Entry 1. My Literacy Ramblings

Literacy means the ability to communicate and understand the world one inhabits using speaking, writing, reading, and listening skills. It also means being able to comprehend and interpret what others are saying or writing using pragmatics and semantics.

A literate person is a person who is able to speak, read, write and understand what others are saying and writing in order to navigate their world successfully. This person is also able to go into a variety of environments and use their literacy knowledge to understand what is going on.

First, I have gained my understanding of literacy based on my own family experiences. I've always found it fascinating and inspiring that my Mom was the only person in her immediate family to graduate from a segregated high school and an historically black college to become a teacher. She was one of five children with a father who was a carpenter with a middle school education, and her mother had a third-grade education. I didn't know my grandfather because he died when I was a baby but spent some time with my grandmother, who always seemed reticent to communicate and somewhat shy. My Mom told me that her mother was embarrassed that she couldn't read and write, and it always bothered her that she lacked this ability for communication. My Mom was quite active in her church with her family and because her father saw her leadership abilities serving as secretary to the Sunday school, she was encouraged to pursue education. Her four siblings ended up not finishing high school. 

Second, my understanding of the importance of literacy and communication was ingrained in my upbringing and in my parents' focus on encouraging the pursuit of the highest education that was possible for their children. Although both my parents were teachers for a few years, they did not encourage my older brother or me to pursue this profession. Instead, they hoped we would pursue law or medicine. Then when I became a Mother to four daughters, I was very motivated to make sure that they received all they needed to have a great start in literacy activities at school. Thus, I homeschooled my three oldest daughters for pre-K and Kindergarten and taught all of my children to read.

Finally, because I have been taking courses in the TESOL program, I have become more knowledgeable about what it means to be literate. Of course, in this program, I'm studying how to help students who speak other languages to learn English. So I am learning how to help language learners in the areas of speaking, reading, writing, and listening. I've learned topics such as linguistics and understanding the importance of my students being literate in their home country languages so that they can be successful in learning English. If I do have SIFE (Students with Interrupted Formal Education) in my classroom, then I do need to be knowledgeable in helping them overcome the barriers of not being literate in their own language. I do believe I'm a literate person because of the education I've received....Dr. Jones made me stop....