Critical literacy is a response to injustice and the production of illiteracy in which students and teachers work together to...

• Improve Math Literacy - "I know how strange it can sound to say that math literacy - and algebra in particular - is the key to the future of disenfranchised communities, but that"s what I think, and believe with all of my heart." (Moses, 2001, pg. 5)
• Provide Skills Necessary for New Jobs - "Sixty percent of new jobs will require skills possessed by only 22 percent of the young people entering the job market now." (Moses, 2001, pg. 8)
• Improve Technology Literacy - "70 percent of all jobs require technology literacy; by the year 2010 all jobs will require significant technological skills." (Moses, 2001, pg. 9)
• Increase Opportunities for Blacks - "Blacks make up perhaps 15 percent of this country's population, yet in 1995 they earned 1.8 percent of Ph.D.s in computer science, 2.1 percent of those in engineering, 1.5 percent in the physical sciences, and 0.6 percent in mathematics." (Moses, 2001, pg. 11)
• Decrease Poverty and Prison Rates  - "They cite a relationship between literacy and prison as well as poverty and prison." (Moses, 2001, pg. 12)
• Decrease "Teacher as Narrator" Teaching  - "Narration (wit the teacher as narrator) leads the students to memorize mechanically the narrated content... Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor." (Freire, 1997, pg. 53)
• Abolish the Banking Approach to Teaching  - "Those who use the banking approach, knowingly or unknowingly (for there are innumerable well-intentioned bank-clerk teachers who do not realize that they are serving only to dehumanize), fail to perceive that the deposits themselves contain contradictions about reality. " (Freire, 1997, pg. 56)
• Learn from Each Other - "Every child knew they had something important to contribute to this unit right from the start." (Gatto, 2007, pg. 79)
• Place an Emphasis on Talk - "We have neglected talk in school. "We seldom address it directly; we seldom teach it explicitly; and we almost never assess it. We do expect it and we do depend on it, but we don't teach it." (Probst, 2001, pg. 45)
• Increase Conversation  - "Real conversation requires that participants have ideas, that they articulate those ideas and that they bring them to the group, decide how to address them, and then engage with one another." (Probst, 2001, pg. 49)
• Use Conversation to Build Better Ideas - "We need to teach our students to use conversation to build better ideas collaboratively than any of us will come to on our own." (Probst, 2001, pg. 59)

All of these ideas were found throughout the readings for weeks 8 and 9.



There were a couple of things that really drew me in throughout these past readings. The first of which I would like to discuss is the impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB) on our education system. Freire, on page 53 explains how students are expected to simply memorize everything the teacher is saying. "Education becomes an act of depositing, in which the students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor." In my opinion, this expectancy for the students to memorize everything is due in large part to the emphasis schools place on high-stakes assessments. Teachers preach to student, expect them to take everything in but in doing so the students learn nothing. All these children are doing is learning to memorize - they have no understanding as to why or how something is the way it is. This is a topic we have discussed throughout the class, and we see through this article, "Pedagogy of the Oppressed", another way that No Child Left Behind impacts our schooling, possibly for the worse.

To further our discussion of NCLB, we turn to "Success Guaranteed Literacy Programs" by Lynn Astarita Gatto. She writes "The recent legislation for No Child Left Behind has impacted every classroom across America" (Gatto, 2007, pg. 74). Gatto explains that her district was being expected to participate in these programs that 'proved' to be successful in aiding students to perform better on state testing. Gatto was completely against these programs. "Teachers are being held accountable through their statewide high stakes testing at every grade level. Most districts are adopting curriculum and textbook programs designed to prepare students for these tests" (Gatto, 2007, pg. 74). These programs may be successful, but what about all of the other ways of teaching in which teachers and children are now being deprived of? This method allows students to read textbook after textbook with no variation - does that really help students?!

Another thing that really enticed me was the idea presented by Herbert Kohl of "Topsy-Turvies". Throughout our reading the past few weeks, we have shown an emphasis of the need for communication. In this discussion, we have encountered "Topsy-Turvies". The idea of "Topsy-Turvies" is that teachers need to take a step back and try to come to terms with how the STUDENTS are viewing their statements. "How you think you're speaking and how students interpret what you're saying are not necessarily the same" (Kohl, 2002, pg. 150). For a teacher to be successful, they need to understand that sometimes the students aren't exactly following what the educators are saying. In order to be able to do so, educators must be able to take a step back and look at the signs as to whether or not the students are comprehending. When a teacher sees everyone remaining silent or not volunteering, this is a warning sign that they aren't comprehending. In this case, the teacher must take a step back and evaluate their teaching methods and turn them 180 so the students can understand.

The idea of "Topsy-Turvies" was great for me. It reminds educators to take a step back and analyze their teaching, and then gives them a way to fix it so students can benefit! This is a great tool that can be used by a variety of teachers.

This video shows a program "Investigations" in which discussion is emphasized in the classroom. Take a look at this Video, as it truly shows the positive outcomes of discussion in the classroom.

Saying 'NO' to Cookie-Cutter Literacy Programs

I truly believe that the article “Success Guaranteed Literacy programs” by Lynn Astarita Gatto was the best article we have read throughout the course. This is the story of a great teacher, Lynn Gatto, who is able to teach students in ways other than using the specific literacy programs that her school “forces” teachers to use.

With NCLB in place, schools place such an extreme emphasis on test scores and student achievement and in order to reach expectations placed on them by the state, they pressure teachers to use ‘guaranteed’ literacy programs. Gatto is a teacher that is strong enough to take a stand and quite simply say ‘no!’ Rather, Gatto chooses to “make sure the children in my class have multiple opportunities for literacye vents and practices within social contexts (pg. 75).

Gatto “encourages dialogic instruction, where the children can express their opinions and disagree with others, self-select the turn-taking during conversation, initiate topics of conversation, offer ideas for activities, and discuss question concepts”. Put simply, Gatto encourages discussion in the classroom and allows an atmosphere where students can speak their minds openly. The importance of discussion is also seen in the chapter in Adolescent Literacy by Robert E. Probst. In this chapter, he writes that “we need to teach our students to use conversation to build better ideas collaboratively than any of us will come to on our own” (pg. 59). In Today’s education, discussion and collaboration need to be a primary focus as they play a great role in our lives.

Gatto explains that she doesn’t use textbooks. Even so, her test scores are equal to or surpass the school and district norms (pg. 75). While standing outside the norm, Gatto has still had parents keep their children in the school for the remainder of the year, even after moving out of the district. This shows how great of a teacher Gatto must be. She explains that she

    Created a classroom environment rich in literacy practices without using prescribed     textbooks and commercially produced materials during the fourth grade year of my last     looped cohort group. Considering the individual students, planning carefully, selecting     appropriate materials and activities, and adjusting activities are all important aspects of     what I do to establish a successful literacy program (pg. 77).

It becomes obvious that it is extremely necessary to provide a range of literacy methods and to reach beyond the cookie-cutter method of using textbooks. This is not always the most beneficial teaching method. This can correlate to our reading about Carter Forshay by Pearson-Billings in which Carter Forshay got to know and understand how his students learned and could then adjust his teaching to allow them to be as successful as possible.

Furthermore, as Gatto is expressing her lack of interesting in the ‘guaranteed’ program she is told to use, Freire explains his disinterest. “It is the people themselves who are filed away through the lack of creativity, transformation, and knowledge in this (at best) misguided system.

Where did education begin going wrong that so many people can express their concerns for our teaching? Why, when there are so many passionate teachers, are there so many downfalls to our education system? And why, if this is the case, can’t it be fixed? Slowly but surely, our education system became to be one in which many teachers do not approve so slowly but surely, it needs to become an environment in which teachers do approve, in which the curriculum is altered to the students needs to teach them in the best way possible.

An interesting comment in this article is “in order to understand any of the math and science, literacy was useful and necessary” (Gatto, pg. 78). This corresponds to the article we have previously read by Moses. Moses expresses the need for math literacy and clearly Gatto feels as though literacy is necessary in order to be successful in math and science. This is great because many teachers think that literacy is not a component that is necessary to become fluent in mathematics but this is NOT the case. Literacy is everywhere, even in mathematics and the importance of literacy in every subject needs to be noted.

Gatto also describes how beneficial it can be to teach interdisciplinary lessons (pg. 81). We haven’t done much reading on that throughout the course but I think that it is important to note and do more research on, as this can be a great tool to teaching literacy.

Gatto’s methods can absolutely be incorporated into the classroom. While I don’t think it is a good idea to go completely against administration (especially when not tenured!), I do think that it is vital to stand up for what you believe in. In Gatto’s case, she believes (probably correctly) that these ‘guaranteed’ literacy programs don’t work as well as her methods do. It is great that Gatto gets to understand her students and that is how she comes up with ways to teach. Every year, her teaching will be different as her students change and every year her lessons will have to be altered slightly.

Every future teacher can learn enormous amounts from this article by Gatto. This article offers many ideas that should be looked into by teachers and future teachers need to remember that it is important to stand up for what you truly believe in. As a teacher, you are the one that knows the classroom the best and it is your responsibility to make sure you cater to their needs.



Because I mentioned earlier in my writing that interdisciplinary teaching is worth a bit research, I would like to include this video from www.edutopia.org

http://www.edutopia.org/integrated-studies-introduction-video

Critical Literacy Learning *

Throughout our week 9 reading, we came across many conditions of critical literacy learning. There are a number of circumstances that must be evident in order for critical literacy to truly occur. First, if economic access ceases to exist, so does critical literacy. “In today’s world, economic access and full citizenship depend crucially on math     and science literacy” (Moses pg. 5). Thus, it is crucial for math and science literacy to exist. Without this, one can not acquire economic access.

Next, for critical literacy to materialize, we must give hope to our future. To do so, math literacy is necessary.“Math literacy and economic access are how we are going to give hope to the     young generation” (Moses, pg. 15). With the lack of hope, what do our future educators, lawyers, doctors, secretaries, and construction workers have to look forward to? What is a society without hope?

In Reif’s reading, there is a discussion of the importance of critical thinking. She tells us of a classroom she was in in which there was “Definitely no critical thinking [in class], at least none these students dared to voice” (Reif, pg. 189). In too many classrooms today, students do not understand the significance of critical thinking. In fact, on my discussion post for this week, I wrote about how I lacked a writing process. A few of my peers responded by saying that maybe the education process had failed me. Had I experiences more critical thinking techniques, more learning rather than memorizing for an exam, I may be more critically literate than I am today. Do I have the education system to blame, my particular school, or only myself?

Furthermore, to form a truly critically literate student, we must teach them to think deeply. “If we want children to become adults who are articulate, literate and thoughtful citizens of he world, they must learn to think deeply and widely” (Reif, pg. 190). This characteristic clearly is vital for literacy. Without the deep thinking Reif discusses, education would just be “this is this” without any explanation as to why.

In today’s education, students often lack motivation. To find incentive, “kids need to find both personal connection and social significance in the units and texts we offer them” (Wilhelm & Smith, pg. 233). There is nothing worse than trying to teach a lesson in which the students have no connection to. It is extremely difficult to try to explain something to someone in which they have no background knowledge. Kids truly become more interested when they can relate to what is being taught. It is vital that educators strive to provide this connection.

Throughout this weeks reading, we were provided with ways to become educations of critical literacy. We are instructed by Allington, on page 275 that “Struggling readers needed high quality instruction all day long, in every class, as well as well crafted daily intervention in class”.  Teaching a student to be critically literate is not easy, it requires time and dedication but in the end it will be worth it. We need to invest in these students and provide the instruction that is necessary for them to become successful. In the end, it may be a lot of time but it will be worth it. Our students are our future. Allington also explains that effective literacy teachers were good classroom managers and created a sense of community (Allington, pg. 278). We have learned in other classes in the special education program through New Paltz that classroom management is vital. Clearly, we are seeing that it provides a safe environment for students and a friendly atmosphere but not we have knowledge that it is beneficial in creating a critically literate classroom.

Weeks 9s reading also provided some pitfalls of critical literacy. One pitfall is that math skills(according to Moses, pg. 9) are necessary to become critically literacy. Unfortunately, “Math is expected to be boring” (Moses, pg. 9). Thus, many students do not find math interesting, or even like it and therefore lack necessary math skills. As Americans, we also share a stereotype that “It is okay to fail in math” (Moses, pg. 9). As a math teacher, I find this heart wrenching. Clearly, math is vital to achieve critical literacy but students and even many teachers do not see the importance and think that it is okay for a student to lack abilities in math.

Another downfall in the critical literacy importance is that Black oppression still exists. “It is of course a gross oversimplification to say that Black oppression exists because of technology...” (Moses, pg. 10). We have come a long way in trying to obtain racial equality but unfortunately people of color still face disadvantages. In fact, we learn from Moses that “blacks make up perhaps 15 percent of this country’s population, yet in 1995 they earned 1.8 percent of Ph.D.s in computer science, 2.1 percent of those in engineering, 1.5 percent in the physical sciences and .6 percent in mathematics”. I can try to give each student in my class an opportunity to become critically literate, but while Black oppression still exists, it may be difficult. We would need every educator to make a pledge to fight against oppression, to give every student equal possibilities.

“Student motivation is the primary challenge facing teachers” (Wilhelm & Smith, pg. 233). Throughout my education career, in many of my classes, we discuss the importance of motivating students and how difficult it may be. Students can not be truly motivated unless they can relate to the content being taught and without doing so, they will never obtain complete critical literacy. Unfortunately, “students are being forever confronted with what they do not know and cannot do” (Wilhelm & Smith, pg. 239). Accordingly, teachers lack motivational strategies and in doing so, students lack vital skills necessary to be literate and are reminded of how incapable they are. It is a brutal circle in which the students are continually the losers.

The writings this week were eye opening. There were many possibilities for literacy learning in the chapters we read. A major possibility is to place a severe emphasis on the need of math skills. As we read in Moses’ article, math is crucial to literacy and “Instead of weeding all but the best students out of advanced math, schools must commit to everyone gaining this literacy as they have committed to everyone have a reading-writing literacy” (Moses pg. 17). We need to focus as much on mathematics as we do on reading and writing. In the 21st century, it can not be more important to have math skills. Math is following us everywhere and will only continue to.

Reif shares a great idea of keeping journals and portfolios (pg. 195). This is a great possibility for creating a more critically literate person. I actually vowed (in this weeks discussion) to keep a journal of my thoughts to become a more critically literate. Only after one practices can they become better at writing. With the use of journals and portfolios, students can learn a great deal.

Next, in the reading by Allington, we receive the idea of using engaging texts and the urgency to have strategies for organizing thoughts (pg. 280). We also read that a necessary skill of a reader is to consider another perspective, other than that given in a particular reading (pg. 282). As educators, we must understand that we need to teach our students these skills, with these skills, we can teach students to be critically literate.

Take a look at this video from YouTube. Posted by Chris Ramey. After viewing this, you will surely see the connection between this video and the article we ready by Moses. It discusses the importance of mathematics and how it plays into our daily lives. Ramey states in the video: “My hope is that students will find math in a way that is meaningful to them”. The key part here is ‘meaningful to them’. We read in this weeks readings that in order for a student to become more motivated, lessons must be catered to the students so that they can connect to them.

I chose this video because my concentration is in math. This video truly shows how math is vital to reach critical literacy.

Gender Stereotyping~

Gender roles play a vital role in the classroom. I chose to use this weeks blog as a means of venting and pointing out the many stereotypes that males and/or females are faced with daily.

As a soon-to-be (hopefully) math teacher, I hear all the time that "math and science are predominately male fields" and "boys are better at math". Furthermore, on a level that brings us outside the classroom, still many more stereotypes exist that concern the roles of male and females. While society is changing slowly, many people still expect females to be the house cleaners, the primary child care providers, and the passive people in the corner who don't really stand up to males concerning, oh anything. I am happy to say that I am not one of those females. I am darn good at math and I usually stand up for what I believe it, regardless of who I'm standing up against.

Every teacher needs to realize that gender is not always "either/or"(Hill, 2000). Hill actually allows the reader to open their eyes fuller, to get a real viewpoint of the perspectives of people who may face sex/gender mismatches. While sex is based solely on a person's genitals, "gender is not fixed, it can shift over time, it can change" (Tuck, Blog Week 7, 2011). For me, and maybe for you, gender is either/or. I am a girl, and I do not ever feel like a boy. While this fact may seem to lack complexities, this is not true for every individual. Some people are not either female or male. We hear about Sherry Denise on page 28 of Hill's writing. This individual says that "right now I'm about 35/65, 35 male and 65 female (2000).

Take note of how this person's statement is worded. She (he) uses the words 'right now' so clearly this means that her proportions of her feelings of male/female will change and actually do rather constantly. This person has not gendered themselves as either male or female. This person is a little bit of both and feels no need to pick just one because she sees characteristics of each gender. Teachers need to understand this. Not everyone is a girl OR a boy. Some chose to leave behind the either/or and are geared towards the neither/nor or the both/and (Hill, 2008).

Being a great teacher, one that students remember for years to come, means understanding each individual and catering to their needs. Remember Carter Forshay (from our previous reading), a phenomenal teacher who got to know each of his students and in doing so taught them to learn in ways that they could become the most successful.  In order to do this, we must still get a further grasp on gender roles.

One belief about girls in general is that they are not as technologically savvy as males. Because of this, people seem to make the generalization that girls are not capable of pursuing honorable careers such as computer scientists, information technologists, and graphic designers. In actuality, "the number of studies indicating that many girls engage in a variety of online literacy practices with enthusiasm  and confidence grows each year" (Williams, 2007, p. 303). Thus, girls are extremely capable and are even using technology more than they have before.

There is also a sad universality that males, when writing about violence, may actually become violent. Actually, "most boys who play violent computer games do not shoot fellow students" (Williams, 2007, p. 304). Teachers that limit children's imaginations because they don't feel that violence is appropriate for the classroom, truly hinder a students creativity and because of this students may be less likely to participate in their classes and their overall education. "Helping adolescent students, girls and boys, develop a critical perspective on how gender expectations influence their literacy practices is part of the ongoing conversation we should be having in the classroom" (Williams, 2007, p. 305).

As educators, we must break the gender stereotypes that exist in education. There are so many generalizations that are formed that may encumber a student's progress. "Schools must become places where all students, boys and girls, are helped to do their best, where they are treated above all as individuals, and where the discriminatory practices of the past have no place" (Maher, 2008, p. 269).

Take a look at this video. It proves how strong gender roles stereotypes are. Notice what happens when the children are asked "Who takes care of the babies" and "Who goes to work". What might these stereotypes be doing to our future?