Short Paper Topic 1: Literacy

What is Literacy? As we discussed in class there are so many interpretations of what the term “literacy” means. As we each tried to convey our ideas of what exactly literacy was, it was evident that it’s an incredibly broad term that we could build on for hours. To me, literacy is the way a person can communicate the point they’re trying to make with relative ease in their own cultural context, as well as, understand clearly what another person or people are trying to convey to them in multiple forms of dialogue, such as: reading, writing, and speaking. Today “literacy” is a term that is very much connected with the ability to read, but I don’t necessarily believe that, that’s all it entails. The ability to read is only one factor in the many that make up literacy.
However, I still see my interpretation of literacy as one that is flawed and much in need of some formulation and growth. In class I mentioned how literacy is different things, to different people, in different places; sometimes there is a cultural “miscommunication”. For example, someone from suburban Rancho Cucamonga (my hometown) might think that someone from South Central L.A. is illiterate because of their use of language, their slang, and general everyday conversation skills. However, this would be wrong to assume. They’re ability to get their point across and function in society, especially their own, without difficulty would make them very literate. Just because we Rancho Cucamongan’s don’t understand their slang doesn’t make them illiterate it’s just a cultural difference. However, my definition lacks the ability to really explain what makes someone illiterate, because truthfully after our discussion on Thursday, I just don’t know!
As a future, highschool, English teacher literacy is something that I’ll have to instill in my students. I intend to make sure that they understand the basic function of grammatical structures and how to use them properly when writing, talking, and reading. I hope to address these issues in a fun and interesting way, however, until I fully understand what exactly literacy consists of I couldn’t truthfully say how that would look in my classroom. All I know is that in order to fully engage students you have to help them understand how the subject your teaching them affects them everyday and relate it to something that makes sense to them in the here and now.
A day in the life of me, as an English Teacher, looks like one of interaction, fun, laughter, passion, and equality with my students. I really, really love education and I know that when I was in highschool the classroom I got the most out of was the one that was enjoyable. It was the one where the teacher not only cared and had a passion for the subject they taught, but cared for me and my ability to understand that subject whether I liked it or not. When I play this movie of my future career in my head, I see students excited to be in my classroom, I see them engaged, I see a relationship between all of us as a classroom. There’s discussion, and interaction between everyone and there’s new ideas and understandings, of not only the material but of each other, being formulated. There are activities going on that are fun, but, serve the ultimate purpose of teaching my students the curriculum. And there’s equality. There’s a mutual relationship between the students and me that creates respect and allows us learn from each other. Now, I know this sounds idealized but I truly hope that I can succeed in making my classroom a fun and educationally sound atmosphere, so that’s how I picture my future classroom to be.