A question that you may be asking yourself is "What does a Literacy minor include?" I have had the opportunity to take courses that delve into the nooks and crannies of texts. I have studied how students begin their literacy journey in the very early stages of childhood. I have studied how to motivate reluctant adolescent readers to pick up a book and give reading a try. I have studied how to develop lessons that will help the formerly mentioned reluctant readers continue along the literacy path. And, I hope to study many more aspects of literacy in the future.
If I am planning on teaching literacy, then I had better have a pretty good understanding of what it is, right? I believe literacy is the ability to not only have the ability to read written text, but to also have the ability to understand, synthesize, and apply all forms of text. Students are bombarded with information every day from so many sources: books, texts, music, webpages, television, magazines, and a myriad of others. It is important that they know how to navigate these texts to enhance understanding and application. I mean, what's the good in watching a video on youTube about how to build a rocket if you can't use it to build a rocket? Literacy is imperative to success in school and in life.
Well, that is me in a nutshell. I am sure that we will all have a chance to get to know one another better throughout this semester, but at least you have a small idea of what I will be bringing to the table. Don't say I didn't warn you!
Hi Polly!
ReplyDeleteI love English too, but I AM talking about Big Ben and scones here. And Westminster Abbey, and Queen Elizabeth, and Doctor Who, and the whole British package.
The English language? Meh, that's not bad either. ;)
So I have a doctorate in literacy education, but my very first interest and preference was to earn a doctorate in Old or Middle English, because in my mind, those are the most beautiful languages to hear. In my undergraduate courses, I had to translate Old and Middle English texts to modern English, and that was one of my very favorite assignments ever.
Alas, the world is not chomping at the bit to hire people who speak Old English, so I decided to go the more practical "literacy education" route instead. But, in addition to love English languages in all of their variations, I found that I loved literacy education too, so I chose the right doctorate.
To be honest, I've taught this course about 10 times before but have never had somebody with a literacy minor! I didn't know that it existed for undergraduates. I have heard of people with a "librarian minor" (I can't remember the official name right now). So I look forward to learning more about your coursework as a literacy studies minor.
Thanks for an engaging first posting and I look forward to reading more as the semester progresses!
The reason that you have never had a student with a Literacy minor is because it is a new minor offered by USU, and I am thrilled that they have included it as an option.
DeleteYour blog post was so much fun to read. You can tell that you are majoring in English because you write in such a fun way that captivates the reader... I'm looking forward to one more semester with you! See you in class next Monday. :)
ReplyDeleteYour blog was great to read and you have a great personality. I am glad that I was able to meet you last Monday. It will be fun to get to know you better in the coming weeks. You have a great style of writing and it was fun to read your blog. I don't enjoy English, but I wish that I would have payed attention when I was in high school to be able to write a little better. See you on Monday.
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