Journal Post #2

When asked, “what counts as literacy?” I immediately think of my math classroom.  The common misunderstanding is that literacy is not a “thing” in the math classroom, and that is false. Literacy in my math classroom includes a variety of things.  Starting first with me, as the teacher and my spelling of vocabulary words.  The use of correct mathematical terminology is very important.  Not only do I need to use words in the right context, when I write them on the smartboard, word wall, and on assessments I need to use the correct spellings.  Often times math teachers say, oh I don’t have to know how to spell, I am just a math teacher.  It is my job to facilitate and use terms correctly so that my students gain a deeper understanding.  Literacy in my classroom is also vocabulary.  Having a word wall on the back wall, where we define new mathematical terms to us.  This is an opportunity for the students to practice using the new vocabulary.  While doing guided notes, if it is a new vocabulary term I leave the blanks so that the students are made to write the word and see the word for themselves.  I ask the students to create the posters for the word wall, I want them to be engulfed, exposed, and enjoy the new math vocabulary.  Another method I use in my classroom that I consider literacy is the use of highlighters.  With the shift to common core, students are asked multiple questions with in one.  We use different colored highlighters to help us decode what is being asked.  The different colors represent a different question or task that is being asked. 

            After reading Motoko Rich’s Literacy Debate: Online R U Really Reading?   I find it very interesting that people are defending the shift to digital literacy.  I feel that rather than reading the classics that students will simply google, use sparknotes, and find answers on the internet.  I feel that even though we have a shift to digital literacy we cannot lose the paperback texts.  As stated in the article, “Some literacy experts say that reading itself should be redefined.  Interpreting videos or pictures, they say, may be as important a skill as analyzing a novel or a poem.”  This particular quote really stood out to me, because I believe it.  Today many people have published resources on the internet.  Therefore, if I am reading Huckleberry Finn in class, it would be just as easy for me to go to youtube, watch, and analyze a video.  I can hear a variety of opinions, facts, and information in one place rather than reading it for myself. 

            In the schools, we have to adapt to social change.  We cannot stick in our old ways, it will impede the students as they move forward in the technological world.  It is essential that we adapt our public education system to reflect the changes in society.