Literacy - Post 2

Coming up with one single definition of literacy is not an easy task. Growing up, I had always thought of literacy as the ability to read and write. As I got older, I have realized this it is much more than that. I think of literacy as any for of communication (reading, writing, speaking, etc) and connecting with and understanding this communication. Through this course so far, I have realized that not everyone has the same definition for literacy and someone's definition always seems to be changing. This course has started to show me that literacy includes questioning, reflecting, connecting, and critiquing pieces of literature. It involved analyzing and thinking deeper about given texts.

I feel that literacy is a continual process. For example, my mom is very technologically illiterate. She has a cell phone, but does not really know how to use it. She can dial a number and answer a phone call, but that is the extent of her knowledge (the idea of texting still confuses her). My parents own a computer but she has never touched it and does not even have the desire to learn how it works. She could become literate in this for of communication but simply chooses not to.

My idea literacy learning environment would be comfortable and welcoming to the students. I have been in countless classrooms where the students do not seem comfortable with their surroundings and it is reflected in their school performance. The students need to feel comfortable in order to have the want to learn. There would need to be a wide variety of materials for the students to use in order to focus in on different aspects of literacy and appeal to a variety of students' interests. Trying to get students to read articles or stories about subject that are not interested in can often make them unmotivated to learn. Once I get my own classroom and have the ability to try different things, I'm sure my ideas of an ideal learning environment will change.