Why Johnny can never, ever read Reading Response

1.      In the article, Why Johnny can never, ever read: The perpetual literacy crisis and student identity, by Bronwyn T. Williams, he discusses concern about young people’s ability to read and write throughout history. Williams also examines causes that vary over time and those that remember specifics throughout. Williams poses an interesting question to his readers that “If we identify these young people ‘“in crisis,”’ rather than confident and adventurous readers and writers, how does that influence how we approach our teaching and our means of assessment?” (180). With this, I believe the point he is trying to make is that now a day some teachers are not allowing for their students to be creative and not letting them think for themselves in a sense. I personally have had experience with a teacher that has similar teaching morals and needless to say, it was a rough class.

2.      I feel as if I can relate this reading to Bronwyn Williams’ other work called Another Opening, Another Show because in that particular reading he discusses the idea that teachers all have identities within them as they teach. I feel as if these two readings relate to each other because in the Why Johnny can never, ever read analysis, he investigates why the concern is repeated from one generation to the next when most people have acquired adequate levels of literacy by adulthood. This ties in with Williams’ other piece because it is because of the teacher’s identities that the students repeat from one generation to the next. With the same teachers reciting the same thing in the same structure, it could have a negative side to things depending on if their identity is helpful and successful.

3.      In the reading, Williams mentions that the majority of concern is from the middle class of society and he connects that concern to a desire for status and privilege. I feel as if I have experienced this view point because I have witnessed firsthand being a part of a middle-class family, but personally I think that it does not raise a concern for a desire of status and privilege. I have always worked hard towards getting what I wanted whether it be inside or outside of school. However, I was not doing that in order to raise my status or to feel more privileged in any way. It was simply just for personal satisfaction.

Co-Authoring Classroom Texts Response

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/independence-in-learning

The video that I have chosen to help define the major key points of the Larson/ Maier article that specifically focuses on classroom literacy was called Learning Menus: Giving Options & Independence. In the article, “Co-Authoring Classroom Texts” by Larson/Maier, it discusses shifts in participation roles between the teachers and students, and analyzes these changes as the teacher switches the framework of writing activity among teacher, author, co-author, and over hearer to enable the co-construction of written texts. Similarly, in this short video, the teacher provides “menus” that allow the students to pick a question or task they feel most comfortable working on, which increases the likelihood of their success. It also creates for a greater ownership over their work. As for the teacher, it provides the opportunities for differentiated learning. Both of these teaching styles allow for the student to expand their knowledge independently and helps them grow. The students feel a sense of independence playing a role similar to a teacher’s role, which strengthens not only their confidence, but their intelligence as well.

Things that I took away from this video:

1. The more options that the students get to choose from, the best students are able to develop concepts in a variety of ways.

2. The option to ask the teacher to grade the task they choose, indirectly motivates students to keep working, being confident they have the opportunity to succeed.

3. Allowing students to have the opportunity to choose their own topic, as well as ask the teacher for more assistance, creates a reassurance for the student that helps them complete a task sufficiently.  

Another Opening, Another Show Reading Response

As a student, I feel that I take on many roles including being respectful, being an active participant, as well as being a motivated learner. A combination of these roles has helped me to become the driven student I am today. Over the course of the years, I have realized that teachers have played a role of a guidance counselor. They have provided me with vigorous instructions on how to become a better student, as well as a better person. A few identities that I can imagine myself having or a few that I have already experienced would be that of a gatekeeper, a coach, and a tour guide. There are benefits to being gatekeeper such as knowing the password to unlocking the classroom door which allows for understanding to what the students needs to know in order it open it. A downside to this method is that with some students, once they cannot unlock the door, they have the tendency to just walk away without giving it another try. With being a coach it is beneficial that I would be supportive and would not stop pushing the student to better themselves. However, a downside could be that the student could feel discouraged at times, but that’s what the encouragement is for. Tour guides, on the other hand, explain and demonstrate everything in great detail, however a pitfall would be that students could get distracted at times.

1. Bronwyn T. Williams depicted some of the different types of identities that teachers demonstrate in his journal, Another opening, another show: Performing teaching identities in literacy classrooms. I found it interesting how Williams pointed out that as a teacher, you may have many identities, however, it is how well we are with being consistent with incorporating all of identities according to the social expectations and our environment. He comments how, “… we perform our identities based on a combination of the social expectations of what a ‘“teacher”’ should be, along with the local characteristics of culture and distinctive dynamics of the audience of students in front of us”(537).  Teachers should be able to incorporate all of the identities in a way that is both effective for the students, as well as the expectations that are held for a “good” teacher. Being able to mold these two expectations together results in having a well-rounded identity in the classroom.

2. When I was in the fourth grade I had a teacher that all of the students wanted, however, a teacher that all of the parents did not want their children to have. This was because she was considered a “friendly” and “fun” teacher. Yes, these are two characteristics that make a good teacher, but not when those are the only things contributing to their teacher identity.  I remember my mom asking what I did each day in class, and I would respond with answers that concerned my mom. Needless to say, after a couple of the parents had meetings with the principal, my fourth grade teacher was no longer a teacher. The moral of the story would be that even though it is good to incorporate being friendly and fun as a part of your identity, there are boundaries that need to be respected. As Bronwyn said, it leaves that student confused when they receive their test back and earn a bad score because they thought since they had an easy time with all the activities, they would get a good test grade. In reality, however, they were not grasping the main point.

3. It also is important to present yourself to your audience (your students) as someone they admire and respect. As stated from Richard Rodriguez’s article Achievement of Desire, Richard “wanted to be like my teachers, to possess their knowledge, to assume their authority, their confidence, even to assume a teacher’s persona” (604). This really stood out to me because it makes me realize that as a teacher, I am not only an instructor, but a role model.  Rodriquez yearned to be like his teachers, which to me, is the greatest compliment. Choosing an identity that works well with both will form a great teacher.  Being able to connect to students in a way that is helpful to them is key.

Szwed Reading Response

1.       In the article, Ethnography of Literature, by John Szwed, he discusses what it means to be literate and how there is no definite answer due to the fact that everyone has their own criteria to base it off of. If it is based on passing a test, if so then how were the questions created, how was the test administered, and what was the set-up of the test? The problem with this is that, as Szwed referred to, what schools may categorize as reading may not consider what students read in other contexts rather than just the classroom. I have personally experienced this because in class, the readings that are required for school, and then tested on is drastically different than what I read at home or within my social circles. This is then creating inaccuracies and difficulties in determining literacy levels.

2.       A simple conclusion that Szwed portrays is that since there is no set standards of how to determine literacy levels, there is no one method or level that can determines ones’ literacy level. Szwed then discovered that “What I would expect to discover, then, is not a single level of literacy, on a single continuum from reader to non-reader, but a variety of configurations of literacy, a plurality of literacies” (423).  He came up with so many reasoning’s to why people read and write, and simply came to the conclusion that there is no agreement. People can define ones’ literacy by someone at home reading their twitter posts, or could also be by someone reading a scholarly article about history. This is why literature can differ from person to person through different ways at home, school, and at work. It also does not just take where the person is at, to determine the person’s literacy level, but also their ethnicity, gender, age, and socioeconomic class.

3.       A question that was brought to my attention as I was reading this article was whether learning proper literacy skills would actually guarantee someone a more successful future in life? It kind of seems like an obvious question, and of course the more education you obtain in your life the more you will thrive, however, I always wondered if those who are less fortunate, or those who never bothered to learn proper literacy skills will ever be truly successful in life. I do feel that having literacy skills is a crucial part in succeeding in life, but I also agree that it takes more than just that. You need characteristics that literacy skills cannot teach you, such as communications and personality skills. Similarly, how Szwed commented that there is no argument to what creates literacy skills, and therefore could mean it is not just limited to that.

Bookshop Selection

For my first choice, I decided to go with Practical Poetry: A Nonstandard Approach to Meeting Content-Area Standards. I picked this book because, personally, I was never a big fan of poetry. This is because when I was taught this in my younger ages, I did not comprehend the meaning of poetry to begin with. Therefore, I want to challenge and expand my knowledge in a way that will make it easy for my future students to learn. I want students to truly enjoy poetry, and not just be intimidated by it.

My second option, and my personal favorite, was Crafting Digital Writing: Composing Texts Across Media and Genres. Since todays generation is revolved around technology and media, I find that it would be interesting to teach students about how to incorporate this skill along with educational purposes. Learning more about digital writing would help me be better prepared for using technology in my classroom. I feel that it would better engage the students during the learning process.