What is literacy? Literacy is a complex term that varies in definition and depends on the person defining literacy. Over the years, literacy has become a term that has changed to suit the generation, and will continue to change over time, especially with the expansion of technology. Personally, I think literacy is a basis for every learning aspect, in which it encompasses everything. By everything I mean it covers reading and writing, along with science, social studies, math, etc., literally everything. That is my definition of literacy, the entirety of everything. For sake of space though, I am going to focus on reading, writing, and learning in literacy. Reading is not as complex as literacy is, but it still is very broad. Reading is the ability to comprehend written language; whether that written language be a stop sign, a logo, or even a book. Reading takes into consideration more than just being able to read text on a page. Reading also involves being able to read the alphabet; saying each letter and recognizing that they are letters. Writing, to me, is also a very broad term. Writing is the ability to form letters of the alphabet and make words out of those letters. Writing can be done in words, sentences, paragraphs, essays, etc. When learning how to write, it is very broad and general; when beginning at the first stages of writing, the structure and they it is written may not make sense, yet over time, you learn grammar, punctuation, and all other things that are considered to be a writer. As for learning, in my opinion, it is the ability to comprehend information that you may not have known and being able to use that information accordingly. Becoming literate is something that everyone does at their own pace. It's the ability to read and write, but there is no ultimate requirement for being literate. How one demonstrates competence depends solely on the person. It differs from person to person and how they show they understand material given to them. This ties into, knowing each and every one of your students. There are many variables to take into consideration as to what counts as a text. A text can either have pictures, words or both pictures and words. You want texts that one can read without any help, and then you want texts that are a little more challenging for readers. A text does not need a specific page number or a specific number of words/sentences/paragraphs. If one can read it, it's a text, simple as that. Within the classroom, you want students to push themselves and challenge themselves. It's expected nowadays they learn a specific number of words, read at a certain level, spell words correctly, ones that they know, and write in different types of styles. With these high expectations of students, it's important to remember that students need a support system. They need someone who can motivate them and push them when necessary. Knowing each and every one of your students is very important, I know I have already said this, but that because it's that important. To make sure that learning has occurred, you want to keep documents from students throughout the year to see how they have progressed, keep field notes of students. The field notes don't have to be of every student every day, but every once in awhile to see where they have grown and how much they have improved and learned.
The first thing I remember about literacy, is writing my name actually. When I was in kindergarten my name was unusually spelled. Ashleigh is usually spells A-s-h-l-e-y and mine is spelled A-s-h-l-e-i-g-h. While I was in class the teacher actually told me that I was spelling my name wrong. Since my mother taught me how to spell my name before I came to kindergarten, I was confused and because my teacher said so, I started spelling it A-s-h-l-e-y. When I brought something home from school that had that spelling, my mom saw it and was furious. I remember her going to my teacher and telling her that I need be spelling my name the way that it is supposed to be spelled and not the way that the teacher said it was spelled. From then on, my name was spelled correctly. Throughout my childhood, I always received books as presents, which I still have to this day. Being encouraged to read is one way that shaped my beliefs in literacy. My mom was always a big supporter in my schooling and took initiative before my schooling career had begun. Before I went to kindergarten, she has always told me that she taught me how to spell my name, the alphabet and even some of the numbers. I think this really shaped me into who I am today. Without that prior knowledge I don't think I would be as into literacy as I am today. As a reader I am always finding myself reading books that challenge me. It wasn't till recently that I started to enjoy reading for enjoyment. But since I've started reading, I love doing it on my free time. Also, I consider myself a good writer, when it comes to topics that I care a lot about. I like writing so much, that I have tutored peers in writing as well. At a young age, I most likely would not have known what literacy was, but I could have read you a book I knew or something that I may have written. Looking back on those now, it has shaped me into becoming a literacy specialist and wanting to help students learn literacy, help teachers teach literacy, and help parents understand literacy and what it is doing for not only their child, but also for them. After being a literacy specialist for 20 years, I am positive that my views on literacy are going to change, but I am also certain that I will have a lot more to say about literacy and with a deeper understanding of what literacy is and what it all encompases.