Reading Day Reflection

Wow! That was really something. We are really a writer's group. Today was just incredibly powerful and emotional. Each and every narrative showed the reader to be a committed teacher and a gifted writer.

In some ways, I was kept thinking about my inquiry topic. I'm looking into a best 'practices approach' in High School literacy. Central to my paper is the question of what literacy is (in other words) who gets to define it. If Literacy skills that will secure college or employment, then aren't we just creating future workers to serve capital? That's a little scary? Furthermore what does this literacy mean if you have a sophomore who's failing her English class, but who writes in her journal and for friends and reads what interests her?

Or is Literacy a different set of skills?

If the definition of Literacy has some space to allow for WHAT STUDENTS ARE ACTUALLY INTERESTD IN AND READING, then, it seems teachers can teach literacy skills to some of the struggling readers. Ann's reading, and some other touched on the subject of the classics and what ought be taught or not taught. To me this is central.

Thinking about it a little differently, didn't Sherrie, Don, and Talinn trick us into revealing we are all writers by offering a topic we are intimately connected to, know about, and want to share (in some cases). Namely we wrote about our life story.

The inquiry paper can be seen the same way, because we are exploring something central to our passion as a teacher/researcher. We can choose the topic. again this is central to drawing some reluctant souls in.

OK that's the longest blog i've written. I must be writing about something I care about...Oh, I am.