To be literacy literate

As an English teacher, I assumed I knew the definition of literacy.  I studied literature, written literary analyses, and even written analyses of Brazilian literature and I still lacked a full understanding.  Through my university classes, I mainly studied the written word.  Through the lens of a fuller understanding of literacy, I realize many of my classes lacked the well-rounded approach.  Well instructed classes could have become amazingly instructed classes with implementation with one or two of the methods I learned.  This may come off as hyperbole, but I believe it.  Having trained in the corporate world, I have seen the difference between mediocre, good, and amazing instruction.  Competence in tasks increases exponentially when a teacher applies amazing instruction.  As a teacher, I receive an obligation to use whatever methods to foster and ensure learning.

            Within the realm of critical literacy, I felt I had it made.  I have a few years on my peers within the education sphere.  Those several years of life experience could go to waste if I only rely on that lens.  To fully help students develop that critical eye towards the world, I must structure lessons that not only encourage or foster critical literacy.  Something I feel I will need to continually learn.  One idea uses world literature to create a focal point to discover multiple perspectives.  Take the graphic novel, Persepolis, and then use multiple other texts to create an environment for critical literacy. 

Once the students read the graphic novel, find articles, news reports, etc. about the contemporary history of Iran.  I looked at other lesson plans about Persepolis on the internet and found many lesson plans that really delved into the novel with graphic organizers and vocabulary tests, but I only found a few that implemented the use of multiple texts. As a teacher, I would need to help the students seek out materials that give various perspectives such as American, Middle Eastern, Iranian, outside the US.  Once several texts have been researched, the students could construct graphic organizers which talk the materials and organize them in credible vs. non-credible or biased.   With this many texts collected from different perspectives, a plethora of new vocabulary would exist providing a new for vocabulary instruction.  Students could form a word wall with the new vocabulary.  Each word they do not understand could be placed on the wall with the perceived definition granted from the context.  Another form of critical literacy could be discussed; did these words exist before the Iranian revolution in the American English vocabulary.  The students could do a podcast with opinions and perceptions of Iran before the lesson and then do a podcast after the lesson.  They then could compare the two podcasts and discuss what changed in their perceptions.  What fostered the changes of opinion and perspectives?  The students could then branch out and interview their families, friends, people in the community, religious leaders, and so on to see what opinions and perspectives.  They could then do a third podcast combining their changed or unchanged opinions and perspectives combined with the opinions and perspectives of the people they interviewed.  

These ideas would push the students to form an opinion perhaps foreign to them before the lesson.  The students could then look at the world around them with a deeper sense of evaluation or a critical literacy that forms an ability to create an individual opinion based on careful thought, research, and reflection.  I feel I could continue on and on with each lesson.  No lesson should exist in a vacuum.  It should push and pull and stretch the limits of the students' understanding.  I might not teach the next Hemingway, but I can help each student to become literate in the traditional sense and the sense of understanding fully the world around them. To become literacy literate, I must find the multiple perspectives from multiple genres and sources.  Maybe then I can start to scratch the surface of what it means to be literate and how to teach it.

            

First Foray into Podcasting

     As my first foray into podcasts, I took one of my writings from a Creative Non-Fiction Writing class at Utah State, downloaded some free software to record, and dug around in my electronics drawer for my old gaming microphone.  I found recording a podcast fairly simple and the Audacity software easy to use.  The whole process from finding my original work to final recording took a total of thirty minutes.  Now I have had many years of public speaking so recording a podcast came with relative ease.  A student encountering this for the first time might need to practice several times to get it just right.

     As a first endeavor into podcasts for my students, I would offer options of podcasting a published poem, short story, or they could podcast an original work.  Whichever option they choose, the podcast could exist as bridge into public speaking, a fear of many students.  As I recorded my own podcast, I thought through what this might represent for a student in one of my future English classes.  The shy student could use a podcast as a surrogate way to speak aloud in class for the first time.  The student who always clamors for attention could find a penchant for dramatic readings.  The potential of using podcasts counterbalances the pitfalls such as access to software and equipment.  This could be alleviated with access to computer lab which has its own of scheduling.  Managing a classroom of forty students with technical issues could present a nightmare.  A student might completely refuse to do the assignment out of fear.  Another student might use the opportunity to record something obscene and vulgar.  Designing a structured lesson around the podcast would be key to avoid many of these pitfalls.  I would need to allow time for the students to practice with each other or in front of a mirror at home.  I also just realized I would possibly need to allow certain students to do this at home instead of in the computer lab due to disabilities or extreme shyness.

     Besides podcasts, students could build a digital story using an animation website and use a recording of their own voice.  Using Youtube, students could build a slideshow of images and do a recording of a poem and short story to go with images to upload to Youtube.  They could also set some music in the background of their uploaded Youtube reading.  They could construct a reenactment of a scene from a play, book, or poem, record it and upload to Youtube as well.  With simple video editing software, amazing things can be done with minimal effort.  All these could help students engage with the text in a more interactive way than I did in English class.  The technology I encountered twenty-five years ago was a recording of Romeo and Juliet playing on a record player while the class read along.

     I think I could use technology to help guide students through the process of using digital text.  I could direct them to websites or Youtube videos that demonstrate the process.  I could build my videos or screencasts to illustrate the objectives of the project.  I think I would grade mainly on participation and effort because I have seen even with my own kids that a well-defined project can motivate students to engage in the work without realizing they are doing "homework."  As far as a final evaluation of their project, I would build a rubric centered around creativity and engagement with the work.  If I built a rubric with way too many particulars, it could destroy enthusiasm for the project so keeping it as simple as possible would be key to ultimate success.

The Voracious Reader vs. The Haters of Reading

Before I came back to school, I would put myself up on that high pedestal as a good reader.  Now, I realize I belonged on one of the bottom rungs.  My reading style consisted of skimming and skipping along to the "good parts."  I missed the nuances, word play, and even flaws the authors left scattered throughout their novels.  I read articles missing the bias and the statistics without meaning.  Through life experience and classroom work, I now peer, ponder, and peruse the text, subtext, inferences, metaphors, allusions, on and on of even a shampoo bottle or a magazine advertisement.  I am a "decent reader" in my current state progressing towards "good" and hoping for "great."  As a boy, I read all the science fiction I could find such as Isaac Asimov, Ray Bradbury, and Arthur C. Clarke.  I rarely leapt out of the Scifi realm except for the occasional classic such as To Kill A Mockingbird or Dante's Inferno.  I also read encyclopedias.  No internet existed for me until after high school so I devoured all could of my family's Encyclopedia Britanica.  My mother even relates stories of me passing up playing with friends to finish an exciting part of "L."  As I grew into a teenager, I started to read other books that challenged me in one or another such as Mein Kampf or the philosophies of Nietzsche.  Information and fictional adventure became as sweet as honey and as essential as water.  My parents always pushed me towards finding my own answers mainly I think because they became tired of all my questions and so established my voracious appetite.  Even those who would thwart my reading like the local librarian who told me I was too young at 10 years old to read The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy inspired my reading (I read all four books in the span of four weeks and then slammed all four books on her desk BEFORE the due date).  Not really a short answer.  I think that comes from reading too much Tolkien.

Now I arrive at the hard part.  How do I foster the climate of reading enjoyment in my classroom?  I never really had to try so I have to understand students that hate reading.  I think I must first find the passion of each student.  What drives and motivates them?  I can look at incorporate texts that tap into that passion.  I also must bring books to life.  If I am ready to make a fool out of myself to dramatize and inject a novel, article, informational text, poem, etc. with passion and vigor then I succeed.  No lesson plans especially in English can be "throwaways," so there must always exist reading whether it be a novel passage, a quote, another peer's work, interpretations of digital media, graphic novels, the list continues forever.  I must look for that specific type of text that speaks to that student and show anyone can be a reader.  Maybe the text might be the lastest specs for the World of Warcraft expansion or a text discussing whether Lebron or Jordan are the greatest basketball players of all time.  The text might laud the latest fashion trend or review different types of snowboards.  Texts do not only exist in the classics.  With the advent of the internet, each student has access to their passion and I must be a smart enough teacher to find out how to tap into that well.

Making the Connections

As an English teacher, I could easily fall into a pattern of doing the standard or conventional types of writing assessments.  "Write what you did over summer vacation...write about a family vacation...what did you learn from a sad experience..."  Though these conventional writing prompts have merit, a pattern of writing could be established that does not challenge a student's abilities or critical thinking skills.  Pulling in and utilizing different modalities allows the teacher to stretch the confines of a student's thought process.  Instead of writing an research paper, a student could film a re-enacted scene from the play or novel.  Another student could use their talent in art and paint a scene depicted in Les Miserables.  A student with a proficiency in technology and machines could  construct a device which demonstrates a concept or theme from The Jungle.  Using these type of genre and discipline breaking assessments tells students they relate their interests and talents to reading and writing achieving the same level of comprehension as the naturally-gifted readers and writers in the class.  Trying to encourage students to read presents an ever present battle for English teachers.  Presenting an option for connection to literature other than the English teaching conventions ropes that student into reading not only for enjoyment, but also for the collection of knowledge.

Me...A Writer?

     I have thought of myself as a writer since a snowy day in my high school sophomore English class and had my first real writing experience.  I looked out the window and wrote a ten line poem on snow.  The traditional style teacher, Mrs. Gummersall, lauded my effort in front of the class which embarrassed me thoroughly at the time, but became a catalyst for self-expression through poetry.  I have reread my poetry from that time and I laugh at how angry and vitriolic to which my writing evolved by my senior (strangely coinciding with the advent of grunge.)
      From my early days of writing poetry to now, where I have branched out into creative non-fiction writing, I relish expressing my emotions through an intricate balance of metaphor, sentence structure, and verbiage.  My foray into creative non-fiction writing began during the summer when I took an accelerated course focusing on the genre.  Each paper I wrote spilled onto the paper as I dug up memories buried and forgotten.  I trudged up old hurts and heartbreaks dusting them off for public fodder while I feverishly allowed sincere emotions to fill the pages.
      In an odd way, my least favorite writing assignments – the dreaded literary analysis – created and honed my writing skills more than any other genre could.  I had to be clear.   I had to be exacting and efficient in word usage.  I despised each paragraph and still cringe when I know I must push out one of these monsters.  Still, the challenge created an honest tinge to my writing that would not have existed without that tortuous exercise.  It helped chisel my voice and my style.
      What will this do for me teaching English?  I will not be afraid to set up challenging writing assignments for my students.  I will come from a very honest place when I tell them how each assignment can hone their writing skills for whatever profession or trade they decide to pursue.

Introduction

Three and a half years ago, I sat staring at a computer screen  full of spreadsheets and emails waiting to be read.  Each task I completed irritated me more and more.  I did not know why until...I realized that I hated my job.  I had left a job as a trainer which I loved for a promotion as a training manager which offered more money.  Once I found that I hated being a manager, I stepped down and went back to being a trainer.  I then  went one step further and returned back to finish my degree at the age of 36.  I now try to stay sane while going to school full time, working full time, and being a father and husband full time.

Once I decided to return to school, I immediately decided on becoming a high school English teacher.  I love to teach.  I realized all I wanted was the challenge of a classroom teaching the subject where I feel the most comfortable.  Not only that, but I feel from English so many other critical skills can be developed that even those that do not intend to go to college can use in their daily lives or future careers.  Being able to express yourself clearing and distinctly can be useful and most of the time essential in any profession.

I could define literacy in a very traditional way as an English teacher, but I see literacy as not only reading a book and spouting off knowledge written or orally.  Literacy also means viewing what is read from different perspectives.  Literacy means viewing a painting, a movie, a real-life interaction and interpret and analyze those observations from critical perspective to understand the reasoning of the whys, hows, and what nows.  Literacy builds on the foundation of knowledge and using that knowledge to interpret situations with a defined critical eye built from personal experience and exposure to a variety of media.


I seek new ways to engage the student in an English classroom mixing conventional and innovative techniques  for a unique student experience.


When I am not up late into the night thinking about education issues, I destress from my hectic life by watching movies and reading incessantly.  I also love sitting down with my wife and watching our two favorite TV series, Downton Abbey and The Walking Dead.  When the weather permits in Logan, I hike, backpack, and camp with my family.