The most important thing we can teach our students is effective communication. Communication is a broad term that refers to oral, written, bodily, and others. It is the key to success. If a student can adequately express him/herself in writing, can conduct an interview, and can come across as a generally respectable human being, he/she will be able to do nearly anything in life. Communication also includes understanding of incoming stimuli. Students must be able to comprehend texts that they encounter, from advertisements on television to complex literary texts. I believe that once students can effectively communicate in all of the ways I previously mentioned, they are indeed college and career ready.
I have previously mentioned the other goals that I would have for my students. I guess I will mention them again. I want my students to be accepting and tolerant of those who are different from them in race, sexual orientation, religion, etc. I hope to instill in them an appreciation for diversity. If I can teach students to effectively communicate their love for diverse peoples....well that would be pretty damn awesome! Career and college ready AND tolerant. Heck yes Ms. Knox. Best teacher ever.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Literacy
Literacy, in the most simple of terms, is the ability to read. It is not only the ability to read texts, however. It is the ability to read...period. There are an unlimited number of literacies (e.g. digital literacy, mathematical literacy, interpersonal literacy, etc.). Literacy allows people to read and understand and interact with their respective environments. The reading involved in that statement may not always be textual. If person has a complex understanding of what is going on around them, I believe that person to be literate.
This definition becomes more difficult when one considers that some people cannot read text at all. Is a person who cannot read text illiterate? I guess my answer would be yes, unfortunately. I feel that illiteracy is not necessarily a direct opposite to literacy. Society tells us that a person who is illiterate cannot read text and I may have to agree to a certain extent. I can remember a time when I couldn't read. The world seemed like a melee of symbols and scribbles that I could not understand. Without the ability to read the most simple text, a person is missing out on so much of what the world has to offer. A person who cannot read can understand the world, indeed, but I don't know that I would call that person literate.
Just learning what those crazy symbols mean does not make a person literate, however. For example, I wouldn't consider my five-year-old self literate. I could read, sure, but I couldn't yet truly understand what I was reading. I think the first step to literacy is learning how to read text, and the sky's the limit from there on out. A person who can read a situation but cannot read text may be literate in a different way, but literacy for that person is not a stand-alone word. This person could be considered situationally literate, for example, but could not be considered straight-up literate.
I believe that literacy is something ever person strives for. People who do not know how to read have not yet attained the tools to become literate, and that will not get them far in life. These people may achieve the level of literacy that they are satisfied with. They may feel like they have a good-enough understanding of their surroundings without knowing what the symbols in books mean. That may be just fine for some people, but I know I wouldn't have been able to tolerate that.
I feel that this post got a tad out-of-whack, but what a confusing topic! I thought, "yeah this is going to be an easy one" but then I started and kind of got lost. I am not entirely sure what my point is, but I do believe that every person benefits from learning to read text. Literacy allows us to broaden and interact with our world.
This definition becomes more difficult when one considers that some people cannot read text at all. Is a person who cannot read text illiterate? I guess my answer would be yes, unfortunately. I feel that illiteracy is not necessarily a direct opposite to literacy. Society tells us that a person who is illiterate cannot read text and I may have to agree to a certain extent. I can remember a time when I couldn't read. The world seemed like a melee of symbols and scribbles that I could not understand. Without the ability to read the most simple text, a person is missing out on so much of what the world has to offer. A person who cannot read can understand the world, indeed, but I don't know that I would call that person literate.
Just learning what those crazy symbols mean does not make a person literate, however. For example, I wouldn't consider my five-year-old self literate. I could read, sure, but I couldn't yet truly understand what I was reading. I think the first step to literacy is learning how to read text, and the sky's the limit from there on out. A person who can read a situation but cannot read text may be literate in a different way, but literacy for that person is not a stand-alone word. This person could be considered situationally literate, for example, but could not be considered straight-up literate.
I believe that literacy is something ever person strives for. People who do not know how to read have not yet attained the tools to become literate, and that will not get them far in life. These people may achieve the level of literacy that they are satisfied with. They may feel like they have a good-enough understanding of their surroundings without knowing what the symbols in books mean. That may be just fine for some people, but I know I wouldn't have been able to tolerate that.
I feel that this post got a tad out-of-whack, but what a confusing topic! I thought, "yeah this is going to be an easy one" but then I started and kind of got lost. I am not entirely sure what my point is, but I do believe that every person benefits from learning to read text. Literacy allows us to broaden and interact with our world.
Grammar
I believe that it is extremely important for students to know know standard grammar, but I don't know that I will incorporate grammar into my curriculum in an entirely obvious way. I don't think I will do sentence diagramming exercises or anything like that. What I will do, however, is have my students read...a lot, every day. I never really learned grammar on a word-by-word level, but I think I'm pretty good at it and I can thank reading for that. If students are exposed to standard grammar in text, I believe that they will pick it up. In addition, I would consider having a sentence-fixing exercise at the beginning of each class. It would be one of those "daily oral language" exercises where there is a grammatically incorrect sentence on the board and students must fix it. I found that useful in my English classroom in high school.
What I must understand, however, is that not every student will have an innate understanding of grammar like I always have, no matter how much they read. I think I will have to go on a case-by-case basis with this one. I am planning on teaching in a rural classroom, which will give me more time with each student, so I think tailoring my grammar-teaching to each student's needs is not entirely far-fetched. It will be a lot of work, to be sure, but I feel that I won't know exactly how to do it for a whole class. As a high-school student, I personally would have gained little from intensive grammar exercises, but I know that other students in my class would have benefited from it. The plan is to make kids read all of the time, and differentiate between them when it really comes down to it!
What I must understand, however, is that not every student will have an innate understanding of grammar like I always have, no matter how much they read. I think I will have to go on a case-by-case basis with this one. I am planning on teaching in a rural classroom, which will give me more time with each student, so I think tailoring my grammar-teaching to each student's needs is not entirely far-fetched. It will be a lot of work, to be sure, but I feel that I won't know exactly how to do it for a whole class. As a high-school student, I personally would have gained little from intensive grammar exercises, but I know that other students in my class would have benefited from it. The plan is to make kids read all of the time, and differentiate between them when it really comes down to it!
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