I am from small town Ontario where everyone knows your family name, the type of car your parent’s drive and the pew you sit in at church; it’s like living in a Stephen Leacock novel but it’s not fiction.
I am the daughter of the town merchant who is “Home of the Handy man”; they drop by each day to pick up a paper, chat about the price of pigs and get caught up with the local gossip; the customer is always right and every person in town is a potential customer.
I am from “You would lose your head if it wasn’t attached to your body”; carefree summer days with plenty of pals and no parent supervision; jumping fences, petting horses and running from stray cattle; meandering streams full of odd spawning fish and a salt shaker for the blood suckers; endless days of Barbie Dolls under the cedar tree where I am the Queen and my sister is the servant.
I am from, “Your left hand is the work of the devil” and “Offer it up to the suffering souls in Purgatory”; Ancient Sisters with bad habits; naughty farm boys being strapped at the back of the class; don’t look back or you are next; look, look, look and see, see, see, straight rows, sharp pencils and clean finger nails; stand up straight to read, nervous twitches, puddles under the desk; immunity.
I am from Betty and Veronica and Ritchie Rich and mail order Sea Monkeys that never arrive; Anne of Green Gables, Anne of Ingleside and the learning the fate of dear Anne Frank; genuine tears for Old Yeller and forever wanting a horse just like Black Beauty.
I am from pen pal letters in colourful ink to Swift Current and Corner Brook; hidden locked diaries that big brothers threaten to read; dishevelled bookshelves, stacks of unmarked student papers and listening late at night to correspondence tapes from University Courses. The apple won’t fall far from the tree.
I am from school wide musical productions and bus trips to Big Al’s Talent Showcase; red ribbons at Kiwanis Festivals, piano recitals in smelly old church halls, and intense Royal Conservatory exams; Public speaking circuits and local theatre; always a tune in my head and song in my heart.
Friday, May 29, 2009
Learning Literacy Blog #2
I appreciated the energy charged class discussion surrounding the quotation from Finn’s book ,”Giving children more and more drills in phonics and basic skills never has and never will lead to powerful literacy”(p.127). One could tell that this evoked strong emotions from many of the teachers in the room. I could certainly relate to the lone voice of reason that bravely stated that teaching phonics actually elevated reading scores and therefore improved the student’s literacy performance. Is phonics such a dirty word in a balanced literacy program? The class discussion was cut short but it peaked my interest and it continues to challenge my previously formed notion about the importance of implicitly teaching decoding skills and the importance of what Rowan et al (2002) calls the old basics in current literacy programs.
Our school is now deeply into the throws of the EQAO frenzy. Students who have been identified with a language based learning disabilities are able to use assistive technology to complete the test. Computer programs such as Kurzweil will read the tests for the students and word prediction programs assist students in responding to the text. This technology has greatly enhanced the student’s ability to demonstrate their higher level of informational and powerful literacy skills. There is no doubt that this technology allows students to access grade level curriculum and this has enhanced the learning and self esteem of many students with language based learning disabilities. They are our Lap Top kids. Unfortunately emphasis on this component of technological literacy has not always elevated the student’s ability to decode environmental print. Without the scanner, Kurzweil and voice to text software programs the student is at a loss in regular society. Lack of decoding skills closes doors and limits their participation and power in society.
Good “old fashioned” Later literacy strategies that emphasize and reinforce pronounceable units and plenty of practise, practise, practise may be what is needed to improve and enhance word attack and word identification skills. I am not advocating for a steady diet of traditional, oppressive pencil and paper phonemic exercises; I can see where oppositional identity would play a prominent role in this type of classroom. A skilled teacher must work toward the ‘real school model “where the students respect your level of expertise, and want the knowledge you are offering badly enough to cooperate and work hard enough to get it.” This is the tricky role of an effective language literacy teacher. Effective teacher’s diagnose what the language learner requires and design the proper programs to address it. This is the cornerstone of Differentiated Instruction , where teacher’s differentiate the content, process and culminating task according to the student’s readiness, interests and learning profile. There are a range of instructional progressive strategies for teaching basic reading skills. We can’t expect these specific language skills to be picked up through osmosis. Teaching or consolidating phonetic skills is not just someone else’s job. Nancy Atwell (1987) who advocates teaching reading and writing in a workshop format would emphasize these skills in the mini lessons at the beginning of each session or during private conferences.
As Educators we know that literacy is about more than reading and writing– it is about social practices and relationships and how we communicate in our society. What if (as pointed out by a teacher at our session) a Grade 6 students can only decode print at a “performative” grade 2 level ? Most “lay” people in society believe that literacy is quite simply about the ability to read and write. Our public believes that we are graduating children that are illiterate. Paulo Freire quoted in Finn’s book observed that literacy is never neutral, it liberates or domesticates. Weak decoding skills exclude students from participating fully in society and we must use all our skills and expertise to liberate them.
Our school is now deeply into the throws of the EQAO frenzy. Students who have been identified with a language based learning disabilities are able to use assistive technology to complete the test. Computer programs such as Kurzweil will read the tests for the students and word prediction programs assist students in responding to the text. This technology has greatly enhanced the student’s ability to demonstrate their higher level of informational and powerful literacy skills. There is no doubt that this technology allows students to access grade level curriculum and this has enhanced the learning and self esteem of many students with language based learning disabilities. They are our Lap Top kids. Unfortunately emphasis on this component of technological literacy has not always elevated the student’s ability to decode environmental print. Without the scanner, Kurzweil and voice to text software programs the student is at a loss in regular society. Lack of decoding skills closes doors and limits their participation and power in society.
Good “old fashioned” Later literacy strategies that emphasize and reinforce pronounceable units and plenty of practise, practise, practise may be what is needed to improve and enhance word attack and word identification skills. I am not advocating for a steady diet of traditional, oppressive pencil and paper phonemic exercises; I can see where oppositional identity would play a prominent role in this type of classroom. A skilled teacher must work toward the ‘real school model “where the students respect your level of expertise, and want the knowledge you are offering badly enough to cooperate and work hard enough to get it.” This is the tricky role of an effective language literacy teacher. Effective teacher’s diagnose what the language learner requires and design the proper programs to address it. This is the cornerstone of Differentiated Instruction , where teacher’s differentiate the content, process and culminating task according to the student’s readiness, interests and learning profile. There are a range of instructional progressive strategies for teaching basic reading skills. We can’t expect these specific language skills to be picked up through osmosis. Teaching or consolidating phonetic skills is not just someone else’s job. Nancy Atwell (1987) who advocates teaching reading and writing in a workshop format would emphasize these skills in the mini lessons at the beginning of each session or during private conferences.
As Educators we know that literacy is about more than reading and writing– it is about social practices and relationships and how we communicate in our society. What if (as pointed out by a teacher at our session) a Grade 6 students can only decode print at a “performative” grade 2 level ? Most “lay” people in society believe that literacy is quite simply about the ability to read and write. Our public believes that we are graduating children that are illiterate. Paulo Freire quoted in Finn’s book observed that literacy is never neutral, it liberates or domesticates. Weak decoding skills exclude students from participating fully in society and we must use all our skills and expertise to liberate them.
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