My Evolving Lens on Literacy

I thoroughly enjoyed the readings on teaching and learning and the strategies presented in the seminar.  The readings represent my thoughts and feelings about my current views on teaching.  From Barnes’ first sentence, “It would be a mistake to think that what a teacher teaches is quite separate from how he teaches,” I was captivated.  Since beginning these Masters courses, I find myself delving deeper into what I do in the classroom.  I’m starting to firmly believe that a teacher’s personality plays a large role in how students learn and how much they learn.  I am very interested if where on the grid I fit in between a Transmission and Interpretation teacher.  I enjoy dialoguing with my students about various topics related to the curriculum.  I encourage them to think and be sceptical.  I want them to form their own opinion, not feel the need to agree and follow mine.  I’m thinking that this puts me more on the Interpretative side, but I guess that depends on the lesson and day.

                Although I do not participate in these conversations and most times, just end them, it interests me in what students think of their other teachers.  I hear about the “piles of useless work” (which makes me think Transmission) and “he’s so funny...I love that class” (Interpretational).  To explain myself: knowing the teachers that the students are talking about and I see the work and assignments they give their students (their offices are nearby), I form a judgement (bad, huh?).  I do not make these judgements harmfully, but more internalize them.  How do I make myself the ‘likable’ teacher – not that it’s a popularity contest?  But I think that the students respond better to learning if they enjoy the classroom/teacher they have.  It’s all part of the positive learning environment.  This positive relationship needs to exist.

I think that there is something to be said about listening to students and making the classroom environment more personal.  I enjoy telling my students stories about myself.  Their feedback is that they enjoy listening and they feel more comfortable sharing their experiences.  This is what I believe is part of the learning process.  I’m ok with making mistakes in front of my kids (most of the time).  I feel like it breaks down barriers and puts us more on a level playing field, similar to what Murray and Palmer discuss in their articles.  I feel like being real with my students makes me more human to them and they to me.  I do not believe in an ‘us vs. them’ mentality that I, unfortunately, find to be a common theme in the staffroom.

My favourite quote is from the Picene article: “to really learn how to fly”.  I think this sums up what we want from our students.  We want them to leave our classrooms and use their heads – use their good judgement – and go out into that big world and think for themselves.  Rough landings (mistakes) are okay as long as they become learning experiences.

                This brings me to the strategies we were introduced to during the seminar.  I really enjoyed the birthday card strategy.  I felt like I really benefitted from listening to how others interpreted a single card and all the hidden messages a simple (or so I once thought) birthday card holds.  It is a great activity of discourse analysis for students.  Social languages, perspectives, culture and media can be discussed with a birthday card.  These cards make underlying assumptions and send messages to kids about their gender.  I’m excited to try this activity with my Grade 11 Parenting class when we discuss gender roles and gender identity.  I would like to challenge my students by assigning them with the task of making gender neutral cards.  I’m astonished at myself to think that even when I’m not thinking, I’m making a decision or judgement when it comes to a card.  I’d like my students to realize this as well.  In class, we discuss transgendered children, and their struggles.  Messages are being transmitted effectively through cards that do not include children who struggle with their identity.  I’d like to teach my students to be aware of these underlying messages, and challenge them to come up with solutions.

                I will really benefit from the “What’s Your Stance?” strategy as well.  It caters to the multiple intelligences in the classroom.  It allows for a variety of ways to access knowledge.  I love being more creative with assignments and assessments.  This strategy is also beneficial to mid to low students.  It allows them to express their knowledge without being trapped use having to use words, grammar and sentences.  This approach can be used with different age groups as well, with varying levels of thought depending on the class.  It accesses various approaches and gives way to deeper thinking.  It teaches that there are always other perspectives to be aware of.  Depending on our purpose and audience, we come to different conclusions and see things differently.  This approach will help me on my road to developing well-rounded thinkers and learners.

                I feel the same way about sketch to stretch.  At first, I didn’t know what to draw or what was expected of me or my drawing.  As we shared, our sketch to stretches, I realized how different all our images were.  I then realized what the point of the activity was.  We all have our varying perspectives.  The lens in which we view our readings or stories are all different, and thus, the different images – all valid, I might add.  At one point, I think I would have preferred to write instead of draw my thoughts or inferences, but I feel more of an accomplishment with illustrations.  I also think that from a teaching perspective, this activity gives the opportunity for those students who struggle with words to express their understanding.

                As I continue with these courses, I am enjoying teaching more and more each day.  It is building my confidence – not necessarily because I am more sure of myself, but because I feel more open to new thoughts, methods and constantly questioning or pondering my lessons and changing them.  I feel like I am becoming a better teacher by opening my views and ways of doing things.  I hope that as I open myself up to more perspectives, I am teaching my students to do so as well.

An excerpt into my literacy journey...

I refused to be a slow reader in school.

I did not want to feel anxious but always cool.

So I read and read and read.

From story books to novels eventually for pleasure from dread.

Berenstain Bears to Blume’s Fudge to Brown’s Da Vinci...

Reading to learn and laugh.

Learning Language Learning

I am learning that literacy is not as simple as I once thought.  In other words, I am paying more attention to the inner workings of literacy and viewing it through a broadening lens after each and every seminar and reading.  These readings have opened my eyes to events that occur that I have taken for granted.  I now see language is this symbolic system that we use in order to communicate.  Even when we are young and not formally educated, we still succeed in getting our point across.  I like the quote, ‘children do not need to study language to make it work.’  Children are communicating before school begins.  Personally, I do not think I have ever given much thought to this.  Perhaps because I do not have my own kids or that I teach in a high school, and I took my own learning for granted.  Most likely, I did not take the time... until now.

I enjoy participating in the reading strategies that are incorporated in our seminars.  I’m looking forward to incorporating them into my lessons.  I love having class discussions and these strategies give me a different way to get my students to respond to various literature.  Even though I teach the older kids, I still use many strategies that I would with younger kids.  I still read story books and give stickers when I can.  I’m positive that I will receive a good reaction to these strategies.  I think students will enjoy taking reading to the next level, and making connections.  Like most people, teenagers love having and vocalizing their opinions.  My favourite indicator that I’ve got my class thinking is when I hear, “That’s deep, Miss.”  I like using story books to introduce topics or to make a point.  Instead of reading the books and having an open discussion, I will use the ‘target/perpetrator/bystander/ally’ strategy.  I’m hoping this will allow more students to be involved in the discussion.

A segment in the Sealey article stated that more speech is used than written language.  I am curious if this statement is still valid.  In my daily activities, I see more the opposite.  I see students on their phones messaging each other, using a written form of communication.  Students are constantly tweeting or facebooking their thoughts to each other or the world wide web for anyone to read.  I hear a lot of students constantly talking about what they find online or on youtube, all of which require the written form of communication.  Many play video games, which do not require spoken communication, but following written or symbolic instructions in order to participate in the game.  I find myself lecturing my class on not losing the art of spoken communication and face to face communication.  Many of my students are better at communication through social media than they are vocally.  We are trying our hardest to enforce a “No Personal Electronic Device” policy at my school with posters that make reference to ‘talking’, like it is something that is completely foreign.  Interestingly enough, when speaking about this to my group at the seminar, some teachers in the elementary panel were discussing how they were incorporating technology into the classroom.  I agree that literacy and language is constantly evolving and growing, and technology is and will continue to be a large part of this.  With the introductions of e-learning and virtual books, one can no longer say their home is cluttered with reading material – it’s in a small black box (their kobo, ipad, tablet, etc).  So why are some schools blocking technology and others not?  I realize that it is the appropriate use of technology that is the main issue with the older students, but this is my argument: these students will always have their technology attached to them, so instead of trying ban them, why not let them use them (cell phones, blackberries, iphones/pods, etc) and let them decide when it is appropriate and inappropriate to use them.  We can inform them about what is and is not appropriate, but after and outside of school, they will have to decide for themselves.  They are always going to be challenged with multi-tasking their everyday duties – in the work world, etc – with the personal electronic devices. Maybe they should learn that level of multi-tasking now? Just a thought...

I was really able to apply my language journey to the concept that language is dynamic.  My language has evolved and is continuing to evolve as I continue to grow.  I was born in India where the primary language is not English, but it is my first (and only) language.  I’ve been told that I had an accent at one point and I remember when I first came to Canada, I made a conscious effort to use words that made me fit in here.  I remember feeling odd when using those words in the presence of my parents.  The more I learn and grow, my vocabulary becomes more complex as I am better able to communicate my thoughts.  My language changes depending on who my audience is as well.  I use slang at times when I am speaking casually with students in order to connect with them.  I use more academic language when I am speaking to colleagues and administrators.

The Weaver article discusses environmental print – can we include social media lingo in its definition?  The advancement of language and how it evolves should include this type of text.  It is used by the youth we teach and are learning from (I learn new acronyms from my students quite frequently).  This is the language in which most of them use to communicate.  Even though, we stress the difference between formal and informal language, I think that it is important that we include this ‘new wave’ of communication into our repertoire.  Not only does it aid in engaging students and in connecting with them, but it incorporates technology into the teachings of language.  The culture of technology invades us at every corner.  I think it would be a shame to ignore it.  It is a form of language and text and can be utilized if used in context.

Children learn to read and then the read to learn.  I found this to be almost sad.  I realize that literacy is a good thing and that this is what we, as teachers, want this in all our students. But, what about reading for pleasure?  I grew up loving to read.  My parents had to pry books away from me to get me to bed.  I also remember being in university and stopping myself from reading for fun because otherwise, I would not read my course materials.  I almost feel like children and people should always be encouraged to read – read anything.  As a person who has been through the school system, I know that I do not want to read if I do not like the content or if it is not interesting.  So why would my students?  I realize that certain reading cannot be helped, but I look at the novels that are still read in English classes at my school (ex. John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men), and I almost sympathize with my students.   I’m sure there are novels that are written that are modern and more in tune with today’s teens.  It seems like taking on the world to get new novels in a school or convincing a department head that change needs to happen.  Why is this?

            Unfortunately, at times, teachers to this day still make judgements of children’s ability and performance based on their backgrounds.  Expectations might be generalized.  I found this to be very unfortunate.  When I first came to Canada from India, I vaguely remember my first Canadian teacher to be surprised that I spoke English and that my math was further ahead than what was being taught to my age group.  I remember almost feeling like I needed to prove something.  My need to be accepted by my peers superseded that initial feeling, and I am now definitely not the math genius I felt like in Grade 2.  I do know that the stereotyping I initially felt does exist.  The Luke article, affected me because it proved to me that student’s previous experience is valid in a classroom and can be used as an advantage.