The Important of Being Literate in Today's World

After being assigned the Literacy Dig to go to a coffee shop and observe on the literacy present I have realized just how crucial literacy is in today's society.  It has come to my attention that almost all public areas have some type of text present, whether it be with directions, advertisements, instructions, prices, menu items, etc.  I simply cannot imagine living the life that I live in today's society and no being able to read.  When I think about my daily routines, a lot of it involves reading and literacy.  For example, my morning breakfasts are always accompanied by the daily newspaper, and throughout the day I am constantly in contact with my friends and family through e-mail and instant messaging, which all consider literacy.  I simply cannot imagine what it would feel like doing normal activities, that I always consider easy, for someone who is illiterate.  

 

Even after observing in Seattle's Best coffee shop for a half an hour I realized what a tremendous amount of literacy is present in everyday life.  Observing the atmosphere of the coffee shop in general I realized how much literacy was around.  All over the walls were advertisements and general quotes with book titles.  The people that filled the room were people who all were taking part in some sort of literacy activity.  Some people were reading newspapers, books, and magazines, and people that weren't reading were busily typing on their computers.  Surrounding the coffee shop were shelves and shelves of books since the coffee shop was contained in Borders Bookstore.  For a person who does not understand written text, it would be very difficult and uncomfortable to be present in this store or coffee shop at any time. 

 

After the short amount of observing and analyzing how impacting literacy is in our everyday lives, I have realized how important it is to educate and inspire our youth to learn to read and write well.  It is very important to be able to make connections between each individual student and the most effective way to reach out to them in the classroom.  Each student will be at different reading levels when they enter my classroom and it will be my job to identify what it is that will help them reach their potential.  It will also be my responsibility to help my students realize how fun learning to read can be to get them hopeful to reach their goals.  

When it comes to my students writing abilities, I have realized from Elizabeth Hale's "Crafting Writers" that it is important to be able to identify how to help students reach their full writing potential.  Asking students questions that will ultimately lead them to improving their writing will help them improve and develop craft in their future writing.  I also realized that because all my students have different reading and writing levels it is important to not make this evident in the classroom.  My job as a professional will be to encourage students, not to discourage them.  Therefore, it is important that I make sure and not single out students by giving them different types of notebooks to write in or completely different assignments.  It is important for them to enjoy writing and to realize their abilities.  Therefore I want my students to feel free to express all of their thoughts through pictures and words.