Big Sherpa Larry 2/2

I think one of the major points that I walked away from last weeks class with was the fact the literacy is more than the ability to read or the act of reading. After breaking our class into subjects it was interesting to step outside of our own personal subjects and take a look at how our peers define literacy in their subjects. For example in History when literacy comes up it would be a common notion that one is discussing reading material for the subject, however, it is important to realize that literacy also means being able to read graphs, maps, understand sources, etc.

I think it was important that we went over the fact that there may come a time when we are asked to deal with our students abilities in literacy. Although many of us have different opinions of whether or not IT IS our job as secondary level teachers to have to continue to help our students in such areas as literacy, it still becomes an issue that we must face. Personally after reviewing the many ways in which literacy can be defined and handled in all different subjects it almost seems bazarre that we would expect our students to know everything about literacy by the time they enter our classrooms. As future or current teachers I feel that the focus of literacy must be one that may never be at the top of some of our agendas but should always play some sort of role throughout the school year.