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.