Literacies involved in teaching your content area

It is not so much that I didn't think about literacies involved in teaching my content prior to taking LAI 552, it's that I wasn't taught to think about or incorporate those literacies. I don't mean to point fingers or put the blame on someone else, but I can't help but wonder why I wasn't directly exposed to this whole concept of "literacies." Obviously I have known about Pokemon, video games, poetry and other literacies that students choose to participate in outside of school, but I never thought to look at them in that way or from that perspective. Three years in undergrad, and 1/2 of that spent student teaching, I was never explcitly taught to look at students literacies critically. Video games were evil and technology was bad- as evidenced in the blockage of every single sight on school computers in the classrooms (hardly effective though as students usually knew how to get around them). Students' extra curricular activities was "just what they did outside of school" with the whole ideology of why bring it into school. This is school, school is for learning, learning is not fun, learning is passing standardized tests. I was actually told once never to say "fun" in an interview because fun does not equal learning. My student teaching supervisor seriously told me that when we met up once after she watched me teach a lesson. I agree to some degree that it's not all about fun and games- but perhaps would it be more meaningful if it was? I tend to learn a lot when I am having fun doing something I enjoy. Common Sense? I think so. People go fishing because they think it is fun. If they didn't like fishing, they probably wouldn't go fishing. If I am not interested in fishing am I going to want to go fishing? No. If I am not interested in school, am I going to want to go to school? No. Which brings me to my next point. How do you make school fun and interesting? Two words: meaningful and relevant.


Meaningful and relevant two words so commonly tossed around and over used by any up and coming teacher. Coined the buzz words that are likely to make you sound smart in an interview. I am guilty of using these words probably too much but it wasn't until this class that I really began to understand what meaningful and relevant really were. I mean of course I know what they mean but I never forced myself deeper into their definitions or asked myself what does it really mean to be relevant or meaningful? I did it! I really did it! I forced myself to look at it more critically. I'm glad I did.

"According to Pew Internet Study (2005) adolescents today are less interested in school than any previous generation." At first glance, this is no shocker. With the rate at which technology is evolving and creeping up into everything in society- even your banking can be done via your cell phone- schools simply can not afford to keep up. From my point of view, it's costly to update every technological piece of equipment and to have each and every school be fully equipped with the latest gadgets. Futhermore, it is probably increasingly difficult to train and retrain the educators in a school district so that they are familiar with and comfrotable with using technology so much so that they can teach it to others, likely their students. The truth of the matter is that younger students are better able and better prepared to use technology than many of the adults. The only problem here is that some teacher are not too fond of their students teaching them and feel threatened when their students know more about something than they do (this is true, not all the time, but more often than not). When teachers feel that threat and therefore no longer feel in control- they begin to view technology as being evil. They claim it is corrupting the minds of young children and the reason for so many behavioral problems as students can no longer focus becuase their brains are so used to the instant stimulation brought about by video games and their flashing colors, rapid movements, and noise. The problem snowballs when the students catch on, are upset because they can not watch the latest podcast online or skype their friends while sitting across from them in the classroom. Cell phones have been confiscated too and mom refuses to pick it up until next week as punishment for not behaving in school. The end result? Students grabble with the computer, figure out away to get around the blocks and perhaps even tamper with a few files- essentially deeping the hurt on behalf of the teacher and racking up some more after school hours spent in detention.

Classic scenario. The solution- critical literacy and the teaching of critical literacy skills. How so? With popular culture and other student literacies.

How will I critically engage students inside of my classroom?
I plan to engage my students and get them interested in school, not so much school but interested in learning. I plan to do this by making any and all activities relevant and meaningful. This is done by taking into account student interests (Schultz & Hall, 2002). Some hypothetical situations consist of using Pokemon to teach math and science. How so? By teaching adding and subtracting, multiplying and dividing through using Pokemon character powers. Teaching science by relating Pokemon cards to the same ideas in science- water and electricity do not mix. Having struggling writers rewrite Pokemon cards and recreate the characters. Teaching browsing skills and researching skills through the use of Pokemon, strategy, problem solving, the list can go on and on. It is about using the students' interest to guide your instruction because if it is something they are already interested it, it is something they are going to gravitate towards. I think it was mentioned in class that students, in a study I believe to be conducted by Gee, were not able to name the 26 letters of the alphabet but could accurately recall Pokemon characters. What does this prove? This proves that when students are interested and when it is something they can relate to, they are more likely to learn it. Honestly, what relevance do letters out of context have to a three year old in Pre-school? And you honestly wonder why it takes the whole year to teach 26 letters?

The saddest part/ the most frustrating part is when you tell people this and they look at you like you are crazy. It is almost like some teachers want their students to fail. Make it meaningful? No way. Use Pokemon? I don't have time for that. I think some just don't want to believe there is a solution other than medication or special ed diagnosis.

It really is all about making it meaningful and by making it meaningful and relevant to students you are able to bridge that gap between "out-of-school" and "in-school" literacy because it gives the students a sense of purpose and validates school in their eyes and lets them know that you care about their interests and what they do out of school. That is my responsibility. As a teacher that is what I owe my students. Teaching is about teaching not torturing. Showing students how to look at things and relate it back to their lives and daily interests.

I would say I have to agree with the Pew findings. I do not think it is necessarily a competition with the "attention economy." I think "attention economy" just alludes to the fact that youth are presented with informatin so differently now than in the past. Practically everything is multimodal and technologically based. They are used to getting instant feedback- whether it be communicating with someone online, leaving someone a message on facebook, skying grandma 500 miles away, signing up for classes online, submitting homework online, participating in class discussions online, shopping online, watching the news online, walking their virtual dog online, paying the bills via cell phone, etc. You no longer have to ineract with people in a face to face manner. You can rent movies on the television you no longer have to drive and rent one. Believe it or not the world is rapidly changing and things are drastically different today than they were when I was younger which was only 21 years ago. That is scary. There is this "go, go, go" mentality and students are multitasking- listening to music, making a imovie, and facebooking their friend while texting their mother downstairs and ordering their new shoes online. And they do not like the shoes so they are leaving a suggestion for Nike on their website, so they have know also become co-creators. With all of this going on, it is no wonder students are not interested in school. School is apparently the last thing to change. It is still, for the most part, traditional. How many times have you walked into a classroom and witnessed rows of desks and tables? A nice classroom is considered nice because it has a tube tv..now really? Unfortunately school has not been able to keep up with the time and the changes. The scariest part of all, is that educators are preparing students for a future we know nothing about. How exactly do you teach a child skills when you do not know the skills they will need in 15 years? Suddenly it is no longer about states and capitals rather seeking out information, sifting through it and critically examining it to see what is true and what is not and then using that information (Pailliotet, et al., 2000). It is all about teaching students how to use the technology in a safe and effective way so that they can succeed later on. I mean I do not even think a computer is a technology anymore beacuse so many people have them and are born into a household that has one or more so they just assume it's a given, like I assumed a microwave and television were a given.

I think that the generations are so different. Like I said even twenty years ago things were so different. I did not have a television in my room growing up, I didn't have a cell phone until high school and an ipod until college. Now it seems like a lot of children grow up with technology that was not even necessarily in the majority when I was younger. I rarely used the computer in elementary school and hardly ever typed assignments on it until late in high school and in college. Now it seems like all classrooms have a computer or two for students to use.

This also plays into the horizontal and vertical accumulation of literacy. In my life alone, literacy has accumulated horizontally simply because I actually had a typewritter in my house growing up and I actually used to type on it. From the type writter came a huge computer then to a smaller desk top with a flat screen to a lap top with a drawing board attached and even wireless printers. I grew up using film in my camera and now it is all about memory cards on your digital camera. Can you even buy film anymore? It really is all just the changing ways of how we do things (Brandt, 1995). I had a cell phone that did not have texting in high school, then I got texting but only had 100 texts a month and no, only 4 years later I have unlimited texting, I can send pictures, check my email, download songs, pay bills, capture video, etc. I have experienced the evolution of the cell phone and camera within like ten years. This obviously affects my teaching and the role of literacies because these are the literacies that my students will have accumulated as well. It is just that there literacies will probably be completely different as their literacies may not have even been invented yet. Whatever they are, they will be important because they are what my students are going to be familiar with and what they have an interest in. As far as vertically, I think that the change in skill level is crazy. I know dad runs a successful business and has very little knowledge of how to use a computer- but he can get away with it. Now, it would never exist. If you do not have some computer skills than what use are you? No college degree? You are dampering your chances of a career in life. Are exceptions, of course, but is an advanced college degree becoming the norm? Absolutely. And that was not always the expectation.