Lacreshia Meadows
English 329
Moll & Gonzalez
October 28, 2009
Learning in the Home
In the research of Luis Moll & Norma Gonzales on Language- Minority Children, they decided to start off in the home. They decided to start off in the homes of the children because they didn’t want to, “put the teachers world at the center of scrutiny and negotiation”(159). This research provided excellent information to the different types of literacy events that went on in minority homes. But realistically how many teachers have the opportunity to discover what life is like at home for their students.
The study does prove that all of the students are capable of learning. Just because they are a minority and may not do well in classroom settings they are capable of other learning activities. M &G did find that many of the minority students had families with their own businesses, musical backgrounds, and the ability to make their own money before adulthood. This did prove that the minorities were capable of learning outside the classroom which means they could learn in the classroom too.
While in the classrooms teachers used research processes to develop the skills of the students. The students themselves, “were reluctant to label themselves as researchers”(167). But they did learn, “ to come to understand that through their inquiries they have access to special information that others might lack and they are indeed capable of doing the intellectual work necessary to conduct an investigation and deal with the problems and frustrations of the work”(166). So the researchers work of starting in the homes did prove to be effective.
Realistically though how many teachers have the resources, time, effort, or energy to research the lives of their students? Though effective, the research does not realistically answer the teachers problems to understanding the literacy acts of minorities. Another question that this raises is what happens when classrooms contain more than one minority group? Just as in the freedom writers the school contained more then one minority group. Everybody in the classroom could not have the same issues or problems in the home. So this again proves to be unrealistic for teachers with minority groups in their classroom.
In conclusion M& G’s research proves to be effective but not for teachers of our time period and state standards.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Literacy Blog Project week !
Lacreshia Meadows
English 329
Blog Project
October 14, 2009
In the process of understanding literacy there are two articles the have been read that need to be taken into account. The first is Understanding Literacy as Social Practice, by Barton and Hamilton and En Los Idiomas, by Farr. These two articles cover literacy in different environments. And even though they cover different aspects of literacy they both explore issues that demonstrate literacy practices and how they affect the people who use them.
In Understanding Literacy, Barton and Hamilton explore literacy in a certain community. They start out by explaining how people use literacy. “Literary events are activities where literacy has a role” , “ the notion of events stresses the situated nature of literacy, that it always exist in a social context(7). This meaning that no matter how observers try to put a level on literacy is always exist because people communicate with each other which is a form of literacy. Barton and Hamilton also evaluated that the private at home literacy seems to be infiltrated by practices from many different places. As individuals , “ a persons practices can be located also in their own history of literacy” (12).
Proving that there are many sources to ones literacy, and people in the same community can have different literacy backgrounds. With individuals having different levels of literacy B & H found that “ If literacy is often located in unequal social relationships, this inequality is most apparent in the access to literacy resources which people have” (17).
In conclusion B& H consider that literacy as a whole has been and even more becoming ineffective. With society blaming teachers, B& H pointed out that literacy starts in a community and as a whole, “the dangers to children and the effects on education practice and on reading and book buying”(21), hold all parties accountable.
In En Los Idiomas,by Farr he explores the literacy in Chicago Mexicans which consist of three different back rounds. Farr chooses to focus on two groups which are the Mexican Americans whom are born in America and the “tejanos” which are the Mexicans who come from Texas to Chicago. Farr points out that many of these families don’t have the opportunity to learn because of family obligation, “older female siblings often had fewer years of school because they had to help their mothers in the home and older males had to help with the land to help support the family”. Farr also points out that people who speak English well still have problems with literacy because the way they talk is different then the standardized English that is taught in schools. Even though many of the Mexicans he studied did not get formal school training many of them self taught themselves how to read and write. After discovering a man who learned how to read English before speaking it Farr learns that, “neither learning reading first nor writing first is more natural, both can be acquired however without schooling as a part of everyday life”(22). In Farr’s observation being self taught or taught in a community is just as important in literacy as a school is.
Both of these articles hold valuable points in our learning literacy practices. With both articles in mind it holds the valid point that literacy is what you make it to be. If there is an opportunity for school then that’s fine but it still will not be as effective without help from the home, were as in Farr’s argument self taught literacy was just as valuable as an educational system. So it seems literacy is used in different areas according to what it is needed for.
This information is very helpful for educators because we have to know that even though teachers have a standard of literacy expected among its students, it will come in many different shapes and forms and it is up to the teacher how he or she deals with student who have unequal literary backgrounds.
These articles implicate that there will be many challenges in teaching literacy in a large groups.
This makes me wonder how as teachers will we deal with students who are not on the literacy level as to be expected in the grade in which is being taught.
These articles connect to my own literacy history because I got read to at home so when I got to school I already had an interest in books. I have seen kids that have only exposed to books at school who have a distant reaction to books. It also made me think that being self and school taught can make learning literacy an enriching experience for children.
English 329
Blog Project
October 14, 2009
In the process of understanding literacy there are two articles the have been read that need to be taken into account. The first is Understanding Literacy as Social Practice, by Barton and Hamilton and En Los Idiomas, by Farr. These two articles cover literacy in different environments. And even though they cover different aspects of literacy they both explore issues that demonstrate literacy practices and how they affect the people who use them.
In Understanding Literacy, Barton and Hamilton explore literacy in a certain community. They start out by explaining how people use literacy. “Literary events are activities where literacy has a role” , “ the notion of events stresses the situated nature of literacy, that it always exist in a social context(7). This meaning that no matter how observers try to put a level on literacy is always exist because people communicate with each other which is a form of literacy. Barton and Hamilton also evaluated that the private at home literacy seems to be infiltrated by practices from many different places. As individuals , “ a persons practices can be located also in their own history of literacy” (12).
Proving that there are many sources to ones literacy, and people in the same community can have different literacy backgrounds. With individuals having different levels of literacy B & H found that “ If literacy is often located in unequal social relationships, this inequality is most apparent in the access to literacy resources which people have” (17).
In conclusion B& H consider that literacy as a whole has been and even more becoming ineffective. With society blaming teachers, B& H pointed out that literacy starts in a community and as a whole, “the dangers to children and the effects on education practice and on reading and book buying”(21), hold all parties accountable.
In En Los Idiomas,by Farr he explores the literacy in Chicago Mexicans which consist of three different back rounds. Farr chooses to focus on two groups which are the Mexican Americans whom are born in America and the “tejanos” which are the Mexicans who come from Texas to Chicago. Farr points out that many of these families don’t have the opportunity to learn because of family obligation, “older female siblings often had fewer years of school because they had to help their mothers in the home and older males had to help with the land to help support the family”. Farr also points out that people who speak English well still have problems with literacy because the way they talk is different then the standardized English that is taught in schools. Even though many of the Mexicans he studied did not get formal school training many of them self taught themselves how to read and write. After discovering a man who learned how to read English before speaking it Farr learns that, “neither learning reading first nor writing first is more natural, both can be acquired however without schooling as a part of everyday life”(22). In Farr’s observation being self taught or taught in a community is just as important in literacy as a school is.
Both of these articles hold valuable points in our learning literacy practices. With both articles in mind it holds the valid point that literacy is what you make it to be. If there is an opportunity for school then that’s fine but it still will not be as effective without help from the home, were as in Farr’s argument self taught literacy was just as valuable as an educational system. So it seems literacy is used in different areas according to what it is needed for.
This information is very helpful for educators because we have to know that even though teachers have a standard of literacy expected among its students, it will come in many different shapes and forms and it is up to the teacher how he or she deals with student who have unequal literary backgrounds.
These articles implicate that there will be many challenges in teaching literacy in a large groups.
This makes me wonder how as teachers will we deal with students who are not on the literacy level as to be expected in the grade in which is being taught.
These articles connect to my own literacy history because I got read to at home so when I got to school I already had an interest in books. I have seen kids that have only exposed to books at school who have a distant reaction to books. It also made me think that being self and school taught can make learning literacy an enriching experience for children.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
A response to Mona's post
Lankshear and Ong are not necessarily on the same page about what literacy means, and that just proves that there is no one answer for what literacy is. Like Lankshear and Ong, we all will have our own perspective on literacy which may be similar to others and different from others. I agree and disagree with some aspects of what Lankshear and Ong speaks of about literacy. When Lankshear said that literacy cannot be an unitary, neutral, or an independent variable. Literacy cannot be a "thing" or a "skill" because literacy is not neutral. It is very much part of our society. Literacy is among every part of our society whether it is our education, our relationships, our religion, politically, and even during our entertainment. Literacy is not simply reading and writing, nor is it an independent variable. Literacy is much more complex than just that. Ong mentioned something about about "functional" literacy" and "dysfunctional" literacy. As Ong described the two types of literacy, I see there is a lack of functional literacy. There is such dictation over who can or cannot be functional at literacy. So once again, literacy cannot be considered neutral or an independent variable. Literacy is not only used as a door of opportunity to freedom but also to control the population as how they function in the society. Lankshear and Ong focuses on literacy in term of reading and writing, but I also see literacy as a tool, a technology, especially nowadays. It is different from the oral traditions and what Plato has argued about writing. Literacy goes a little bit further now. We need to begin to be more open minded about literacy, as the essentials broadens that links to literacy.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Response to Mona's post
I think literacy is concept that has no one set definition and that will continue to be interpreted differently by individuals. I do think there is a difference between being literate and illiterate. To me being literate, is knowing how to read, write, interpret and understand text and language. Being illiterate is not knowing how to do any of those things and not being able to comprehend what it entails. I do think by reading and understanding the different writers works, we can grasp a better understanding of what it means to be literate and what literacy is.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
My Understanding of Literacy
The word "literacy" can be such a broad word, and have many different meanings depending on the individuals. A broad meaning of literacy as everyone would know it, the ability to read and write. A person like me who has an interest for literacy and not just literacy but what literacy can do for other people. For me, the meaning of literacy goes a little deeper than the broad meaning of the word, it also means the comprehension of formal literature and writing. But because I have a certain interest for literacy, I have appreciation for literature and studying the elegance of literature. Therefore literacy may mean having your own definition depending on how you view literacy based on your experience with literature. Everyone has their own relationship with literature and has their own personal likes of literature. The past few years as a student, and studying literature, there is literacy in each and every one of the literature I have encountered (obviously). I have seen different meanings of literacy every time I encounter a literature. Each author has their own definition of literacy as we can see closely in their beautiful writings. So I conclude that the definition of literacy varies and lies within the written or spoken words, and the words are the expression of a view. Those words and expressions is what makes up of what we would call it, literacy, and that is what makes it so complex for all of us to sit down together and try to conclude to only one definition for literacy.
Unfortunately, not everyone has a appreciation for literature, therefore they do not have their own definition of literacy which I think is one of the important accomplishments every student needs to have by the time they finish high school: to have a definition and a relationship with literacy. Not everyone will enjoy literacy/literature, but at least they should have a good amount of knowledge toknow enough they do not like literacy and to have the ability to have a perspective on it just like anyone else. It would definitely help them in their future especially when they go to college, not just in an English class but any class that consists of reading and writing. At age fifteen, I transferred to California School for the Deaf, Riverside, coming from a public high school with Honors and Advance Preparation classes, to classes with many students who are behind in their education. Especially in the area of literature. It saddened me to see that many of my peers did not have the amount of vocabulary they should have, or even at the reading level they should be at. I was the only one who was actually ahead in my education, and there were a few that were on track on theirs. After spending one year in the classrooms with these wonderful, intelligent, brilliant peers, I have grown a passion for literature and the comprehension of literacy. But this passion was not just for me, but when I had finally decided at age 15 I wanted to be a teacher, the passion was also for the deaf students I would teach one day. I want them to have an ability to read and write at a level that can allow them to stretch their opportunities in the future and not just two colleges: Gallaudet University and National Institution of Technology for the Deaf. I also want my students to have a relationship whether it is a positive or a negative one, with literacy. And most of all, I want to allow my students to explore their analytical skills and establish their own definition of literacy based on their experience of learning all about literacy rather than us telling them what to think about literacy. I believe by having them think of what they really think about literacy based on the given information about literacy, it will allow them to comprehend literacy much greater than us as teachers telling them what literacy means. Literacy is such a broad and/or complex word that I strongly believe there is no one true definition for literacy. I would prove that to anyone, including my students by looking closely to the authors that many of us study, the writings many of us studies and best of all, rereading all the papers we wrote over the years, it would definitely show a change in perspectives. Even simply looking over someone else’s paper based on the same topic as yours would be slightly different than yours because the perception is different. No individual is the same, therefore no definition of literacy would be the same just as no relationship with literacy would be the same. Just maybe, this method of teaching and encouragement will allow room for possibilities of young students to gain interest for literacy and if that happens, our education system would be in a much better place. After all, literacy, is in existence of every spoken or written word, and words lie in every subject, matter, relationship, and book.
Unfortunately, not everyone has a appreciation for literature, therefore they do not have their own definition of literacy which I think is one of the important accomplishments every student needs to have by the time they finish high school: to have a definition and a relationship with literacy. Not everyone will enjoy literacy/literature, but at least they should have a good amount of knowledge toknow enough they do not like literacy and to have the ability to have a perspective on it just like anyone else. It would definitely help them in their future especially when they go to college, not just in an English class but any class that consists of reading and writing. At age fifteen, I transferred to California School for the Deaf, Riverside, coming from a public high school with Honors and Advance Preparation classes, to classes with many students who are behind in their education. Especially in the area of literature. It saddened me to see that many of my peers did not have the amount of vocabulary they should have, or even at the reading level they should be at. I was the only one who was actually ahead in my education, and there were a few that were on track on theirs. After spending one year in the classrooms with these wonderful, intelligent, brilliant peers, I have grown a passion for literature and the comprehension of literacy. But this passion was not just for me, but when I had finally decided at age 15 I wanted to be a teacher, the passion was also for the deaf students I would teach one day. I want them to have an ability to read and write at a level that can allow them to stretch their opportunities in the future and not just two colleges: Gallaudet University and National Institution of Technology for the Deaf. I also want my students to have a relationship whether it is a positive or a negative one, with literacy. And most of all, I want to allow my students to explore their analytical skills and establish their own definition of literacy based on their experience of learning all about literacy rather than us telling them what to think about literacy. I believe by having them think of what they really think about literacy based on the given information about literacy, it will allow them to comprehend literacy much greater than us as teachers telling them what literacy means. Literacy is such a broad and/or complex word that I strongly believe there is no one true definition for literacy. I would prove that to anyone, including my students by looking closely to the authors that many of us study, the writings many of us studies and best of all, rereading all the papers we wrote over the years, it would definitely show a change in perspectives. Even simply looking over someone else’s paper based on the same topic as yours would be slightly different than yours because the perception is different. No individual is the same, therefore no definition of literacy would be the same just as no relationship with literacy would be the same. Just maybe, this method of teaching and encouragement will allow room for possibilities of young students to gain interest for literacy and if that happens, our education system would be in a much better place. After all, literacy, is in existence of every spoken or written word, and words lie in every subject, matter, relationship, and book.
The Self-Realization of Illiteracy
In a nutshell (a very small nutshell), having literacy means a person is capable of effectively communicating with another person. Back when I was in junior high, one of our assignments for writing proficiency was to write an essay on what it means to be literate. I was only about 12, or 13 so the topic of my paper was “People that know how to read are literate. People that can’t read will not be successful in life.”
Fast forward 10+ years, and literacy has taken all different kinds of meanings. It is no longer specifically applied to reading, but there can also be mathematical, computer, cultural, technological, as well as many other types of literacy. You’re computer literate if you know how to use the machine. Culturally literate means you know a little something about your and other’s cultures. Being mathematically literate is probably one of the most complex forms of literacy known to me. I’d say I’m a pretty “literate” individual. I haven’t encountered a person that I couldn’t communicate with. Nor have I been unable to accomplish a task because I didn’t have the proper literacy for whatever it was that I was doing. Mathematical literacy is another thing though.I thought I was smart until I had to take the same math class like 10 times.
With that being said, am I really literate? Am I really a whole literate person or am I just partially literate? I never thought about it until now and I must say that it is very disappointing. Before being posed the question of literacy, I thought I was at the top of the pyramid since I was on my way to be a college graduate as an English major. I may be literate in a few aspects of the word, but I am not nearly as literate as I could be. There are so many different areas to be literate or illiterate in and I bet most people in this class are on the same side of literacy as I am: the losing side.
Just because we know how to read and write and all of that, big deal? Don’t you want to know more than just that taught skill? I know I do. Literacy isn’t just limited to inside the classroom and reading words. Therefore I will publicly declare myself as an illiterate person in regard to the real and outside world. Will I ever become fully literate? I don’t know. I am going to try though.
P.S. Thank you, Dr. B for helping me realize just how much I don’t know. =)
Fast forward 10+ years, and literacy has taken all different kinds of meanings. It is no longer specifically applied to reading, but there can also be mathematical, computer, cultural, technological, as well as many other types of literacy. You’re computer literate if you know how to use the machine. Culturally literate means you know a little something about your and other’s cultures. Being mathematically literate is probably one of the most complex forms of literacy known to me. I’d say I’m a pretty “literate” individual. I haven’t encountered a person that I couldn’t communicate with. Nor have I been unable to accomplish a task because I didn’t have the proper literacy for whatever it was that I was doing. Mathematical literacy is another thing though.I thought I was smart until I had to take the same math class like 10 times.
With that being said, am I really literate? Am I really a whole literate person or am I just partially literate? I never thought about it until now and I must say that it is very disappointing. Before being posed the question of literacy, I thought I was at the top of the pyramid since I was on my way to be a college graduate as an English major. I may be literate in a few aspects of the word, but I am not nearly as literate as I could be. There are so many different areas to be literate or illiterate in and I bet most people in this class are on the same side of literacy as I am: the losing side.
Just because we know how to read and write and all of that, big deal? Don’t you want to know more than just that taught skill? I know I do. Literacy isn’t just limited to inside the classroom and reading words. Therefore I will publicly declare myself as an illiterate person in regard to the real and outside world. Will I ever become fully literate? I don’t know. I am going to try though.
P.S. Thank you, Dr. B for helping me realize just how much I don’t know. =)
Thursday, October 1, 2009
What literacy means to me
The definition of literacy is a diffficult one to answer. When the word literacy comes to mind I think of it first in basic terms of just being able to read, but I know it contains more elements of being just able to read. In my mind literacy as a whole defines the relationship that people have with literature.
Literacy as a whole means the relationship with different types of literture and how well people can comprehend them. There is the basic standard of literacy which would be reading. Then the next step would be how well the reader could comprehend what is being read.Understanding the words writen and know most of their meaning. After that it would be how well the reader could analyze the text. The next step from there would be if the writer could then analye the text well enough to point out anomilies, binaries,patterns, strands, and any repitition that the literature being read may have. After the interpataion of readint and understading the literature one should be able to write about it.
When writing on the literature the reader should be able to communicate clear deciseive thoughts about the text that isint already spelled out in the literature. With a sharp focused analytical claim. This shows that the reader understood the literature and is capable of translating it to others without retelling the literature that has already been read.
When I become a teacher I would like to help my students understand literacy by first expossing them to different literature. Then I would like to teach them how to write different types of literature as well. In my senior year I had a teacher who took us outside and made us describe the clouds. This had an impact on my life as a student because it was unexpected, and then it was special because it tought me how to describe a physical object in text formation. After this experience I was deeply impressed wih my teacher and knew that I wanted to give my students positive learning experiences. It didn’t cost her any money we didn’t have to leave the campus and we got out of the classroom away from the desk the chalkboards and set my mind free to look at the clouds and really describe them the way I needed to.
In my own classroom I would like to take away some of the standard student teacher relationship. I always wonderd how the teachers got addressed as mr or ms so and so but the students always are called by first names. I know it has something to do with respect but I think that in a student eacher relationship it should go both ways. I see myself havin a very positve relationship with a majority of my students where they want to learn from me as well as having to.
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