Supporting Literacy

Supporting literacy in the classroom is a very important idea.  So many children are not interested in reading or writing enough to know how to enjoy it.  I, myself, was one of those kids that moaned at reading time because I hated the thought of being forced to read something that did not hold my interest.  I know in elementary school my reading comprehension was horrible because I did not care enough about what I was reading to pay attention.  In observing various classrooms I have seen many students still moan like me at the mention of reading time.  I also know that writing is not something that is nurtured in schools.  Mandatory writing prompts are forced on children even if they have no interest in what they are expected to write about.  Instead of making literacy fun or even functional, many classrooms are given mindless worksheet after worksheet.  These are all things I would like to change in my classroom.

            In order to make reading a point of interest a teacher must allow their students the ability to choose what interests them.  There is one classroom that I have worked in that had an incredible library.  The teacher collected books from all genres and on different levels.  Although the students were only allowed to borrow one book at a time, they were allowed to take them home in order to read them for their required 20 minutes of reading each night for homework.  Almost every student in that class tore through books as fast as I do as an adult.  What I think attributes to this teacher’s amazing library was the fact that she herself enjoys reading.  Like I plan to do, she understands the value of instilling that same pleasure in her students and supports reading in her classroom.  I believe that students are more likely to read what they have to, like textbooks, if they are also given a chance to also read what they enjoy.

            When it comes to writing, students today are given writing prompts to prepare them for standardized testing.  Although these prompts are a necessary evil, writing can still be made fun.  In order to support this idea, having students write about ideas that interest them, such as themselves, can show them how it is true.  Teach students effective writing strategies through writing about interesting topics.  I can remember the only writing I did as a child in school was book or research reports.  None of these things were of interest to me.  It was not until I was asked to write about a specific situation that happened to me did I find writing fun.  I looked forward to brainstorming ideas, writing a rough draft, sharing it with my peers, and then finalizing it in my last draft.  My teacher supported literacy by teaching us the writing process without even telling us directly that she was doing it.  All we knew was that we were having fun.      

            Another way we can support literacy in the classroom is to take away the boring worksheets and make learning fun.  Incorporate environmental text, play literacy games, and other ideas would help.  Environmental text makes learning literacy functional for students.  They can identify what they see in their everyday lives and compare it with what they see in the classroom.  Environmental print can also build confidence in young children and get them excited about reading.  When children are excited about reading and print holds meaning for them they will learn much faster and begin to make connections to the world around them.  Literacy games make learning fun as well.  Whether it is on the computer or a competition with the whole class, it is something that all students can enjoy.

            Supporting literacy is something that is extremely important in all classrooms.  In order to have a literate society it is crucial to start literacy at a young age.  Using age-appropriate and functional text with interesting topics and concepts, teachers can hold students’ attention in order to teach them.  Breaking away from the idea of teaching to test and, instead, using what interests students will still get the point across.         

My Perfect Classroom

For the past 10 years I have been working in the special education department of an urban public school.  Needless to say, I understand what it is like to scrounge for things for our classroom because we don’t have a budget.  I have done my share of rummaging through other teachers trashed items and finding a barely broken toy that my students would love.  I also have experience in many general education teachers’ rooms, so between that and hours of obsessing over Pintrest I have seen different setups and decorating ideas for my classroom. 

In a perfect world where I could have unlimited funds and take what I have seen in other classrooms and online, I believe I have a good idea of what my perfect classroom would look like.  In front of the room I would like to have a Smart board.  Around the Smart board I would have a poster of class expectations, a calendar of events, and our Specials schedule.  I would also like to have a behavior chart for the students as a visual reminder of how they are or should be behaving.  Rather than having inspirational posters and things like that hanging around the room, I would have the students’ work and drawings hanging up.  I think they would feel a sense of pride in having their work up for all to see.     

As I said earlier, this is my idea of a classroom in a perfect world.  In that world I would like to have my students’ desks set up in groups of 4.  I understand that normally I would run into students chatting, fooling around, or copying each other’s work, but I would like to have them in groups for several reasons.  One reason would be to allow the students to work in small groups on certain assignments.  Another reason would be because I want to incorporate center work into my day.  Having the desks set up in groups already would avoid having to have the class rearrange the room all the time.  My desk would be off to the side in the front of the room.  This would allow me to view the whole class while they are doing quiet work, and also let me have enough room in the front to move around and conduct my lessons.  In the back of the room I would have a smaller table to run my reading groups and do small group lessons. 

I would like to have a library in a corner with different levels of books from all genres.  I want it to be a comfy corner with a plush carpet and bean bag chairs for the students to relax and enjoy reading in.  I also want a small table with a few CD players for the students to listen to books on CD.  Instead of having computers in the room, I want tablets that the students can play phonics or math apps, read online books, or work for as a reinforcer.  In the opposite corner I would like shelves of math manipulatives.  I want these manipulatives accessible to the students so that they can use various methods to solve the problems they are assigned.               

My Language Arts Influence

I have several memories from a mixture of situations I have encountered in Language Arts classes.  Not all of them are ones I care to keep, in fact some are so mundane that I have forgotten them.  But, there are three memories that really stick out in my brain.  These are the ones that have really formed me as the reader and writer that I am today. 

In eighth grade, I found my love of reading.  It wasn’t in my Language Arts class, but in my Reading class.  My teacher had the most amazing library and allowed us to borrow her books.  I was introduced to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, all the books by Stephen King that she had, and then I found my Holy Grail of books; Flowers In the Attic by V.C. Andrews.  This was the first time I was reading adult topics.  I had grown up with “The Babysitter’s Club” and “Sweet Valley High” series.  V.C. Andrew’s was borderline pornography to a 13 year old!  I tore through her collection of the books about the Dollanger family, and moved on through each series that my teacher had.  I was reading a book a week, impressing my parents enough that they continued to buy me the books my teacher didn’t have, not knowing they were feeding my thirst for smut.  It’s funny that writing this blog now, I realize how I have come full circle.  At 13, I loved the smutty romance novels, but now I would not touch the stuff.  I believe that my hands would curl up in the Wicked Witch of the East fashion if I ever touched a copy of 50 Shades of Grey.  Now my preference has reverted back to teenage novels, like “The Hunger Games” and “The Heroes of Olympus” series.  I am also a sucker for books turned movies.  I know the movie will always be worse, but it’s fun for me to compare the movie version to the version I created in my head while reading.  With all that being said, no, I have never read Twilight.  I believe touching it would have the Wicked Witch effect on me as well.  

My memory of writing in Language Arts was actually a crushing one.  I was in seventh grade, and I loved Language Arts class.  My teacher was funny and knew how to hold my attention.  I was so inspired by him that I wrote a short story that I wanted to try to get published in Highlights Magazine.  I gave it to both my parents to read, and my mother suggested I give it to my Language Arts teacher to proofread.  I remember bringing my story to school that day (no, I don't remember what the story was about.  I think I blocked it out), and asking my teacher if I could meet with him instead of going to recess (I was that confident that I didn't even care about missing recess).  I walked into his room and already had a feeling that this wasn’t going to go well.  He had forgotten why I wanted to see him, snatched my beautiful paper from my hand, and read it in what felt like 2 seconds.  When he finished, he handed it back to me and said, “I wouldn’t publish this.  It’s not good.”  Wait, what?  At home I was used to being told that my work wasn’t good when it wasn’t good, so it wasn’t that.  It was the fact that I was dismissed so quickly without being helped in any sort of way.  Aren’t teachers supposed to help you get better?  Looking back now, I was invading his sacred prep time, and for all I know, he could’ve been having a bad day.  Whatever his problem was, it was the factor that stopped me from writing for fun, and made me despise him and Language Arts.

It was not until my senior year in high school that I rekindled my love for writing.  Again, this is not a memory from a Language Arts class, but from a Creative Writing one instead.  I took Creative Writing as an elective for a couple reasons; I loved the teacher, I wanted to decorate a giant art pad, and I thought it was be fun to keep it as a memory.  We were expected to do 2 specific assignments and 1 free choice assignment per week.  Each assignment I found myself falling deeper in love with writing, and I actually found my niche.  I was the sarcastic writer that wrote exactly the way I spoke, no matter what anyone would think about it.  My favorite assignment was to write an obituary about ourselves or someone else.  I opted to write mine about Winnie the Pooh because I really cannot stand him!  After I handed it in to be graded, my teacher ripped it out of my book and hung it in the office of my school for all to read.  I had finally had my redemption from seventh grade and got published in a way.  As a matter of fact, when I graduated, my mother had that assignment framed and I now have it hanging in my house.         

I believe that, good or bad, we are a mutation of all the teachers we have had over the years.  We take what we have learned, how we have been taught, and how we have been treated to become the teachers that we will eventually be.  These 3 situations really helped me become the person I am today, and have influenced what kind of teacher I want to be.