What is Literacy?

This video clip gives great definitions on what literacy encompasses:

Synthesis of Course

Having this class has really opened my eyes to how important and how much I will use literacy in my classroom. I never really thought about the expectations I had for my students when they came into my class involving literacy. I never just assumed it was the English teacher’s job to teach my students literacy. I knew I would be teaching my students different vocabulary words because a lot of the vocabulary would be new to them in my content area. Words like whisk, wire rack, bobbin, carbohydrates, etc. There are so many vocabulary words my students need to know to be successful in my classes that I always knew teaching them would be part of my curriculum. I planned to teach them these words by treasure hunts, matching games, jigsaw presentations, etc. I am not a huge fan of students just looking up vocabulary words from a textbook and copying them onto another sheet of paper. I don’t feel like they really get as much of an understanding of the words as I would like them to have. Thus having fun games and activities will get them more engaged and be able to make more connections to remember those words.

I have always dreaded textbooks. The word alone makes me cringe. I also have come to realize that textbooks are a useful resource if used correctly and if students have an understanding of how to read a textbook. Before this class I never made the connection that there was a difference between reading a novel and reading a textbook. Reading and getting needed information from a textbook is a completely different skill than reading a novel. I have decided that since I will implement a textbook into my classroom I will help students develop that skill. I plan to do this by taking a little time to go through a few pages and help them to know how to pull out the information without having to try and read it like a novel. Therefore, they will save time and energy and be more successful in pulling out the knowledge they need.

Something else I have decided that will be extremely important to my student’s success is integrating digital technology. In many ways it will help them and me to simplify things. I never considered digital text as literacy. I feel that digital literacy is important to my students as much as hard copy written things are. With all the technology these days it is important to use those resources in my classroom. A few ways I plan to use digital literacy is PowerPoints, video clips, instructional videos, etc. One of my favorite ideas came from my clinical teacher. She set up her own web page that the students could go to, to get the information they missed if they were absent. This saved her a lot of time because she didn’t have to explain to every student that missed what they missed and how to make it up. They just had to go online and look. If there was a circumstance where a student did not have access to a computer at home then I would obviously make an exception and tell the student what they missed. To know if this would be an issue or not I would ask in my beginning of the year questionnaire if the student had access to a computer, if so if it had reliable internet. This way I could tailor my instruction and assignments to allow for time in class for students to work on things rather than making it homework.

I always just thought basic reading and writing was literacy and that was it. This class has broadened my understanding of what literacy really encompasses. It has allowed me to explore new ideas of how to integrate more literacy in my classroom and what my responsibility as an educator is in teaching my students literacy in my content area. I have learned that literacy is the foundation of my classroom and without proper knowledge of the literacy in my classroom students won’t be as successful as I’d hope.

Digital Literacy

I don’t use an I-Pad, I-Pod or I-Phone, but I do you my laptop computer and my MyTouch cell phone. I use my cell phone to make phone calls, receive calls, send texts, receive texts and now that I have this new phone with more abilities I can check my e-mail, check Facebook, check the weather and Google anything I need. I use my phone quite a bit to find information for classes or if I am just curious about something. I use my laptop to check and send e-mails, check Facebook and do homework. I am glued to my computer or cell phone probably for the majority of the day trying to keep in contact with friends and family and doing homework. I am often texting my husband, family and friends. I also e-mail my instructors on my laptop or cell phone. The online texts that read would mainly be e-mails and information for my class projects or papers I am doing.

Sometimes it is hard to think of implementing digital text into a classroom because I know there will be students that don’t have access to a computer or cell phone to use those things I require. But if that was not an issue, I think it would be fun to make a Facebook class page. Or just a webpage where students could go to post questions or see what they missed and what to do to make it up if they were absent. This way students could write back and forth if they needed help or feedback from me or another student. When I was in High School they had our grades posted online and we were able to go on and look at how we were doing. I would defiantly use that, plus I think it is required by most districts. In my own instruction I plan to have some PowerPoint, video clips and if I am lucky  I would love to have a Doc Cam to do demonstrations. If I know there is a student or two that does not have access to a computer or internet at home and I am requiring them to do a PowerPoint presentation in class then I will give them time in class and they will also have their “Flex” period they could work on it and get it done. I will not assign something to the students they cannot easily get finished in the time I set aside for them. If they are unfamiliar with the programs I am asking them to use I will be there to guide them through the process and answer any questions they have. I feel that it is very important to use Digital Literacy in the classroom because that is what students now connect with and use the most in their lives.

Affective Dimensions of Reading

I’ve never really thought about if I was considered a “good reader” or not. But after reflecting on it I would say that I am. I can read quickly and accurately. I don’t really stumble over words unless they are ones I am unfamiliar with. If I don’t know a word I can easily “sound it out” and move through it onto the next. I enjoy reading comics, short news summaries, text messages, Facebook posts and if I had to decided whether to read a text online or out of a book I would probably pick the online text over the book. There aren’t very many occasions that I’ve really enjoyed reading in my life. There has literally been two times since I was probably sixteen that I looked forward to reading books for pleasure. The texts were two different series. One was the Crystal of My Heart series that my boss at the time was actually the author of. I loved how she wrote and the detail she had. She always kept it clean so I never had to worry about any cursing or areas I needed to skip over. I enjoyed her writing because it was a mix of real life and a different realm sort of thing. It kept me hooked because of the innocent romance, and as a sixteen year old that is what was important to me. I enjoyed getting lost in another world for a little while instead of dealing with the high school drama at the time. On the other hand of enjoying reading there are many times where I have not enjoyed reading. Mainly if there was a reading assigned in school. I can remember as far back as elementary when we were forced to read certain books for A.R. (accelerated reader). I hated this so bad because I wanted to be able to decide what to read and when I wanted to read it rather than being forced to have a certain amount of books read and tested on by a certain time. Along with that, I hate doing readings out of textbooks and supplemental readings that professors assign. I know there is a ton of good information in those things they ask me to read (or they wouldn’t have us read it), but I would rather have someone just summarize it for me and be able to discuss it with them rather than hashing through it myself.

As for different social networks; growing up I was always encouraged to read by my church. We were encouraged, but not forced really to read the Scriptures, which contain many different books. Unfortunately by the time I was old enough to read by myself the school system had gotten to me and I didn’t want to do anymore reading than I absolutely had to. My friends actually all liked to read different books. No one ever looked down on me for wanting to read (maybe because I never did haha).

In my classroom I would love to give students options of different ways to get the information rather than just copy it out of a text book or something. I want to incorporate fun worksheets and have texts that are interesting to read rather than dull and hard to follow. It would be nice for them to be able to have the text online and hard copy and give them that choice. As a student now I love it when teachers give me options of assignments to do. I would like to have that in my classroom and have different types of texts connected to those different options so they can choose which one fits them best. The area I most want to focus on is nutrition. If I help students with the vocabulary at the beginning of the units they will feel more comfortable with reading the assigned texts and therefore have a better self-perception of themselves as a reader in my class.

Affective Dimensions of Writing

I don’t necessarily consider myself to be a writer but I do think I am good with expressing myself through writing and communicating my feelings. I would prefer to express myself through speaking but sometimes the only way I feel that I can express my ideas is through writing it. I never really wrote recreationally as a child. I started a journal when I was in elementary but I didn’t really keep it up very well. Now I like to text and put updates on Facebook. But in the last year I have noticed that I text and Facebook less than before. I would much rather text someone than talk to them on the phone though. I hate talking on the phone. I email as well but only when that is the only way to communicate with someone. When I was in school I loved to be able to write without any prompts. For example, when we were assigned to write about our weekend or our summer, I would be so excited. The writing assignment I wasn’t so fond of was the ones where we were prompted to write about something that I wasn’t interested in. I would feel like it was pointless and a waste of time. If I ever have students write anything, I will have options that they will be able to choose from so they will be able to write about something they are interested in. For example, how eggs affect a product’s outcome or another choice would be how oil affects the product.  

Who am I?

My name is Michelle White. I plan to teach Family and Consumer Sciences Education. For those of you who are unsure what this is, I will be able to teach subjects in junior high and high school like nutrition (foods), sewing, child development, interior design, and consumerism. I would most prefer to teach foods classes if I could choose. (1) I obviously love to cook. I also love horseback riding, swimming, naps and being around people I care about. I am due December 4th with a little girl. (2) Family and Consumer Sciences is some of the best classes you can take for basic life skills. Everything that is taught applies to everyday life and it is important to have these skills early on in life to be able to be more successful. (3) I knew from when I was in elementary that I wanted to teach. I started out in Elementary Education and got my associates and decided it wasn't for me. My ultimate goal was to become a high school councilor and I figured that it would be easier to get to that goal if I taught high school. The only subjects I liked enough to teach were the FACS classes. So I transferred here to USU to get my bachelors. (4) N/A