacking. The Lapp et. al article was particularly interesting to me, because it talked all about how new teachers felt extremely unprepared to teach literacy to their high-poverty stricken students. I would agree with this article that “tough to staff schools” do not get highly qualified teachers in their doors and are setting their students up for higher failure. When a school does get a highly qualified teacher they seem to be so unprepared that they burn out very quickly and walk out the doors never to return. These obstacles of being unprepared for the differences culturally, being the “classroom mom,” dealing with hurt, sadness, anger, not getting meals, and the children being the caretakers at home can cause teachers to put literacy on the back burner and focus on what their students’ needs are. I think that it is extremely important that universities are now being encouraged to prepare teachers to be highly qualified reading teachers who are equipped to handle the issues in urban schools by helping them develop reading teaching skills that can help break the trend in urban schools of bad literacy programs. From this reading I added to my definition to literacy, that it is every single person’s unalienable right to gain the skills and knowledge needed for the different components of literacy. Also, I am adding that it should be used as a vehicle to help people get through hard times, express feelings and desires, and used as a way to make connections with those who are like them. I see that literacy can be used to help students in high poverty situations get through what they are going through, through either writing about it like in journals, in poems, or stories, as well as make connections to characters who are in similar situations as themselves who got out of their situation, or just someone to relate to in the literature.

            Through reading the “Seeing Color Seeing Culture” piece my eyes were opened a little bit more to the importance in seeing color and celebrating those differences. This has been a topic widely discussed in our classes with treating everyone fairly and giving everyone the same opportunity, as well as relating literature to our students’ lives and this article reinforced that thought. It helped to reiterate the importance in incorporating different races into the readings used, to celebrate, and acknowledge the differences that we all have, rather than attempting to make us all view each other as the same regardless of race. In doing so, we would be ignoring the valuable differences that we all bring to the classroom. In reading this article I saw that my definition was missing that literacy is about acknowledging the differences in the human race and celebrating those differences where the different cultures can be better understood and viewed as unique.

            My new definition of literacy is: Literacy is every single person’s unalienable right to have the skills and components needed to read and comprehend literature. Literacy also should be used to acknowledge and celebrate the differences in the human race and celebrate those differences where the different cultures can be better understood, and viewed as unique. Literacy can open doors and act as a vehicle to help people get through hard times, express feelings and desires, and is used as a way to make connections to the rest of the world.

            My literacy learning environment would encompass my new definition of literacy. I want my classroom to use literacy to help each student be an individual, and help my students get through whatever they may be facing. I understand that there are challenges with urban schools and I probably will not know really the true difficulties teachers face until I am in that situation, but I hope that I can use what I have learned to use literacy as a vehicle to get my students through their situations and help them to see the importance of literacy so it does not get thrown onto the back burner, and prevent my students from remaining in that high percentage of struggling readers in the urban school system. I want to use literacy as a tool to help me handle the situations that I will face as a teacher.

            My current placement does not really fit into my definition, because of a few reasons. For one thing my students are in kindergarten, so they are not into really rich literature yet. We have read some books about people’s families that have lost their home and have not had enough money to buy things, but for the most part the main focus is helping the students learn to read and write. Another reason is that they’re at the beginning of their reading and writing careers and in kindergarten everything is based on self. They think that they are the world, and that is what they are learning about so while their differences are praised it is not a main focused, and so it does fit into my literacy definition.  

Defining Literacy

Literacy to me is a working definition but the one that our group came up with during class is a good starting point: the ability to read, write, understand and think critically about texts in a variety of formats allowing a person to explore the world and new ideas in personal, academic, and professional contexts. I think it is important to include a variety of formats because to me literacy does not only encompass the traditional format of a book. After discussing this in class I would add listening into this definition. It is an aspect that I had not really thought of but think it is important to include. My ideal literacy learning environment would be one with a wide variety of texts for students, not only different genres but also technology and thinks of that nature. I also think it is a great idea when students have boxes or bags that have personal books for them to choose from. My placement has this but it is done in a poor way. Each student has a book box with a handful of books that they are able to read. Although this is a good idea my MT does a horrible job managing and overseeing this. A lot of the students have had the same books in their box all year and have books that are not in their reading level, whether it is too easy or too difficult. I also really like the idea of having a section of the classroom dedicated to reading like the video that we watched in class with the bean bag chairs and the comfortable carpet. My placement doesn’t really have this and when the kids have silent reading they are allowed to pick any spot in the classroom. A lot of them actually choose under the tables, which I do not think is a good place for reading to occur. I’ve heard a lot of ideas about making areas like this. One classroom had a boat filled with pillows and another had a bathtub, these are really cool ideas and I think get students excited to read when they have interesting and fun places to do their reading. My ideal environment would have centers similar to the video we watched in class. I think the little morning literacy routines are a great way to encourage kids to be motivated about literacy. I think that centers also encourage the idea that literacy is not only about reading and that there are many aspects that play into it. I definitely want to have a classroom environment that encompasses this idea that literacy can be experienced in a number of different ways.

In my placement a lot of students are not motivated to read. During their read to self time the majority of them flip through books in a minute glancing at the pictures and then grab every book in their box. They do not take their time or even try reading the story. I think that if the classroom was more structured and the environment was more focused on literacy students would enjoy their reading time more. In my classroom I hope to be able to create an environment for my students where they are excited about literacy.

Literacy Event

Ever since I was little, my parents were constantly reading books to me. They would have me try to read some of the words in the book until I could read a few words at a time. At my baby-sitter's house, she had a bookshelf with leveled books. This boy who was also at the baby-sitters would read the books, so I decided to as well. We would have contests to see who could read to the highest level. This made me competitive as a person, and also develop a love for reading. After reading those books, my trips to the library became frequent. I loved diving into the stories and placing myself in the shoes of the main characters. I believe this made me a more creative and innovative person.

As for the classroom context, last year I tutored a fourth grade boy who struggled terribly with reading and writing. Colin was way behind his reading level, and became very unmotivated to learn how to read. It wasn't only reading time that he was stressed and had a lack of focus. He struggled with every subject in school because he was unable to decode the words on the page. Colin relied heavily on listening to what the teacher said, but even with having a learning disability, this wasn't easy. Later in the year, I was told that both of his parents are in jail, and his elderly grandparents raise him and his sister. I compared his story to mine. He doesn't see literacy as being important. Colin's guardians didn't read books to him growing up, and didn't enforce literacy as being important. This helped me as a person and future teacher understand that although I had the support and resources to grow as a reader and writer growing up, others may not. This helped me want to reach out to more students struggling with literacy, especially Colin.
He realized how important literacy was and really dedicated himself to learning how to read, speak, and write. He uses his listening skills to his advantage to help him excel. The confidence and motivation in Colin has sky-rocketed because he actually knows what he is reading and can participate in class discussions. This event really opened my eyes to how different my students' backgrounds with literacy could be from my own, and that literacy is not only crucial for the success in other subjects, but also for the student's intrinsic motivation to want to do better in school altogether.

Read alouds: A great way to experience reading

When I was in the first grade I had a wonderful teacher who read aloud to us every day. I remember clearly sitting around on the floor and reading from different books. We read Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume and this book and this reading experience got me extremely interested in reading. We would all lay around on the floor with half the lights out and read a chapter every day. We did a lot of projects with this story which really showed me how much fun reading could be. This teacher really demonstrated that read alouds are a fantastic way for students to experience reading and this is definitely something that I plan on incorporating into my classroom. I think that they are such a great idea because a student is still able to enjoy a story and reading even if they are not that great of a reader.

Being read to in this way sparked my interest in read alouds which led me to bring this idea home. When the first Harry Potter book came out I was in the third grade and I remember alternating reading chapters aloud with my mom, because I was young to read the whole book by myself. I would read a chapter to her and then she would read a chapter to me. This experience and my experience in school were extremely important to me. As a teacher I want to make sure that I am doing read alouds within my classroom as well as encouraging students to do this at home with their parents. 

Elizabeth Hop, Post 1

Literacy has always been a big part of my life. Ever since I was a child I have been an avid reader. As a toddler, my parents always read with me. I distinctly remember sitting on one of my parents lap on the rocking chair in the living room reading books like The Little Engine That Could, or I'll Love You Forever. It was moments like that that made me adore reading. In elementary school I read more than anyone in my class. I say that literally too, because I won multiple awards and competitions that took place school wide. I was a little bit of a nerd, but I enjoyed it. So, because of this, I always knew I wanted to help kids love reading the way I do.

It didn't really hit me until last year, in TE 301, just how intense literacy within a school is. I did not understand all of the components that go into teaching a kid how to read. Concepts of print, letter/sound knowledge, fluency, comprehension, all of these things that need to fit together in order for a student to be a satisfactory reader. It really intrigued me how much goes into reading. That's when I knew for sure, I had made the right career choice. I knew that I could help a student achieve and be successful in all of these things.

As a student growing up I was always interested in reading, but I never really had an amazing literacy event that shaped the way I thought about teaching literacy. The most influential event that I had did not come until many years later when I took TE 301 and was assigned to work with a struggling reader who was in the third grade. When I first began working with my student, she was reading at a first grade level and was not engaged in reading at all, and even told me that she does not like to read. Through the semester of working with the student I saw an amazing transformation in her that would greatly influence how I think about literacy.
Every week, I would pull the student out of her classroom and work with her on different literacy aspects, but specifically focused each week on how to decode words. I picked a small chapter book that we read together throughout the semester and her reading changed from extremely choppy, without prosody, and unable to decode, to decoding words on her own, and some prosody, with an increase in her reading speed. One day towards the end of the semester, she was so excited to show me something that she had gotten over the weekend. She started to explain to me that she begged her mom to take her to a book store, and she showed me excitedly the book that she picked out and explained to me that she had already read three of the chapters. By the end of working with my student she had moved up a grade level in her reading assessment which was extremely exciting for me to see that I had helped her improve in her literacy skills. This experience was extremely eye opening, because it helped me to see the power of literacy. My student had gained an extreme confidence boost in her literacy ability which completely changed her attitude towards reading. This experienced has inspired me to teach literacy to my future students in the same form that I helped her, in that I hope to increase my students self-confidence in reading which in turn can help them become better readers and students in general.