WOW! What a journey this class has taken me one. I did not expect to learn so much in such a short period of time. Prior to this class, I had an understanding of literacy as one’s ability to read or write. However, I have learned that being literate extends beyond this. While I learned a lot about literacy, I also gained an appreciation for the teachers who helped me work through many of the problems I developed as a young reader. Looking back on my original FOKI, it was easy to conjure up the memories of my struggles as a learner and the teachers who influenced my insecurities. However, I rarely looked back to find the pivoting points for which my love for reading and writing evolved. Even though I mentioned a time in high school that was the catalyst, there were more times that I had forgotten about. With the reflections of this class, I was able to give credit where credit was due. My struggles as a learner have always been at the forefront for why I am in this profession.
Understanding the feelings shared by students who do not ‘get it’ allows me to be more empathetic and patient. This in turn motivates me to create meaningful and engaging reading/writing experience for my students. With this in mind, I have been able to change the opinions of so many students who did not have a passion for reading in writing or who feel they will never get ‘it.’
This class reinforced the importance of broadening my students’ interaction with a variety of reading material in order to enhance their literacy experiences. Students need to be immersed in an array of literature in order to enrich their perspective. This needs to extend beyond the language arts setting. Literature should be part of every subject area. In my pre FOKI, I made mention to the memories of sitting in class and reading from the text book. I firmly believe my lack of interest with literacy stemmed from my disinterest in the reading material. Often, the only reading that was encouraged was from the language arts book. We rarely used literature to learn about science and social studies. While it was not only the reading material, or lack thereof, that was of limited interested to me (as an elementary student) it was also the lack of purpose for reading. It is clear that being literate is having the ability to connect to the text. This is vital in students developing an understanding and opinion.
Another important component of literacy is the reciprocity of reading and writing. Even though I knew this before, it was a refreshing to be reminded the importance it holds in student literacy. Additionally, I was reminded the value that can be gained with the integration of writing in other subject areas. Knowing the value that can be gained from encouraging students to write about their thinking has enlightened me to incorporate more of this in my own classroom. The strategies gathered from many of the articles and textbooks have left me with a great resource and a wealth of strategies. In order to excite the students about writing, I plan to incorporate blogs assist my students in producing their ideas. I have used blogs in the past and was amazed at the response the students gave when they were told they would have to journal their reading 4 times. Not one moan or groan, it was all because the excitement of being able to interact online with their peers by commenting provided them with such pride and responsibility.
Furthermore, this class has enlightened me on the importance of meaningful vocabulary experiences. While I did not mention this in my pre Foki, I did state in a blog the many opportunities students have to learn and practice their vocabulary words. The text book offered plenty of ideas that I have to incorporate in my own classroom like the semantic analysis. One important component to vocabulary is scaffolding student connections. It is important that students have an understanding of the connection between words. This connection encourages a quicker recall which in turn makes the application of the word more frequent in his/her speaking/writing.
Overall, this class has provided insight into 21st century literacy. Now, I firmly believe literacy is a component of all subject areas. Being literate is one’s ability to interact with his/her text before, during, and after reading. As a student interacts with any subject area, their discussions with classmates, independent reading time, or research are all components of literacy. I do not see literacy as a separate entity; however, it is the foundation for which new learning is built on!
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