Why is literacy important for students?

Literacy (education) provides the foundation for learning of other subject matters to occur. Literacy is a combination of elements, which are, both, teachable and naturally acquired. Within the earlier stages of a child’s life, literacy is, primarily, acquired. While parents of infants and toddlers may make a conscious effort to teach their children ways of communicating and recognizing particular symbols, essentially, children learn naturally. They learn through their observation of more literate individuals interact within their natural environment. They also learn through daily interaction with their peers and those who are older than they are.

Literacy is important for the sole purpose of communicating, whether it be verbally or written communication. Human beings need the opportunity to communicate and students of literacy (at any level) should be nutrtured.

Why do you teach literacy?

I teach literacy because it is something I am genuinely passionate about. I am the type of person who cannot fully devote myself to something that my heart is not in and literacy education has my heart. Upon beginning my coursework during the Fall of 2012, I was required to do a case study for a particular class. I elected to use my cousin who was between sixteen and nineteen months at the time of the study. The assignment allowed me the opportunity to observe her from a different perspective. I was able to view her from the perspective of a researcher and future literacy specialist. She was the subject of my research and it was so interesting to study her in contrast to that which was in my textbooks and articles I have read.

This experience provided me with a consciousness, an awareness I would not have had had I been simply a general education teacher possessing only limited knowledge of each content area. In terms of writing, I learned what is considered average as far as strokes on paper. I also learned what is acceptable in terms of speaking (mean length utterance). I also learned the importance of talking to small children.

Furthermore, having taught pre-k for the past two years, while taking graduate classes for one, I was able to gain a lot of insight into my practices, During my second semester, I took “Teaching Writing” and “Children’s Literature.” Prior to taking both courses, I had preconceived notions about how beneficial or non-beneficial they could be at the stage I was in, in my career. I thought “teaching writing” would pertain to the penmanship practicing, which occurred in my classroom. I was wrong as it pertained, more so to the children transferring their thoughts onto paper to the best of their ability. After all, this is essentially what writing is. As I implemented writer’s workshop in my classroom, much learning took place for myself as the teacher and facilitator as well as for the students. I learned about their perceptions of reading and writing and the need for both. WHile they learned that what they had to say actually mattered, as did their thoughts. Value was added to their thoughts as they were recording them onto paper. The value was further perpetuated when they were able to share their, now visual, thoughts with their peers.

My “Children’s Literature” course deepened my love for (children and adult) literature. During my first year in pre-k, I tried not to surround all of my lessons around literature, as it felt wrong to me. I felt as though a lesson should not be substituted for a book. Again, I was proven wrong. I was not substituting my lessons, simply supplementing, instead. A great deal of valuable information is contained in bodies of literature. Sometimes, the information is presented in a manner, which is far more intriguing to children than a teacher speaking about it. The ability to intertwine fiction and non-fiction texts while pairing them with activities and sparks of creativity from the teacher provide for a much richer learning experience versus if only one of these were used.

Ultimately, I teach literacy because I love it! I love learning about it and practically applying it in my classroom. I love observing children interact with it and blossom into more literate beings, I also love the fact that it is relevant to my personal life experiences.

I teach literacy because I have developed an understanding its significance in the life of a young learner.

How do you put your beliefs into action?

As a teacher of preschool children, I had not initially realized the importance of children expressing themselves through art. After intertwining my studies with my, in classroom practices, I, now, value children’s artwork. The artwork alone isn’t of great significance; it is the artwork coupled with the caption. What my students have to say about pictures they have drawn is what I value. Whether they are responding to literature, drawing upon personal experiences or simply recalling images from their imagination, they are important and should be treated as such.

Prior to beginning my coursework, there were certain things I deemed to be of less importance because, in my opinion they were “over my students’ heads.” It was not likely that they would grasp the concepts being taught. Boy, was I wrong. What I’ve learned is that students should be exposed to labeled classrooms, as they will gain understanding that print conveys meaning. By them seeing print displayed throughout the classroom and by me further emphasizing it for them, they will understand the importance of signs. Even if they cannot read the words, they may still be able to identify them by the objects, which they are attached to.

Furthermore, I would inconsistently teach book-handling skills, as it seemed to go through one ear and out of the other. Once I began to teach it intently, I started to notice that I was wrong. The students valued what I said about holding a book, reading from left to right and noticing the author and illustrator’s names. I’m sure that they were picking these things up because when I observed them pretending to be a the teacher amongst their peers, they regurgitated most of the information I repeatedly told them. (It’s always nice to know that your teaching is not done in vain.)

Also, morning messages are something I have always done simply because I like them. What I have come to learn about morning messages is if they are treated as a shared writing exercise, its more inclusive and could possibly provide for a richer learning experience. Students are able to see the conventions of written language (from left to right). They are also able to recognize individual words in contrast to the entire body of text, as children often perceive text as a block of words; as a whole, as opposed to individual words making up a body of text.

Something else I have done was constantly encouraged parents of how important it is to read to their children. Again, this is something I have practiced more out of habit, than any background knowledge or scientific explanation. Now, possessing the knowledge that I do, my reason for strongly encouraging parents to read to their children is because the goal is to transform these little lovers of learning into ones who are literate beings.

Looking backwards

I have found it quite interesting that there was a common thread across the two course I took during the first semester and there was also a common thread between the courses I took during my second semester.

The two courses I took during my first semester, ECC 704 and EDLIT 735, were both research based. The first course was based on research durign the earliest developmental years and moments of a child’s life, whereas the second course involved research of older children in a classroom setting intertwined with teaching practices. For the first course, we (my classmates and I) were required to use our research materials, textbooks and articles to observe a child under the age of five. We had to create activities based on what we learned, and implement them into our case study. Between this and research, I was able to view young children with a different lense. I allowed my research to inform my prior knowledge and future approach with children of this age group.

For my second course, our research tools were ones used in the NYCDOE. We used rubrics and frameworks which administrators use to “grade” their teachers. We, initially, delved into the information. After discussing it in class and doing presentations on it, we were expected to go into a classroom of choice (K-12) to observe whether or not teachers were following the guidelines that we were, now, well versed in. Essentially, we were grading the teachers on their presentation of lessons, content area knowledge and how engaged students were. Just as the other course shifted my lense, my lense was shifted here, as I became more conscious of my own teaching practices and how closely they did or did not align with what I was learning.

During my second semester, I took a Children's Literature course and Teaching Writing.The obvious common thread among these two is simply, in order to be a good writer, one should have probably been a good reader, The two go hand in hand and anyone who is well versed in their craft, whatever it may be, understands that a significant amount of studying of the craft is required to excel.

In “Teaching Writing,” I learned how to be a teacher of writing in a pre-kindergarten classroom. This is, as I have previously mentioned, not something I ever really considered. My ignorance about “writing” in prekindergarten paired with my willingness to learn provided for a great deal of learning to take place for me as an educator. As a student, this class certainly stretched my writing abilities and reminded me of why I, once, fell in love with writing.

In “Children’s Literature,” I was exposed to a wealth of books from a wide array of genres. This class enlightened me to the many ays of previewing books for a class, incorporating books into the curriculum, responding to books and, overall, getting children excited about literature. Like writing, I was reminded of what draws me to books; what intrigues me most about literature. The fact that I can turn pages and get completely lost in the life of someone else is what I love, and as an educator, this is one of my most valuable wishes for my students; that they, too, would be able to jump into someone else’s world and easily forget it is just a book.

I appreciate the fact that I was able to take these courses within the same semester because my writing course placed emphasis on utilizing mentor texts while teaching writing. Although we were provided with a multitude of examples, Children’s Literature, allowed me the opportunity to explore more and determine perfect mentor text examples on my own. In both courses, we analyzed bodies of text. Although they were for different purposes, there was reason to intertwine the knowledge learned.

The common thread among all four of my courses is my ability to apply all that I have learned to my teaching. While in undergrad, the information I learned could only be applied sparingly, as I did not possess a class of my own. I was evaluated based on how well I applied my knowledge. The evaluation was tucked away and I was on to the next lesson in being a teacher. Currently, I evaluate myself based on my studies and utilize my findings as means for improvement. There has certainly existed a period of enlightenment over the course of this past school year and I expect it to continue.

• Looking inward –How have I grown and changed as a learner? Are there a few most significant/influential experiences/milestones that changed the way I think about myself as a learner?

The best way to describe me as a learner, at this point in my academic career, is stretched. During my first semester alone, I was stretched beyond anything I could have possibly predicted or imagined. I had not been mentally, or academically prepared to take research courses. A large majority of my undergraduate work involved analyzing texts and the work I did within my undergraduate courses involved utilizing the knowledge we acquired from the texts during our field experiences.

During the first semester at Hunter, I did not appreciate my research courses as much as I have grown to appreciate them. I did not completely understand the purpose for taking research courses . . . Now, I realize research provides for the historical aspect of this discipline.

Looking outward- How has my learning at Hunter impacted my teaching and my students’ learning? Is there a most significant/influential experience that changed the way I think about my teaching and my students’ learning?

My learning at Hunter has directly impacted my teaching because it has made me appreciate being a pre-school teacher. I have been able to meet other pre-school teachers and use some of the things they use within their classrooms in my own. I have learned the importance of allowing students the opportunity to express themselves through different art forms (drawing, primarily). Drawing allows them to communicate better. My experience at Hunter has also taught me to conduct read alouds with more purpose. Students acquire a great deal of information as a result of read alouds and once I was enlightened to this, I observed how much my students loved them. By gaining more knowledge on the importance of read alouds, was able to utilize them  as teaching tools/aides. I no longer viewed them as a replacement or crutch.

Looking forward—What short term and long term goals do I set for my continued professional growth?

Short term- I plan to accept the journey that graduate school is providing. As much as I would like to hurry up and complete the program, taking my time allows me to truly learn, while implementing what I am learning in my own classroom. I plan to continue to use what I am learning in conjunction with what I have previously learned, to inform my instruction. Also, this year I will be attending many professional development workshops and it is my expectation that I will be able to combine the knowledge gained from there with knowledge gained from my courses to make this year my best year as a teacher.

Long term- I plan to continue to use the experiences obtained here as foundation for my practices. Also, it has been reiterated numerous times that the Literacy Education program at Hunter College is, essentially, preparing its students to be leaders in education. Keeping that in mind, I plan to go onto become a director of a preschool and/or a literacy specialist at the early elementary level. Furthermore, after completing my graduate studies, I would like to pursue my doctorate of education in curriculum and instruction and teach at the college level. By the time I arrive at college level instruction, I want to possess such an extensive background in my teaching  that I feel rightfully in a position to be able to impart knowledge upon pre-service teachers and teacher candidates