In “Lessons from Research with Language Minority Children” written by Moll and Gonzalez, they bring forth new ways of teaching by promoting the usage of two languages in a classroom. They call for teachers to step inside their student’s households and pull ideas that their students are familiar with into their lesson plans. For example, one student went to Mexico a lot and would buy candy from there and come back home and sell it. The teacher then incorporated the idea of marketing and had students research the differences between candy from Mexico and the U.S. Another teacher visited a students’ home and found out that they were surrounded by many plants and herbs then incorporated this into their lesson plan. These are examples of Moll’s and Gonzalez’ term they use quite often in their essay—“the funds of knowledge.” This term refers to the “social networks family members obtain or share” and that are easily accessible to the students (160). The authors of this essay claim that is impossible for teachers to be able to connect their lesson plans to students directly unless they have information about their life at home and what they have been through.
The main reoccurring point throughout the entire essay is that lesson plans and activities that take place in the classroom need to be relatable to the students’ life at home in order for the students to comprehend and take interest. The students need to be able to see how the knowledge they learn will have an impact on their life. An example of this can be seen in the movie Freedom Writers when the teacher is placing all of the student’s letters in an envelope to send to the woman who hid Anne Frank in her attic. The teacher did not just give them an assignment that she would read, mark a grade on, and give back. She instead had them write letters to this woman and even though these letters were most likely graded for content and grammatical errors, the students were able to visually see how their writing made an impact. Their own writing was read by this woman and because of their writing and fundraising she was able to come and speak to them. This type of assignment strays from the traditional writing assignment that students do in classrooms. Many students do not understand the importance of why certain novels are assigned for reading and why they have to learn about certain topics. This different style of teaching by using the tools and knowledge that are accessible to students will of course be interesting for the students and accommodating for them, but I believe it misses out on necessary instruction.
Students will be able to learn grammar and events that are relatable to them and their community, but what about past history and novels that none of the students can relate to but will appear repeatedly throughout their education, such as The Odyssey? Since this way of teaching is not universally used throughout the education system and students may struggle adapting from one way to the other. Even if students do thrive in this type of classroom setting, it will be hard to place students in classrooms of this technique starting from kindergarten all the way to grade twelve. In the movie Freedom Writers, a close relationship formed between the students and teacher that was quite heartwarming, but also a type of bond that will be hard to form year after year with new students. In the movie, the teacher devoted so much of her personal time to her students that her own personal life fell apart. In the movie, this “fund of knowledge” technique proved to be extremely successful, but in order for this technique to have a chance of succeeding there needs to be a group effort by all teachers and school administration.
I remember when I was a sophomore in high school and I had an assignment where we worked in groups and researched an injustice in the world. The assignment was open to anything we chose. My group and I chose animal abuse and we wrote letters to local animal shelters and went in and volunteered at a shelter. We helped raise money for the animal shelter through fundraising and informing the community about the abuse that was taking place daily. This was a long and detailed assignment that required a lot of work. Now thinking back to this assignment, I do not remember how much work I had to do, but I remember how interesting and different this assignment was. Every group in my class was dedicated to their assignment because we saw that what we were doing through our writing and research really was making a difference in our community. Having assignments that allow students to see how they are incorporated into everyday life livens up the assignment and makes it important, rather than simply being another essay that will receive a letter grade. Yes the grade is important, but it is how that essay will function among society that has more meaning. Why do we learn to write in the first place? It is to be able to use it in our everyday lives and in our future careers. So why not incorporate our knowledge of writing into our everyday lives while still furthering our education? It will enhance the learning experience by demonstrating to students the reasons why they are given certain assignments.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
The Necesity of Literacy
In the first article by Barton and Hamilton the authors discuss literacy as an activity within a social context as opposed to a tool that people use. “Like all human activity, literacy is essentially social, and it is located in the interaction between people” (Barton, 3). The article illustrates what people do with literacy: of the social activities, of the thoughts and meanings behind the activities, and of the texts utilized in such activities. It is about how a particular group of people use reading and writing in their day-today lives. Of necessity, the book is particular; it sets out from individual people's lives and particular literacy events at a certain point in history (Barton, 3). By doing so it illustrates to the reader literacy as a social event instead of a tool that we all use. These literacy events allows the reader to see society in that time that place, that location, that social context and see how literacy changes as time progresses.
The approach the article takes is “First [they] offer up a description and an investigation of literacy in one local community. Second, the book represents a contribution to the theoretical understanding of literacy, and more generally to the understanding of social practices and how people make sense of their lives through then everyday practices” (Barton, 4). By doing so the article focuses on the vernacular literacies and by doing so gives you an insight into everyday life and literacy in day to day use and how education affects the quality of life. This approach allows illiterates to be not be viewed as dumb because they do not possess the “tool” of literacy but to be seen as possessing another type of “tool” or another type of literacy a vernacular literacy which may not function outside of their region but inside their region is allows them to function in everyday life.
In the second article by Marsha Farr, she discusses literacy practices among the social network of Chicago Mexicans. Farr discusses “illiteracy” among a group of Mexicans living in the suburb of Chicago and by “illiteracy” it is what typical Americans would describe as reading and writing. Farr argues that by using this linguistic definition “can result in denigration or patronization, rather than a more egalitarian respect for differences that may exist. This is not to deny that literacy is used in particular ways of thinking, nor even to argue against instruction in Western literate behaviors, but to avoid labeling people who in fact have literacy skills as either ‘illiterate’ or ‘semi-literate’” (Farr, 7).
In this article Farr interviews men who did not learn how to formally read and write but taught themselves due to necessity and because they wanted to learn. Farr also illustrates that reading or writing does not come in any specific order. “These differing accounts tell us that neither learning reading first nor writing first is more "natural" Both, however, can be acquired without schooling as a spontaneous part of daily life, when people perceive a need for these skills” (Farr, 14). The method that these men used Farr describes as lirico or “is to learn informally, without books, and purely with spoken language” (Farr, 16). These men had the motivation to want to learn therefore they developed a method to learn what they needed. The factors that motivated these men, as Farr describes, are “first, those with whom they wanted to communicate were in another country; second, they felt a personal obligation to maintain these relationships and to maintain them personally; third, a cultural tool, writing, was available for this purpose; and fourth, others were able and willing to share their knowledge of this cultural too!” (Farr, 20).
Both these articles argue that one may be considered illiterate in one context and literate in another. While the men in Farr’s article where literate because they could not read and write according to Americas standards they were literate in that they were able to communicate with their families. As Barton explained these men had vernacular literacies, which functions in their region but not outside of it. These men used their form literacy in day to day life thus showing that one may be illiterate by one standard but still have some form of literacy. This knowledge in valuable to the future educator in that it will free the mind of the educator to try and understand the literacy of their student and their parents to better communicate with them. By one being more accepting of various types of literacies one can adapt their teaching methods to try and “reach out” to these various literacies and educate the child thought their type of literacy. However this does propose a problem because now education is more child specific causing more trouble for the teacher but if you consider that most schools are located in regions where most of the students share the same regional vernacular literacy the job now falls on the educator to learn the vernacular literacy which would be easier than the other way around.
Now based on these articles I invite to consider this: Should we have a universal literacy or should we try and adapt to the need of the students and adapt out methods to their literacies? Do you consider vernacular literacy a literacy at all? Or is it just “slang” and has no value. If you do is “slang” a vernacular literacy, why?
The approach the article takes is “First [they] offer up a description and an investigation of literacy in one local community. Second, the book represents a contribution to the theoretical understanding of literacy, and more generally to the understanding of social practices and how people make sense of their lives through then everyday practices” (Barton, 4). By doing so the article focuses on the vernacular literacies and by doing so gives you an insight into everyday life and literacy in day to day use and how education affects the quality of life. This approach allows illiterates to be not be viewed as dumb because they do not possess the “tool” of literacy but to be seen as possessing another type of “tool” or another type of literacy a vernacular literacy which may not function outside of their region but inside their region is allows them to function in everyday life.
In the second article by Marsha Farr, she discusses literacy practices among the social network of Chicago Mexicans. Farr discusses “illiteracy” among a group of Mexicans living in the suburb of Chicago and by “illiteracy” it is what typical Americans would describe as reading and writing. Farr argues that by using this linguistic definition “can result in denigration or patronization, rather than a more egalitarian respect for differences that may exist. This is not to deny that literacy is used in particular ways of thinking, nor even to argue against instruction in Western literate behaviors, but to avoid labeling people who in fact have literacy skills as either ‘illiterate’ or ‘semi-literate’” (Farr, 7).
In this article Farr interviews men who did not learn how to formally read and write but taught themselves due to necessity and because they wanted to learn. Farr also illustrates that reading or writing does not come in any specific order. “These differing accounts tell us that neither learning reading first nor writing first is more "natural" Both, however, can be acquired without schooling as a spontaneous part of daily life, when people perceive a need for these skills” (Farr, 14). The method that these men used Farr describes as lirico or “is to learn informally, without books, and purely with spoken language” (Farr, 16). These men had the motivation to want to learn therefore they developed a method to learn what they needed. The factors that motivated these men, as Farr describes, are “first, those with whom they wanted to communicate were in another country; second, they felt a personal obligation to maintain these relationships and to maintain them personally; third, a cultural tool, writing, was available for this purpose; and fourth, others were able and willing to share their knowledge of this cultural too!” (Farr, 20).
Both these articles argue that one may be considered illiterate in one context and literate in another. While the men in Farr’s article where literate because they could not read and write according to Americas standards they were literate in that they were able to communicate with their families. As Barton explained these men had vernacular literacies, which functions in their region but not outside of it. These men used their form literacy in day to day life thus showing that one may be illiterate by one standard but still have some form of literacy. This knowledge in valuable to the future educator in that it will free the mind of the educator to try and understand the literacy of their student and their parents to better communicate with them. By one being more accepting of various types of literacies one can adapt their teaching methods to try and “reach out” to these various literacies and educate the child thought their type of literacy. However this does propose a problem because now education is more child specific causing more trouble for the teacher but if you consider that most schools are located in regions where most of the students share the same regional vernacular literacy the job now falls on the educator to learn the vernacular literacy which would be easier than the other way around.
Now based on these articles I invite to consider this: Should we have a universal literacy or should we try and adapt to the need of the students and adapt out methods to their literacies? Do you consider vernacular literacy a literacy at all? Or is it just “slang” and has no value. If you do is “slang” a vernacular literacy, why?
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
What is Literacy to Me
I have always thought about literacy as the ability to read and write. I never thought about it as any other way. I came to this conclusion by just hearing people use it in everyday life. I hear about the literacy rate in certain countries being low. I hear about how literacy and how everyone should be able to read and write. I hear the terms illiterate and literate be thrown around in the same context as literacy. I hear the president talk about the literacy rate in America and how it’s on the rise. I have just come to associate literacy with the ability of reading and writing. However as I progress in my college career I come to learn that it’s a little more than just reading and writing, how much more? I don’t know yet what I do know is that it also entails comprehension because it serves no purpose if kids can’t comprehend what they are reading. So not only do children have to have the ability to read and write but only the ability to comprehend what they are reading and apply the lessons learned to everyday life.
I came to this realization after becoming a tutor for autistic children. I realized that these kids can read and write reasonably well but when it came to comprehension the kids were lost. I would have one of my kids, Joseph, who would read a short story all by himself with no problems but when it came to answering some simple questions about the story he would have no idea what to do. It was as if he didn’t read the story at all. I attributed this to the autism and found was to get around this mostly by just rewording the question to a simpler way that he would understand. However later on I began tutoring children with no mental problems and found that after these kids would finish reading a story and try to answer the questions at the end they would come up with their own answer that would be remotely related to the story it was if they read the story a week ago and were trying to recall what happened. These kids were about half right in their answer. When it came down to it, it was all about the kids and their ability to comprehend what they are reading. Not just read the words on the page but to really understand what they are reading.
For these reasons when I become a teacher I will not only hold my students responsible for attaining the ability to read but also to comprehend what they are reading. It really serves no purpose to have a student read a book and not understand what he or she just read. The reason why I would want my students to understand what they are reading is so that we can discuss what we are reading. However, even if they don’t completely understand what we are reading I want them to be thinking about it. By them merely thinking about the reading it shows me that they are trying to comprehend the reading.
A typical day in my English class would start out with a discussion of the assigned reading. I would give them a simple question to prompt them to start to think about what they read. The simplest would be “What do you think about it so far?” Then I would ask if anybody is lost; this would open the room to anybody who doesn’t understand the reading or has just been reading without paying attention to what they are reading. After that I would try and relate the main themes of the story to things they already know and understand, thereby giving them a new way of looking at the story and a new way of trying to understand it. Overall it would be more of a way of trying to tap into each students “channel” of learning to help them better understand what we are reading and by providing a different ways of viewing and relating to the reading I will try and achieve this, because even if they can read that doesn’t mean the understand what they are reading my goal will be for them to comprehend and apply the lesson, if there is one, that the reading provides. If I can’t tap into the students “channel” of learning I will at least give them the tools so that they can figure it out for themselves. I don’t want to leave anybody behind because I myself have been in that situation and that’s when a student gives up and just “rolls with the punches” and merely tries to get along. Instead of them giving up I would want them to ask questions and interact in discussion. I want them to at least try and figure out what we are doing and why we are doing it. I know this is all in a perfect world and in a perfect classroom but we’ll see how it goes.
I came to this realization after becoming a tutor for autistic children. I realized that these kids can read and write reasonably well but when it came to comprehension the kids were lost. I would have one of my kids, Joseph, who would read a short story all by himself with no problems but when it came to answering some simple questions about the story he would have no idea what to do. It was as if he didn’t read the story at all. I attributed this to the autism and found was to get around this mostly by just rewording the question to a simpler way that he would understand. However later on I began tutoring children with no mental problems and found that after these kids would finish reading a story and try to answer the questions at the end they would come up with their own answer that would be remotely related to the story it was if they read the story a week ago and were trying to recall what happened. These kids were about half right in their answer. When it came down to it, it was all about the kids and their ability to comprehend what they are reading. Not just read the words on the page but to really understand what they are reading.
For these reasons when I become a teacher I will not only hold my students responsible for attaining the ability to read but also to comprehend what they are reading. It really serves no purpose to have a student read a book and not understand what he or she just read. The reason why I would want my students to understand what they are reading is so that we can discuss what we are reading. However, even if they don’t completely understand what we are reading I want them to be thinking about it. By them merely thinking about the reading it shows me that they are trying to comprehend the reading.
A typical day in my English class would start out with a discussion of the assigned reading. I would give them a simple question to prompt them to start to think about what they read. The simplest would be “What do you think about it so far?” Then I would ask if anybody is lost; this would open the room to anybody who doesn’t understand the reading or has just been reading without paying attention to what they are reading. After that I would try and relate the main themes of the story to things they already know and understand, thereby giving them a new way of looking at the story and a new way of trying to understand it. Overall it would be more of a way of trying to tap into each students “channel” of learning to help them better understand what we are reading and by providing a different ways of viewing and relating to the reading I will try and achieve this, because even if they can read that doesn’t mean the understand what they are reading my goal will be for them to comprehend and apply the lesson, if there is one, that the reading provides. If I can’t tap into the students “channel” of learning I will at least give them the tools so that they can figure it out for themselves. I don’t want to leave anybody behind because I myself have been in that situation and that’s when a student gives up and just “rolls with the punches” and merely tries to get along. Instead of them giving up I would want them to ask questions and interact in discussion. I want them to at least try and figure out what we are doing and why we are doing it. I know this is all in a perfect world and in a perfect classroom but we’ll see how it goes.
Defining Literacy in “Literate” Terms
Coming from Hispanic heritage where Spanish is my father’s native language, he often has difficult times phrasing his word choice in English through letters, emails, etc. I help proofread his writing and explain to him the mistakes he is making. Over time I have noticed that these mistakes are minimal, an awkward pause here and a missing comma there seem to be the most dire cases; yet he still claims he is not fully literate in the English language. What is this term literate? We incorporate our literacy of books, common sense, and knowledge into our everyday lives either through one language or multiple. Literacy occurs in all languages and one person may be able to read and write in different languages, but does that mean they are literate in all of them?
A person’s native language represents part of their identity and they associate themselves largely around it. They not only become affixed to their native language through learning new words, but they are able to fully immerse themselves into the language that they have an innate ability to shift their tone depending on their audience and backchannels that represent “cue-phrases” during dialogue—such as yeah and uh-huh. When speaking his native language, my father possesses this innate ability to manipulate his tone depending on the situation; such as when to pause to allow someone to finish their statement or to sound polite. However, it is when
my father tries to adjust his tone when speaking English that he seems to run into difficulties.
There have been countless times where he is having a conversation with someone who’s native language is English and they believe that my father is talking down to them simply because of his Spanish accent. It is not that my father is doing this on purpose; it is simply because he may not feel fully confident when speaking English or his accent is hindering him and making his English sound stern. When I analyze my father’s claim that he is not literate in English I not only look at this statement from his point of view, but from how native English speakers perceive him. My father views himself as not being literate in the English language, but I disagree with him. He is well-knowledgeable of how to read, write, and converse in English. It
is his slight misuse of the language that he believes is evidence for being illiterate. From a native English speaker they may claim that my father is illiterate due to his accent, but once again I disagree because a person’s accent does not need to meet the standard in order for them to be regarded as literate.
When I become an English teacher at the high school level I want to be able to convey to my students that being literate does not mean that a person has to speak the standard of English—the more favored dialect among English speakers. My goal throughout the year would be to create exercises that will allow them to feel confident in reading, writing, and conversing in the language. Public high schools currently contain several different ethnicities in a single class. This could make it difficult to create activities that are suitable for everyone, but I would
acknowledge each culture’s differences and use this as a starting off point.
To begin with, I want the students to first write about a time they may have experienced a feeling of inferiority. I want them to concentrate on a time where there may have been a language barrier or they did not feel confident to express their ideas because they felt their usage of English was not up to par of those around them. Since I want to utilize this type of activity in the beginning of the school year, students may feel shy and not want to express their thoughts openly for the class to hear. This is fine; at this point of the school year I just the students to start to have a different outlook on the term literacy, one that is created not entirely from the norm. We will defer our thoughts of the standard of English and concentrate on a person’s individual aspects that make them literate.
The next type of activity I would incorporate into my class would be to read short stories by authors of different ethnicities such as Sandra Cisneros and Zora Neale Hurston. This will provide students with the knowledge that others are also facing hardships and putdowns because of the way they speak English. When it comes down to it, all of us have accents. My future students will learn through reading and writing that this statement is true. I will have them keep a journal that they can write in when they experience an incident relating to their manner of speaking and also to write down their thoughts after they have read a short story. Towards the end of the school year, I will have the students compose a poem about their stance on literacy and what it means to them. It will be written on a poster board along with an illustration either hand-drawn or a collage of photos. They will present it to the class and it will be posted on a wall in the classroom.
Though there may be one dictionary definition of the term literacy, every person will create different definitions of this term. I have realized that mostly everyone is literate—they have the ability to read, write, and converse fluently in their native language, but it is when they transition to another language that their confidence level is lowered and they feel that they arehindered by the accent that originates from their native language. This does not prove they are illiterate because a person’s accent should not define them as being illiterate.
A person’s native language represents part of their identity and they associate themselves largely around it. They not only become affixed to their native language through learning new words, but they are able to fully immerse themselves into the language that they have an innate ability to shift their tone depending on their audience and backchannels that represent “cue-phrases” during dialogue—such as yeah and uh-huh. When speaking his native language, my father possesses this innate ability to manipulate his tone depending on the situation; such as when to pause to allow someone to finish their statement or to sound polite. However, it is when
my father tries to adjust his tone when speaking English that he seems to run into difficulties.
There have been countless times where he is having a conversation with someone who’s native language is English and they believe that my father is talking down to them simply because of his Spanish accent. It is not that my father is doing this on purpose; it is simply because he may not feel fully confident when speaking English or his accent is hindering him and making his English sound stern. When I analyze my father’s claim that he is not literate in English I not only look at this statement from his point of view, but from how native English speakers perceive him. My father views himself as not being literate in the English language, but I disagree with him. He is well-knowledgeable of how to read, write, and converse in English. It
is his slight misuse of the language that he believes is evidence for being illiterate. From a native English speaker they may claim that my father is illiterate due to his accent, but once again I disagree because a person’s accent does not need to meet the standard in order for them to be regarded as literate.
When I become an English teacher at the high school level I want to be able to convey to my students that being literate does not mean that a person has to speak the standard of English—the more favored dialect among English speakers. My goal throughout the year would be to create exercises that will allow them to feel confident in reading, writing, and conversing in the language. Public high schools currently contain several different ethnicities in a single class. This could make it difficult to create activities that are suitable for everyone, but I would
acknowledge each culture’s differences and use this as a starting off point.
To begin with, I want the students to first write about a time they may have experienced a feeling of inferiority. I want them to concentrate on a time where there may have been a language barrier or they did not feel confident to express their ideas because they felt their usage of English was not up to par of those around them. Since I want to utilize this type of activity in the beginning of the school year, students may feel shy and not want to express their thoughts openly for the class to hear. This is fine; at this point of the school year I just the students to start to have a different outlook on the term literacy, one that is created not entirely from the norm. We will defer our thoughts of the standard of English and concentrate on a person’s individual aspects that make them literate.
The next type of activity I would incorporate into my class would be to read short stories by authors of different ethnicities such as Sandra Cisneros and Zora Neale Hurston. This will provide students with the knowledge that others are also facing hardships and putdowns because of the way they speak English. When it comes down to it, all of us have accents. My future students will learn through reading and writing that this statement is true. I will have them keep a journal that they can write in when they experience an incident relating to their manner of speaking and also to write down their thoughts after they have read a short story. Towards the end of the school year, I will have the students compose a poem about their stance on literacy and what it means to them. It will be written on a poster board along with an illustration either hand-drawn or a collage of photos. They will present it to the class and it will be posted on a wall in the classroom.
Though there may be one dictionary definition of the term literacy, every person will create different definitions of this term. I have realized that mostly everyone is literate—they have the ability to read, write, and converse fluently in their native language, but it is when they transition to another language that their confidence level is lowered and they feel that they arehindered by the accent that originates from their native language. This does not prove they are illiterate because a person’s accent should not define them as being illiterate.
Liternation, What a sensation!
Literacy could encompass such a large range of explanations. Although it has a standard, dictionary definition, it can also be defined subjectively based on one’s own attitude towards relative subjects like the degradation or success of the educational system or one’s own need for it in their work field. Used in context to literature or education, it involves the ability to read and write. However, there is no simplicity to just reading and writing. Literacy includes a person’s ability to comprehend what she is reading in order to obtain information and/ or feel entertained. Her knowledge of grammar, punctuations, syntax, and letters are all essential to mastering literacy. It is an effort made by many parts of the body. From your eyes and hands to your infinite brain capabilities, reading and writing can sometimes be exhausting. Control of the eyes is necessary in order to follow one sentence to the next and the hands are scribers for the words floating around in your head. Literacy can be quite a workout.
The human capacity to memorize and categorize the many combinations of letters, words, and sentences are all part of a wonderful cultural relationship. Literacy gives us the opportunity to communicate between one another, express private thoughts, and imagine dynamic worlds apart from our own. Imagining a world without the written word is horrifying because such epic works exist all around the world. Oral tradition has its own magnificent history but some stories would not exist without having been recorded on some sort of written medium. Literacy is also history.
Literacy is inherently linked to language in our society; language defines a culture. Someone who is literate is elevated to a higher standard of living that another who is incapable of reading Dr. Seuss. As a society that claims to value higher education, the United States of America instills a belief that reading and writing is a crucial part of assimilating into the culture. My friend’s young nephews (three and four years old) have already been greatly exposed to the alphabet. Although they may not fully understand the functions of the letters, they are able to remember their sequence and their sounds. Before they are even in kindergarten, they are expected to have a grasp on the alphabet or at least be familiar of what it is. Students are constantly tested on how they can write, what they can write, and what they can understand from what they read. From annual state wide tests to high school exit exams, literacy is a persistent instigator of knowledge and communication.
Planning to be an English teacher is sometimes unnerving for me because of the statistics of children who have a harder time grasping the two abilities. When I was a senior in high school, I encountered in coming freshmen who were literally reading at the third and fourth grade level. As a high school student who was used to being in Advanced Placement classes, I was shocked to hear the truth about low literacy levels actually were at that time. My freshman class was the first to take the High School Exit Exam and I was surprised at the number of students were not able to pass it. As an intended teacher, I would like to address the issues of literacy by going straight to the students. I understand it’s difficult to teach one to one with a student who needs help when thirty others are in trouble also, but it is worth a try to uncover the various levels of difficulty a student has learning or if they are merely slackers or both. Is the educational system just underfunded and understaffed (of course it is)? There are many influences and causes to literacy issues that have to be properly and openly acknowledged.
If I end up teaching young children, I’d want to try and prevent making reading and writing unwanted chores thus letting the students enjoy them as recreational activities. One essay that really influenced my approach towards handling literacy is “How Teachers Make Children Hate Reading” by John Holt who is also a teacher. In the essay, he discusses how great a teacher impacts a student’s desire to learn and enjoy reading and writing by their treatment of assignments and grading. Holt states that children are much more open to reading and writing when they are given greater opportunities to write what they want and when are not pressured by receiving a bad grade. After changes in his curriculum such as having some ungraded free writes and reading out loud to his classes, he saw a significant increase in his students’ desire to read different and more challenging books and write more and better because they are not being criticized. I want to adopt Holt’s idea of promoting literacy as something meaningful, entertaining, and rewarding rather that just another statistic to scare the students away.
Because I plan more on teaching college students, it seems like an entirely different aspect of teaching. As a college student right now, it is sometimes difficult for me to value reading novels and textbooks and writing ten page papers simply because they are seen as work. When I am not required to read a book or write a poem is when I can most enjoy it. College is a choice for many students. By the time someone reaches college, they are expected to be able to make their own choices of whether or not they can do what is expected. If and when I reach that level of college professor, I would expect my students to be able to be more competent in literacy. Depending on my teaching subject, I will assign classic literary readings but also try and find something contemporary or popular to expose to the students. One of my past professors used an Eminem rap song to illustrate a point in her lecture which, believe it or not, was a great example. Finding things the students are interested in and relating it to the lecture helps so much and take so little time to research.
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