Response to Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us

In response to Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us, I think there was a lot of validity in the ideas that were presented, but I must admit this isn’t the first time I have heard these assertions.  At risk of sounding like some of those that were referred to as “needing to believe in the fairy tale magic that will transform their lives---whether it’s a rich man of winning the lottery” because “they accept in the absence of visions for a different and better world”, I don’t see so much harm in reading these fairy tales or watching the cartoons.  I read the fairy tales, I watched the cartoons and I have viewed and have taken my children to see such movies.  Is it lazy parenting, or not wishing to make the world a better place that I do these things?  I don’t think so. I am a good person, I have self-confidence, I don’t need a man to rescue me, I didn’t grow up feeling unattractive or needy.  My children are whole, happy, accepting, self-assured young people.  Yes, I recognize some of the stereotypes depicted in these movies, fairytales and cartoons.  I even get annoyed by them, albeit sometimes more than others.  I think what is missing here is that the recognition of having balance of perspective, good parenting and healthy environments for children are what really make the difference in what they believe about the world.

 While these cartoons, movies, and stories don’t necessarily illustrate races or classes equally or appropriately, stories can be taken as simply stories.  They can also be springboards for great conversations with our children.  What gives any child good self esteem and a positive attitude towards others has a whole lot more to do with their everyday lives than any movie propaganda out there.  I am not naïve enough to claim that these have no influence on children’s’ attitudes or perceptions; however, I think it can be blown out of proportion. Perhaps most importantly, is that these movies, cartoons and stories must be seen as one activity in a child’s life and it is the way children are raised (what they are taught to believe and what is modeled) that are most important.  How a family treats others, who they associate with, how generous, loving, kind and compassionate it is to fellow human beings will more determine how a child looks at the world than will any story or movie.  Likewise, a child that is brought up in a loving, accepting, supportive home will be far more self confidant than one that is not whether either child watches or reads any of these materials,  no matter the child’s sex, size, color, religion, or socio-economic status.

Multimodal Texts

In response to our readings on multimodal texts, I found that text is interpreted much more widely than I had thought possible.  Literacy is being redefined. The idea of a text has been described in these readings as “many dimensions to representation and communication”.  After some reflection, I can see many ways this will affect our teaching in the classroom, both in engaging children in classroom projects and being able to communicate with them effectively in an ever progressive technological world.  Again, as in many of our readings throughout our cohort classes I appreciate the implication that we must talk with children and find out about their experiences of texts and to make that part of “considering what literacy—specifically critical literacy might mean in the twenty-first century”. In reaction to all of this, I have had to come to terms with my own, perhaps even self-imposed, limitations in using multimodal texts.  I must make it a priority to become ever more familiar with those innovations of texts that will enhance my teaching and my students’ learning. 

Creating Genre Pieces

The process of creating the genre pieces for our MGRP was overwhelming. I actually started two pieces before discarding them and waiting another day.  Once I finally got a flow going, the creative side of me took over and I ended up really enjoying creating the pieces and choosing which information to incorporate with each distinct genre. At first I wasn’t sure how to choose which parts of the research paper to incorporate into the genres.  Should I decide exactly which information to use first or decide which genres I would like to use first?  I ended up choosing my genres first and I feel like that was a good choice. Our paper was divided nicely with headings which made selecting material to use so much easier.  My fourth grader was intrigued with my writing of a children’s book and enjoyed naming the main character and giving me some of his ideas. He is even cited as a co-author! I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s presentations and seeing all of the different genres we come up with collectively.

MGRP Chapter 5 Character and 7 Arts and Seedfolks

 As I was reading through both of these chapters which, I know are  meant to help us use MGRP as a teaching tool in our classrooms,  I can’t help but try and envision how I will use such things as character and the arts in my genre pieces. 

Chapter 7, Character:

“Good characters are central to good writing. They are also central to our multigenre research reports”.  How might I reinvent this idea to make spelling instruction into a character to more easily capture our research in different genre pieces?    Hmmmm…capturing the essence of spelling instruction.  This should be interesting.  An important point about character seems to be that characters should reveal themselves through action and dialogue rather than depending upon description. 

Chapter 5, Arts

“The doers and observers both discover something about the further reaches of being human”. That seems like a tall order for any genre but I can see how it might work with some of the arts, especially drama.  Important points made about using the arts in MGRPs seem to be not only how the arts evoke emotion, but also how “they can help children express their ideas in ways that tap alternative thinking processes”.  I appreciated the point made that the arts “aren’t about the security of a correct answer, but rather a jack of all trades emotional brain that has a quick multiple inventive solutions to most problems”. I can see how this can be a scary reality for some students, especially those that are used to having a clear, correct, expected answer.  “This freedom of expression empowers children and forces then to think for them”. How exciting!!

Seedfolks

I actually read the entire Seedfolks book before checking the syllabus to see that we were to read assigned chapters.  Hoping I haven’t totally blown the lesson for Monday night, I enjoyed the book and even took mini notes on each character as I went through so that I could refer to my list and know who was who as I went along.  My assigned chapter happened to be the last character, and as such, I had already read the rest of the book before getting there.  I took special care to try and find how Florence was revealed to us through dialogue and action rather than description as was discussed in the character chapter of MGRP.  I hope I chose the right quotes to bring with me to class. 

MGRP chap. 4 poetry & Van Sluys (setting up invitations)

MGRP Chap. 4 Poetry

            I had to read the first two pages of chapter 4 a few times for them to really sink in.  I know this probably sounds strange to most of you, but honestly it is as hard for me to imagine not enjoying writing as it is for any math teacher to comprehend why some students don’t like math, probably even harder.  After all, writing is personal, there is no right or wrong answer like in math and most of the time there is a freedom of rules and expectations unheard of in other disciplines.  To write poetry…that comes from within….and to share those thoughts with others…seems effortless to me.  To observe the world, to process how you feel about what you see and know and then be able to express it, how could that be anything but joyful? It’s a game to me, although one I often play alone, to find just the right word with just the right sound to express what I intend, or more often, imply in my writing.  I guess we will all be including some type of poetry in our MGRP if we agree with page 55, “multigenre papers would not seem complete if they didn’t contain some poetic experiments”. 

 I have to force myself to accept that some students will find these exercises difficult, unnecessary and perhaps just plain boring.  I have to find a way to reach them, to help them find their own inner writer full of voice and passion.  I liked the idea of introducing song lyrics with a lesson on poetry, something most all children can relate to.   I also appreciated the different techniques of poetry presented to give students lots of different formats to get started writing poetry. Many times creating a plan for the writing is the hardest part.  I was also impressed with the content of many of the poems.  Children have observations, emotions, and understandings that go much deeper than I imagine at times.  These examples remind me to stop and really take in what students have to say about their world. 

Van Sluys (setting up invitations)

            Okay, so maybe I’ve really missed the mark here but I keep searching for a definition of what “an invitation is” and can’t quite get a handle on it.  I have a clear picture of what is entails by the description of the common features, and what it is about, but somehow I’m still left wondering what it is.  I am stumped by the notion that invitations should be “always accessible and not artificially relegated to certain periods of the day”.  How in the world would this work?   What would it look like in practice and how would a teacher support all the invitations going on and get anything else done during the day if the time was not regulated? Baffling to me! 

            So after finishing reading about invitations I can’t help but think, “wow!”, “awesome!”, what another fantastic teaching tool.  Then my mind grows weary and dizzy trying to imagine encompassing all the standards expected to be taught, as well as the day to day requirements of teaching within an invitation. “Whew!” please tell me it isn’t just me feeling this way.  I also had some questions about allowing students to do google searches to find research on subjects.  Our field experience teacher advised strongly against this because inappropriate material surfaces often.  How would one support appropriate research without doing “pre research” on every single invitation topic beforehand yourself? And how would you have time for that?  Don’t get me wrong, I love the concept of invitations, I just have a difficult time envisioning them.  “Students being in charge and paving the way of their inquiry paths”….how cool is that!?  Surly our class discussion this week will pull all the pieces together for me. 

           

Ch 1-3,6 Introducing MGRP/Powell & Davidson

I found that this week’s readings gave real understanding and meaning to the MGRP, not only to what it is and how it’s done but why it is such an amazing teaching tool.  Isn’t that something that has been stressed in all of our classes this semester? That we need to make sure students understand the “why” of what they are learning.  Aha! it’s important for adults too. I finally started to get excited about this project rather than overwhelmed. Although, that could be due in part to the fact that the research element has been turned in...hmmmmmm?? 

            I appreciated the breakdown given in chapter 1 of all the skills students use when creating a MGRP.  On page 8, it states “multigenre projects have helped our students build skills, have extended our curriculum in meaningful ways, and have helped our students value themselves and one another”.  What more can we ask for from and educational experience?  I also enjoyed seeing the students’ different genre examples.

            Chapter 2 gave some concrete ways to get started.  These were great tips we can use later with our students and I can see now why we were introduced to the idea of our own MGRPs right from the beginning. 

            Chapter 3 explained why it so important that students have ownership of their research topics.  Again, as we have been learning throughout our courses, students must have “a stake” in what they are learning; it must be meaningful to them for it to become a part of them.  We can see in this chapter that the topic choices are really limitless and bound only by the wonderment of the children. 

            The Voice of Nonfiction, as presented in Chapter 6, shows us that the different genre possibilities are as numerous as the topic ideas themselves.  I liked the description on pg. 69 that the “multigenre pieces make the research come alive”.  I pondered the likelihood that I would do a multigenre research paper with my students the first time I have them do one.  I would like to think I would do this, though I’m not sure how realistic that really is.  I imagine the demands of teaching in the beginning will be overwhelming enough.  I could relate to the difficulty with the background part of the MGRP as the rationale seemed to be the most difficult part.  Like the book said on pg. 70, “children often find this the most difficult piece to write because they must analyze and synthesize all their material. Once they have done this, however, the remaining pieces in their paper grow naturally from it.”  Let’s hope so!!

            I really enjoyed reading The Donut House.  This title reminds me of a favorite preschool song called “the donut shop”.  If any of you are just dying to know the lyrics, let me know.  I was awestruck at this endeavor taken on by a teacher of kindergarteners. Wow! I adored this example of situated literacy, that in which, “literacy is embedded within real-world events”.   I couldn’t help but daydream about what a venture like this with my own class might look like someday. What a rich, invaluable experience for these students and their community members.  What I found really interesting was that the children “were learning a great deal about written language through the activities of the donut house project.  These experiences emerged naturally as the children went about planning and developing their classroom business”.   This project is a great tribute to the fact that all children can learn and be successful despite their economic status.  Children need to be prepared for life and equipped with the ability to change their lives, not simply equipped to pass a literacy test.  Bravo Mrs. Davidson!

MGRP Inquiry

 I apologize for my tardiness with this blog.  It was my over sight, I didn’t realize we were blogging on this process.  Patti and I worked so well together on a project for our Human diversity class that we decided to team up again to delve deeper into a subject that we have both struggled with in our homes.  The dreaded weekly spelling test!  After commiserating together over common experiences with this educational tradition, we wondered if there was a better way to teach spelling and how do children really learn to spell?  Without giving too much of our project away, suffice to say that neither of us had seen much, if any improvement in our children’s application of the learned spelling lists and we thought it would be a great subject for this paper.  I have to admit that I am still (hard to believe I know) a bit of a novel when it comes to researching online.  Though Karen gave awesome tips in class, it can still be a chore for me.  After some somewhat fruitless searches on my own, Patti came through with some amazing articles! We had more than enough information and yet still craved more.  Was there something else out there phenomenal we had overlooked?  Were we sure we were coming at this subject from the right angle? Should we have done this or that or looked here?  All a string of questions put to rest by mere time constraints if nothing else.  We felt confidant enough in our material that we would find some sound reasoning behind our case. 

             

Crafting Writers Ch, 10-12 response

In response to Chapters 10 of Crafting Writers, I found that once again, Hale has managed to give us the “whys” of using and teaching writing crafts in certain ways.  There are many concrete, useful, hands on examples of how to use the various techniques described in this chapter.  I especially appreciated the real life example she described about her first teaching observation and review with the principal. It tied in perfectly with the goals of teaching conferences.  While I always knew it was important to give positive feedback to students before and after giving them areas to work on…the “sandwich” delivery if you will, I was surprised by what was referred to as “powerful conferring”.  The idea that “we need to let go of what we want students to be and accept without subconscious resentment toward our students, that this is where they are” had to really sit with me for awhile to digest.  I find myself always looking to where the student could be, or should be without really appreciating where they are and the process it takes to move forward.  Letting all students know they are capable “right now” means noticing where their strengths are rather than the gaps between where they should be. After reading this chapter in particular, I plan to make a conscious effort to see where students are and to help them view themselves as strong writers at that point by teaching strengths.  I believe strongly in the emotional aspect of teaching that was described throughout these readings.  That is “the emotional aspect of teaching can impede learning or cause it to flourish. Reaching potential to learn depends a lot on the relationships between the people involved.” I remember having such relationships with teachers and how it affected my success. I have also felt these personal relationships with my preschool students and have seen first hand what a difference it can make in their growth.

Chapter 11, Group Conferring, explained nicely the benefits and “how to” of a group conference. What took me a bit to understand was the difference between grouping students by a need they have rather than writing ability. At first this seemed just a matter of semantics to me.  Then  I had an “aha!” moment when I read not to use the group conference as “a cool teaching opportunity”, but rather as a way to teach skills that would help with what was hampering their writing.  This made a lot of sense to me when Hale stated that as children get older group conferring could be used more to teach craft.  An important point made was to not let these small group conferences replace one on one conferences because we would lose the forum where we teach strengths.  There were many good ideas to draw upon in the following sections about conferring.  I especially liked the idea of practicing transitions and the ways given to help students access their own ideas for independent writing such as decorating notebooks, writing spots etc.  These were great useful tips, and as always, I love that she gives us the why behind each suggestion. 

Chapter 12, Assessment explains the value of using Rubrics.  I agree that using rubrics as opposed to a letter grade really “helps teachers notice different aspects of writing, which then, ideally, impacts instruction”.  I liked how the use of different rubrics was described so that it became evident that different rubrics are important in regards to authenticity in that assessments match instruction.  This way of assessing students will help us as educators respond to the needs of children individually.  I had never really considered using rubrics as a planning tool but after reading this chapter it makes perfect sense.  What a terrific way to build students’ expectations of what they can do.  This practice ties in nicely with the goal of having students view themselves as competent and capable! 

Crafting Writers Ch. 7-9, App.F

Chapter 7 of Crafting Writers, as the title Teaching Craft Lessons would suggests, gives concrete ideas and examples of teaching writing craft.  I was delighted to see that the “why” of each lesson was clearly depicted because this point was emphasized in chapters 1 through 6.  I was also happy to see that there is a place for lecturing when teaching lessons and that, according to Hale, “expertise in a subject matter is not always the key to giving good lessons. You do have to know something about the subject you’re teaching. You just don’t have to know everything.”  This really hit home for me because I tend to feel overwhelmed and that I need to know everything about something before I can try and teach it.  This statement gave me permission to understand that I don’t have to be an expert to facilitate learning. I found another important point of this chapter to be found on page 99, when the author explains that, while a well delivered lesson is a terrific goal,  the true test of  a craft lesson’s worth is how well students can hold on to what they are taught and bring it into their own independent writing.  I plan to remember this and to do my best to make lessons connect to my students’ prior knowledge so they might better assimilate the new information and use it on their own as one of their many “tools” of the trade. 

            Chapter 8, Researching Strengths in Conference, reminds us how imperative it is to teach all students their strengths during a conference. The story of little Jonathan was a prime example of this. The steps and goals of a writing conference were depicted well and again, the “whys” were quite visible.  I especially appreciated the section on deciding what to teach, as I think it could prove to be a difficult part of the process for me.  Keeping in mind the skills taught in the last conference, mini-lessons that were recently taught, and having an awareness of where each student is coming from, should help narrow down the possibilities.  This book is proving to be an invaluable resource for the teaching of writing craft.  It is bursting with concrete examples of what to do. Yeah!

            The most pivotal point in Chapter 9, Researching Next Steps in a Conference, for me was on page 151, when Hale states, “researching possible next steps in student writing begins by noticing as many possible teaching points as you can before moving on to deciding what to teach”.  Again, this eases a sense of “having to do it all” in me.  We can find different “next steps” and choose which ones we need to teach at a certain time. I like that this idea of choice keeps teachers from feeling like they don’t know what to do but rather are choosing what is important to focus on at the time. I can see how this all was described as a balancing act in the final comments.  The best we can all aspire to is to be aware of the need for balance and to “support students in different ways as we decide what to teach”.

            The guided practice pieces presented in Appendix F were more difficult to work through than I had imagined when reading the strategies for approaching them.  I welcomed the comparisons on the back to refer to while working through the process.   

           

Crafting Writers Blog

Blog entry Crafting Writers

09/19/10

                I really enjoyed Crafting Writers K-6, by Elizabeth Hale.  I found loads and loads of useful teaching techniques to use when teaching the craft of writing. These techniques make so much more sense than just practicing certain skills or memorizing vocabulary.  A recurring theme throughout all six chapters is the importance of teaching craft techniques which students can take away from group instruction and conferences to use during their own independent writing.   Another big idea is how important it is to teach students the “whys” of craft techniques.   When students understand the “whys” of writing techniques, they are more likely to want to use and feel comfortable using a technique, as opposed to just because the teacher said so.  On page 73 of chapter 5, the author states, “Helping students understand how different choices affect writing supports decision making at all levels”.  This statement in context refers to the use of reverse combinations and students taking the time to think about word choice and placement.   I believe however, that you can take this statement and apply it to encompass most of the craft techniques illustrated in these chapters.  All of the craft techniques are about giving students a huge repertoire of tools to choose from when they write.   As students write we want them to think about the words they are choosing, why they are choosing them, and to be able to use the techniques that make the most sense to them. This thought brings me to another theme in this book and throughout many of the readings in our classes thus far.  That theme is, the importance of  making the methods, techniques and tools we teach children meaningful for them.  It is abundantly clear that today’s teachers need to help students use their prior knowledge to make connections to what they are learning so that each student can assimilate the new learning in a way that makes sense to him/her.   This is much different than simply teaching skills, relaying information or showing students how to do something.   When students find a way to make this new knowledge meaningful, they are more likely to not only retain it but use it.  Isn’t this the ultimate goal of learning?   Let me finish up with one of my favorite lines from the book.  In chapter two on page 9, the author states, “Voice is the sum of all the strategies used by the author to create the illusion that the writer is speaking directly to the reader from the page”.  This was really powerful to me and I look forward to facilitating my students’ growth in finding their voice in writing.

Readings for 9/13/10 Sound Systems/Every Mark on the Page

Readings for 09/13/10


Sound Systems

Chapters one and two of Sound Systems contained a lot of useful developmental information. There was plenty of terminology defined. So much so that it did get a little confusing at times. I found myself referring to the tables for clarification as I read along. While these concepts are not new to me, the actual terms for the stages and the exact qualifications of each were. I definitely see the importance of assessment of students to make sure we are teaching the right things at the right time. This is the point of having a systematic approach, which is, “knowing what to teach, knowing whom to teach, and having a plan to methodically teach concepts, keeping records of learning and teaching”. As a preschool teacher for many years, I was excited to see that “phonics can be taught in a variety of ways and in the content of many activities, in the literacy and content areas”. Teaching phonics concepts in both reading and writing contexts seems like second nature to me. I loved watching my preschoolers see the connection between reading and writing!

Chapter Four, Phonics Assessments in Writing, included several clear examples of writing assessments. I appreciated the step by step formula of analysis at the beginning of the chapter. I attempted the analysis of student 2’s paragraph and managed to get it right as far as the formula. Understanding the stages of the student and the possible instructional moves made a lot of sense upon reading them but weren’t as easy to come up with on my own. This appears to be a useful to for evaluating students’ spelling skills.

Chapter 6, Instructional Methods, had a recurring point about the importance of letting children know the purpose of the knowledge. This reminds me of the age old question of “Why do I need to know this? How will it help me in the real world?” If we can help our students make connections about why they are learning things and how they will use them, then they will be more enthusiastic about the learning that is occurring. I have implemented elements of shared reading, and shared writing in my preschool classroom. There wasn’t the time or manpower to have guided workshops. I enjoyed learning more about the fundamentals of the literacy block in this chapter. The purpose and steps of these methods were clearly stated. I am an avid believer in a Print-Rich classroom and each of these sections reinforced the idea that “phonemic awareness and phonics concepts are valuable only as they are used to support reading and writing authentic texts”.

Chapter 9, Instruction at an Early Stage, was a great peek into Ms. Lacy’s classroom. I filed away many ideas from the concrete examples that were illustrated. A main idea that seemed to permeate the exercises was to make text meaningful to the children. The students need to have ownership of their writing and feel connected to the text. Something that surprised me was that children were allowed to speak out and have conversations during read aloud time. I’m not sure how this would work in practice but I liked the idea of it and understand how it makes the text more meaningful to the students. I also learned that making text familiar for read aloud time made it possible for the children to make new phonics connections not simply reinforce already learned skills. I was impressed with the ability of Ms. Lacy to keep track of each individual’s place and progress. I would have liked more detail on how all this was accomplished. I know she noticed it and recorded it but the how and when was a bit ambiguous.

Every mark on the Page, by Cusumano

This article struck a familiar cord with me. As a preschool teacher, I’ve had many parents ask me, “Will my child be reading at the end of preschool?” I spent a lot of time educating parents as to the expectations and goals of preschool. I finally put a packet together that included some child development and reading readiness information. This seemed to ease a lot of worries and unrealistic expectations. Once parents know what is expected of their children in regards to writing and how the process works, everyone can relax and let the learning happen. It is important as an educator to communicate with parents and give them the information they need to help their children in the best ways possible. I intend to use some of my tried and true methods of communication about what is appropriate and expected in certain areas, as well as some of those listed in this article as well.

Post 2 Community Literacy Dig

Food Court Literacy Dig


The food court is a common gathering ground for shoppers everywhere. Our local stop is no different. As we arrived at the food court, our group looked for an inconspicuous location to plan our attack of this assignment. My focus was to listen and record bits of talk, what people were saying to each other, who says it and what the routine ways of talking in this place were. As we sat at the table together, I took a visual inventory of the food court layout. I noticed the restaurants included Stir Fry, Little Tokyo, Chick –fil-A, and Luca Pizza. The first pieces of literacy evidence that jumped out at me were the menu boards above all the establishments. These incorporated photos, price lists and descriptions of menu items. I assume the purpose of these boards is to both inform customers of the products available and to entice them to buy from their particular venue. There were also signs visible of which credit cards were accepted, so lack of cash wouldn’t stop you from filling your tummy. To one side resided a newspaper machine.

I paid particular attention to the employees behind the counters. Some were busy filling bins, cooking, or cleaning and paying no notice to the people walking by and through the area, while others stood almost at attention, waiting for an order. These observations lead me to wondering about what cultural knowledge might be necessary to participate fully in the exchanges occurring at the food court. While it would not be imperative to speak English to get by, it would most certainly be helpful. One could easily figure out that this is a place to get food and could get that food by ordering by picture alone. However, clarity about items might prove more difficult with a language barrier. Some other prior knowledge, other than language, necessary to navigate this arena include, knowing first of all, where the food court is located and what is available there. Secondly, it would be important to realize that you must order at the counters and pay immediately before proceeding to the surrounding tables. It would be nice to understand that you are expected to throw away trash and put away trays, although that doesn’t always happen even by those that do “get it”.

Some common phrases by the vendors in this place were, “may I help you?”, “are you ready to order?”, and “what can I get for you?” Standing within a certain proximity to the counters with or without looking at the menu boards seemed to precede such questions. Even seemingly busy employees would stop what they were doing to wait on someone. Many customers continued to scan the menu boards while answering the employees with comments like, “I’m still looking”, “just a second”, or “I’ll have a……”. After ordering, cash or debit/credit cards were exchanged. These slips of paper were sometimes signed and sometimes not. After the food items were delivered, simple salutations were sometimes exchanged such as “thank you” or “have a good day”. I noticed, as was the case with the ordering, sometimes the customers and vendors looked at each other during such exchanges but most times not. It almost appeared as though it these were automatic responses…not even preceded by thought. I hasten to think how often in a day such interactions take place. How often and in what situations do we all go through life on automatic pilot?, not even paying attention to the people we are interacting with?

A scan of the food court tables, revealed a rich variety of visitors. There were what appeared to be a couple, a mother and child, three young ladies, as well as two women sitting across from one another. There was an informal atmosphere here with most people seeming relaxed and at ease. I infer this from the body language and general demeanors exhibited. The mother and child were working on homework problems. The mother read these aloud to her son. I was curious as to why they might be doing this at the food court as opposed to at home or if maybe the adult could even have been a tutor and the parent was off shopping. The three young ladies, I believe, were college students. Perhaps they were friends or dorm mates. I infer this due to the fact that I overheard them discussing when it was time to leave and that they needed to take the bus back to campus. Their general conversation surrounded how hard it was to accuse someone of shoplifting and describing different scenarios to one another. This conversation drifted into how one had a dress that would match the scarf another purchased and then whether or not the scarf was bought on sale. This conversation changed into a discussion of sales and which stores had the best ones and when. This spurred me to take a look at the stores visible from the food court. Most of these sported an array of sale signs, including special offers and great deals. It took awhile to figure out the relationship between the two women sitting across from one another. At first it seemed to be two friends, and then an employee and a boss, then just two employees. More attentive eavesdropping made it apparent that this was an employee hearing the results of a secret shopper experience. It was a positive review filled with nervous and relieved laughter from the employee. The evaluator was busily typing and reading from a laptop. The computer proved to be an invaluable literacy tool in this situation.

As evident in this community literacy dig, there are examples of literacy everywhere, all around us. Reading and writing are a part of our everyday lives, whether that is on menu boards, receipts, text books, cell phones, sale signs, newspapers, or computers. Preparing our future students to be as literate as possible in all imaginable situations is imperative.

Post 1 response to blogging and school writing

This is my first experience with blogging.  I am always a bit tentative with new technology but love the feeling of accomplishment after it is mastered.  I now have one more thing in common with my ever technologically advancing teenagers that believe I don't know anything.  I am an avid pen and paper journal writer and am looking forward to becoming comfortable with this online albeit public form of personal thought. 

The article "That's online writing not boring school writing": Writing with blogs and the Talkback Project is a perfect example of why teachers need to stay abreast of the  new tools our students are familiar with.  When the talkback project had to resort to pen and paper communication for a bit, a student responded with a comparison of  "using leeches instead of nuclear medicine".  This statement says a lot about how important it is to use the technology available in classrooms.