My personal theory of literacy.
My personal theory of literacy is that literacy is constantly changing and evolving. As our students grow and develop, their literacy acquisition, skills, and strategies grow and develop. Literacy is encompassed by four main strands; speaking, reading, writing, and listening.
I consider literacy to be the ability to use language in a way that is effective for those are involved. This could be in the form of speaking and listening or reading and writing. The language that is used between the person who is trying to communicate and the person/people receiving the language should be clear.
I define reading as the oral interpretation of a written language. I also believe that reading occurs without the use of oral language. You may read information from a text out loud, or you can read the information from a text inside your head.
I define writing as the ability to trace or from (characters, letters, words, etc.) on the surface of a material. This can be done using a pencil, pen, crayon, marker, keyboard etc.
I believe that learning is more than being taught in a classroom setting. Learning is a process of acquiring knowledge or skills through instruction or experience. I am a firm believe that we are constantly learning new things each day, whether we are cognitively aware that we are or not.
Each strand is constantly changing and evolving, as technology evolves and changes literacy also evolves and changes. I believe that literacy is more than reading and writing through the use of a book and paper and pencils. I believe that literacy encompasses every aspect of our lives. From the moment we wake up in the morning, we are using literacy skills that we have acquired to read what time the clock says. I believe that literacy is not only using books, paper and pencils, but there is also a digital literacy.
In recent years there has been a push to include technology as a form of literacy. I thoroughly agree with this notion of a technological form of literacy. As more students are becoming tech savvy, more assignments are conducted through the use of technology. More reading materials are available to students through the use of technology and the internet. I agree that literacy, reading, writing, and learning can occur within a classroom and outside of a classroom. All of these occur on a daily basis through formal instruction (schooling) or informal instruction (work related, hanging out with friends and family, etc.).
I believe that one becomes literate through formal (schooling) and informal (work related, hanging out with friends and family etc…) experiences. One becomes literate through the interaction of; texts, conversations, schooling, and through their own personal experience(s) and motivation. I do not believe that in order to demonstrate your competence of literacy you have to take a test and receive a "passing" grade. I believe in order to demonstrate your competence of literacy you (as the learner) should be able to connect to the text your reading on a personal level that is deeper than simply reading what is written. You should be able to translate the text into your own words in a way that is meaningful to you as the learner. I do not believe there is one way to measure what a text is. I believe that anything with any written or typed letters, numbers, symbols or pictures is to be considered a text. I know from personal experience that when I am reading a text (from a book or the internet) that I try to relate the information that I am reading into my own personal life and personal experiences that I have had.
In my classroom I will expect my students to try their hardest with the various texts that they will be in contact with and interact with. I will expect my students to be open and receptive to the various genres of literature that they will interact with, even if they do not like that genre that we will be working with. I will not tolerate any of my students quitting or giving up because they do not feel like they can do it, or they do not want to do it. I will do my best to encourage and motivate each student in my classroom to read, read and read everything and anything they can. I will do my best to encourage my students to read more challenging texts and texts out of their comfort zone. I will periodically ask my students to write a brief summary of things they found important in the texts they are currently reading, and I will periodically give my students a pop quiz based on the text the class is reading as a whole. I do not expect each of my students to find the same thing important; I will expect a variety of what is important to each student. Each student will connect with the text on a different level than their peers, mentally and emotionally.
I consider literacy to be the ability to use language in a way that is effective for those are involved. This could be in the form of speaking and listening or reading and writing. The language that is used between the person who is trying to communicate and the person/people receiving the language should be clear.
I define reading as the oral interpretation of a written language. I also believe that reading occurs without the use of oral language. You may read information from a text out loud, or you can read the information from a text inside your head.
I define writing as the ability to trace or from (characters, letters, words, etc.) on the surface of a material. This can be done using a pencil, pen, crayon, marker, keyboard etc.
I believe that learning is more than being taught in a classroom setting. Learning is a process of acquiring knowledge or skills through instruction or experience. I am a firm believe that we are constantly learning new things each day, whether we are cognitively aware that we are or not.
Each strand is constantly changing and evolving, as technology evolves and changes literacy also evolves and changes. I believe that literacy is more than reading and writing through the use of a book and paper and pencils. I believe that literacy encompasses every aspect of our lives. From the moment we wake up in the morning, we are using literacy skills that we have acquired to read what time the clock says. I believe that literacy is not only using books, paper and pencils, but there is also a digital literacy.
In recent years there has been a push to include technology as a form of literacy. I thoroughly agree with this notion of a technological form of literacy. As more students are becoming tech savvy, more assignments are conducted through the use of technology. More reading materials are available to students through the use of technology and the internet. I agree that literacy, reading, writing, and learning can occur within a classroom and outside of a classroom. All of these occur on a daily basis through formal instruction (schooling) or informal instruction (work related, hanging out with friends and family, etc.).
I believe that one becomes literate through formal (schooling) and informal (work related, hanging out with friends and family etc…) experiences. One becomes literate through the interaction of; texts, conversations, schooling, and through their own personal experience(s) and motivation. I do not believe that in order to demonstrate your competence of literacy you have to take a test and receive a "passing" grade. I believe in order to demonstrate your competence of literacy you (as the learner) should be able to connect to the text your reading on a personal level that is deeper than simply reading what is written. You should be able to translate the text into your own words in a way that is meaningful to you as the learner. I do not believe there is one way to measure what a text is. I believe that anything with any written or typed letters, numbers, symbols or pictures is to be considered a text. I know from personal experience that when I am reading a text (from a book or the internet) that I try to relate the information that I am reading into my own personal life and personal experiences that I have had.
In my classroom I will expect my students to try their hardest with the various texts that they will be in contact with and interact with. I will expect my students to be open and receptive to the various genres of literature that they will interact with, even if they do not like that genre that we will be working with. I will not tolerate any of my students quitting or giving up because they do not feel like they can do it, or they do not want to do it. I will do my best to encourage and motivate each student in my classroom to read, read and read everything and anything they can. I will do my best to encourage my students to read more challenging texts and texts out of their comfort zone. I will periodically ask my students to write a brief summary of things they found important in the texts they are currently reading, and I will periodically give my students a pop quiz based on the text the class is reading as a whole. I do not expect each of my students to find the same thing important; I will expect a variety of what is important to each student. Each student will connect with the text on a different level than their peers, mentally and emotionally.