Literacy in My Community

In my community, literacy is present everywhere. I can see it on street signs and business signs as I am driving around town. I can see it on menus when I am dining out with my friends. I can see it on price tags when I am shopping at the mall. I can see it on flyers as I walk through campus. No matter where I am, literacy is always there.

I should care about the literacy in my community for many reasons. I need the literacy in my community to give me directions or to provide me with some kind of information. It tells me where I am and helps guide me to where I need to go. It tells me the ingredients in a dish at a restaurant and the price of an item at a store. The literacy around my community is also important for the children in my community. They are constantly exposed to the world around them and the literacy that is present in it helps with their literacy development.

Language Learners

From my experience in class last week, I was able to learn a lot as a future teacher. When Stacy started speaking in Spanish, I was instantly confused about what was going on. I took Spanish for five years in middle and high school but I was never fluent. I was able to decipher some of what was being said but for the most part, I was clueless. Being given instructions on a piece of paper in Spanish was a little easier than being spoken to but it was still difficult.

After the activity, we were able to share our thoughts and feelings. I was completely lost and felt extremely out of place during this time. I had no idea what was being said to me so I zoned out and did not even try to engage with the story. I felt a little uncomfortable in a place where I used to feel comfortable.

This activity gave me insight to what it would be like to be a child in a classroom who does not know English. I am sure that they would have similar feelings if I stood there teaching and he/she was not able to understand a majority of what I was saying. This teaches me that I need to know my students and be aware of what they know. I will need to consider the possibility that not everyone in my class will be English speakers and to adjust my teaching to accommodate that.

Literacy in Early Childhood Education

To me, literacy is the most important part of education. Without it, you would not be able to do much of anything. Literacy is the way we talk, read, and write. It is an essential to our education as a whole. This makes teaching literacy in early childhood that much more important.

When creating my literacy timeline, it made me realize how much of an impact that literacy had on my education as a young student. Without the experiences and the support that I had, I would have never developed literacy the way that I did. From my own experiences, I am able to become a positive role model for my futures students as I help them with their literacy development.

Reading the books Children's Language: Connecting Reading, Writing, and Talking by Judith Lindfors and Catching Readers Before They Fall by Pat Johnson and Katie Keier gives me great insight to what I need to do as a teacher to aid my students in literacy development. So far, I have learned that literacy needs to be authentic and meaningful in order for children to be engaged. I also know that there is a process that guides the development of literacy. I am looking forward to learning more from these authors to become a literacy expert as an early childhood teacher.