Entry 7. Thinking About Fluency

When reading the fluency chapter and article by Rasinski (2014), there were a few major things that stood out to me. One of these things was the concept of reading stamina. Many of the basal reading programs that students are provided with only have short 15-minute stories. While these stories can be great to help students reading experience, students are not being pushed to read for longer periods of time (Tompkins et. al., 2022). This is not only because of their shorter length, but also because students may not be as interested in the topic. Allowing students to choose their own books that they are interested in will help them engage more with the text and want to read more, therefore building their reading stamina. 

A concept from Rasinski (2014) that I found very important was the relationship between comprehension and word recognition. When it comes to reading, there are two essential cognitive tasks that need to happen - word recognition and comprehension (Rasinski, 2014). This is important to recognize because as humans we only have a limited amount of cognitive power, and so if we need to use cognitive energy to recognize and decode words, then there is less cognitive energy to comprehend what those words mean. Therefore, we cannot expect students to be able to comprehend what they read, even if they knew all of the words, if they were unable to read it fluently. I think a lot of times this concept is overlooked and teachers feel as though if a student is able to read a passage they should know what it means. Reading this portion caused me to reflect on my own experience as a reader. There have been several times in my academic journey that I was able to fluently read a passage, and I knew all of the words used, but I still wasn't able to find meaning in what I read. This thought caused me to reflect on Muhammad (2020) and her discussions on background and identity. If students are unable to have background knowledge and connect to the readings, they may struggle to or even be unable to find meaning in what they read. Therefore, we cannot expect students to comprehend and interact with a text if too much of their cognitive energy is being spent on trying to decode the words or find purpose/meaning.

References

Rasinski, T. (2014). Fluency matters. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 7(1), 3–12.

Entry 6. Treating Speech as an Object

Prior to reading chapter 4 from the book by Tompkins (2022), I had a very surface level understanding of phonics, phonological awareness, and ways that it can be taught. While reading how to develop phonological awareness, one quote in particular really stuck out to me. "Phonemic awareness requires that students treat speech as an object, to shift their attention away from the meanings of words to examine the linguistic features of speech" (Tompkins et. al., 2022). This stood out to me because it presented another way to consider and view the steps to literacy and being phonetically aware. When we think of literacy, we often spend a lot of time focusing on the meaning of a word or words in a sentence. While it makes sense, it is a much different way to think that we must first see the word "dig" as its parts, /d/ /i/ /g/, before we can understand it as its meaning, breaking down something and moving it. 

In the Yopp (2000) article, there was another quote that held a lot of meaning. "Furthermore, teachers must recognize that while sensitivity to the sound basis of language supports literacy development, it is also an outcome of literacy experiences. Therefore, to overemphasize this component of literacy instruction in the initial years of schooling is to limit children's opportunities for more comprehensive literacy development" (Yopp, 2022, p.132). This quote caused me to reflect on many of the past articles we have read such as Kucer (2015), Muhammad (2020), and Cline & Neccochea (2003). Each of these readings touched on the importance of considering and acknowledging students' previous experiences. Kucer (2015) also discusses how ignoring students previous literacy experiences limits their literacy development. Muhammad (2020) and Cline & Neccochea (2003) all show the importance of giving students credit where it is due, creating experiences for them to excel in, and how different experiences can cultivate the genius within different minds. All of these points from the different articles helped me reflect on the different experiences of my previous classmates, current students, and even myself. Thinking back I can see where much of the curriculum was based on students with lives similar to mine, whereas some of my classmates may have been left behind by the exclusive material. This quote also relates to many of Tompkins' (2022) points on differentiated and balanced instruction. By incorporating their different methods for these types of instruction, more students will be reflected in the curriculum and reactive to the instruction.

Throughout our class discussions, we each have shared different parts of our literacy journey. While many of us shared similar experiences, others are different. One of our classmates didn't even notice the aspects of CRT she missed out on until we learned about it in class. Our different experiences show the different paths to literacy and how aware we must be of our students' and their identities so that they are not limited. 

References

Cline, Z., & Necochea, J. (2003). My mother never read to me. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 47(2), 122–126.

Kucer, S. (2015). Literacy: Varied, dynamic, and multidimensional. Journal of Family Strengths, 15(2),

Yopp, H. K., & Yopp, R. H. (2000). Supporting phonemic awareness development in the classroom. The Reading Teacher, 54(2), 130–143. https://doi.org/10.1598/rt.54.2.2

Entry 5. Dear Dr. Jones...

 Dear Dr. Jones, 

This year has been off to a great start. I wasn't quite sure what to expect coming into my first semester of grad school, but I now see it is very similar to undergrad but with less class time and more outside work. With that being said, I am really enjoying my classes. I expected my classes to dive into diversity and the importance of having an inclusive classroom, but I never expected for it to be embedded in all of my courses and all of the work. Also, before my time at Naz, I had never heard or culturally/historically responsive teaching, and looking back I'm not too sure a lot of my classes incorporated its aspects. In your class, however, I am able to not only learn about CRT, but also experience it through layered texts and class discussions, along with personal reflections. Since being introduced to Muhammad, I have found a new excitement for teaching and reflected more on what my role means for and to my students.

These self reflections have also caused me to become aware of my own literacy habits. For example, at the beginning of the semester we were introduced to the SQ4R method. The method made me realize how many more ways I could think about and interact with a text. Taking the time to write active notes and develop questions starts a conversation within myself that further dissects the text. Doing this made me realize how little my previous habits encouraged me to dive deeper into material.

I feel like I am in a good place going into the second half of this semester. While there are certainly things that I need to work on, like time management, I am proud of myself for where I am. Can't wait for the second half!

Sincerely, 

Adeline

Entry 4. 3-2-1 Understandings

3 Ideas Worth Pondering

While reading the first two chapters of "Cultivating Genius," something that really stuck with me was Muhammad's (2020) discussion of what literacy is and what is means to people. Before reading this book, I saw literacy as a way of sharing ideas, communicating with others, and connecting with those around us. To me, literacy was a way of self-expression and self-enjoyment. Muhammad (2020) opened my eyes to the idea that literacy can mean all different things to different groups of people. For example, for the individuals in Black literary societies, literacy was not for enjoyment or fulfillment, but rather seen as liberation and power (Muhammad, 2020). This is something I had never considered before, and it has caused me to rethink what literacy means not only to me, but also those around me.

A second idea worth pondering is how our ways of assessment affect the students. In the article by Yoon (2019), she shares how students may develop different formulas to complete tasks asked by standardized assessments. While these formulas may assist students in producing sufficient work, oftentimes they cause students to leave creativity behind (Yoon, 2019). This caused me to rethink assessment. While it is important to be aware of where your students' understanding lies, this point showed the importance for our assessments to be diverse and creative to prevent students from falling into patterns and formulas, and rather encourage them work creatively with curriculum.

Finally, a third idea worth pondering is the concept of "repainting." In chapter 2, Muhammad (2020) address different policies and initiatives in education that are supposed to create a more culturally responsive classroom. However, these practices, such as the SAT's adversity score, don't get to the root of the issue such as the inequalities and biases, but rather paints over them (Muhammad, 2020). This section of the chapter caused me to think more critically about culturally responsive practices and whether they are working to solve inequalities in our education or rather cover them up. 

2 Inspiring Comments

One statement that I found particularly powerful was from Zaretta Hammond. In her discussion on culturally relevant teaching, she said "All instruction is culturally responsive. The question is to whose culture is it responding" (Hammond, 2021). This really stuck out to me because it really makes you question how our curriculum and classroom cultures affects our students. When first learning about culturally responsive teaching, you would just assume that you either have it or you don't. However, Hammond's comment forces you to see your role in culturally responsive teaching and reflect on whether you are benefitting all students in your class equally, or favoring a dominant culture.

A second powerful quote can be found in chapter 2. Muhammad (2020) states "What is common among all three historical photos is that when we look at them today, we speak of the students' bravery and courage to organize in ways to interrupt wrongdoing. Black students today don't receive that same commentary, yet they are in similar ways resisting curriculum and instruction that were not designed to advance their academic success or personal achievement." This quote stood out to me because educators will teach about and praise students in our history for standing up for what is right, but when students now show resistance to the curriculum, they are punished for not assimilating to the expectations. This quote has caused me to rethink students' defiance and what it means.

1 Commitment to My Future Students

One commitment I will make for my future students is to listen and trust my students and who they are. This is a concept that Muhammad (2020) brings up and I believe is often over looked. Listening to students and trusting what they say will give me an opportunity to adjust my curriculum to fit their needs. Additionally, it will help me develop a classroom culture that fits and benefits all of my students and their diverse backgrounds. Getting to know my students beyond their current test scores and levels of understanding of the curriculum will help me be a more culturally responsive teacher and create a safe place that is conducive to learning.

Entry 3. My Literacy Leaders

My Literacy Collage

Entry 2. SQ4R and My Literacy Experience

Over the past few readings, we were asked to use the SQ4R method as a strategy while reading. One big thing that this method caused me to do while reading was pause. Oftentimes when I read, I will skip headings and use the first and last paragraphs of sections to give me an idea of what the author was trying to portray and what the section was focusing on. Using SQ4R, I was forced to pause and consider the titles of the different sections. I then was able to formulate a question regarding what the title was, and then later reflect on and answer the question. This process made me slow down and consider what I was reading and led to me being able to have a conversation with myself regarding the topic.

The SQ4R method also helped me with the forum questions and discussions. Typically when completing assignments like this, I would have to fins the section that related to the question and re skim it to find an answer. With the SQ4R method, I was able to reference my notes that answered the questions from the headings. These notes sparked my memory and referenced the important aspects of what I read so that I was able to spend more time engaging with the questions and reflections and less time searching in the article for the answers.

One thing I feel that I need to continue working on is writing on sticky notes and not just underlining key points. I think building this habit will help me by forcing me to rewrite the key points in my own words rather than underlining or highlighting the author's words. This makes me take time to engage with the text and interpret it instead of mindlessly underlining. Taking notes will also help me be a more creative reader because it allows me to create my own understanding of what I am reading whereas underlining simply emphasizes the author's words.

A habit I need to build to help me engage in discussions with my classmates is forming my own opinions or thought before reading their discussion posts/engaging in discussion with them. When replying to others' posts, I sometimes found it hard to add on to their ideas and share my own if I went right into reading their thoughts before developing my own. I think developing the habit of taking time to process my own thoughts will allow me to produce better responses and create discussions with my peers.

Entry 1. What is Literacy?

Literacy means that a person is able to not only read, but also comprehend what is being communicated. One must also be able to take what they comprehend, develop their own ideas, and convey them through writing.  

A literate person is someone who can read and write clearly and in a way that can be comprehended by others. This is also someone who can communicate their ideas in more than one way. 

When developing these definitions, I reflected back on what the word itself means in its most basic form. When considering literacy this way, it relates to being able to read and write. However, I believe that there are deeper components to literacy such as comprehending what you read and having your writing be understandable for the intended audience. 

When considering who or what may have influenced the development of my definitions, I am brought back to high school. Often times an insult that was used by my classmates was calling someone "illiterate". This was something used when the person said something that made no sense, was hard to understand, or others thought was stupid (instead of saying "that was dumb/stupid" they would say "you're illiterate"). Because of this, literacy was then understood by me as effective communication, and a literate person was someone who could communicate their thoughts in a way that allowed for easy comprehension by others. 

I believe that I am a literate person, and I think this post is proof of that. Not only was I able to read the prompt and comprehend what it was asking, but I was also able to create a response and communicate it in written format. This post can then be read and understood by others due to the effective communication, grammar, sentence structure, and spelling used throughout the post. Because of the ability for others to read and understand what I am writing and trying to portray through this blog, I believe that I am a literate person.