Post on Jan 17 readings-Emilee

I thought that the Leland article that discusses critical literacy was a very interesting article. We had already read "Out of the Box" in class so I thought this article brought out a lot of good points and things to think about when deciding as a teacher what is appropriate to read to young students. This article argues that teaching critical literacy is linked to a child's cultural experience. It also says that, "Children that experience a critical approach to literacy learn to read between the lines." It is important as future teachers to take the time to think about what we should or shouldn't read to our students in our classroom and how it might impact each individual student.

One of thing that I got out of the Cambourne article was that it is important for teachers to create discussion opportunities for their students so they are able to build off of their previous knowledge or skills. It is clear after reading this article that teaching literacy can be a very complex process and there is a lot that can go into creating the best literacy learning environment and style.

The Gibbons reading suggests ways that teachers can respond to the learning language needs of ESL students within the regular school curriculum. This chapter suggests two different views of learning. The first is referred to as "banking" model, where teachers are supposed to deposit skills or knowledge into the empty memory banks of their students this could also be looked at as a transmission and reception model between the teacher and the student. The second is referred to as"progressive" which is more of the child's active construction of knowledge with the teacher having the role of managing appropriate learning experiences for the ESL student. One part of the Gibbons reading that really stuck out to my was the part about Vygotsky's zone of proximal development. Basically stating that "successful coordination with a partner, or assisted performance leads learners to reach beyond what they are able to reach alone, and to participate in new situations and tackle new tasks." Since Gibbons focuses on second language learners, I think that Vygotsky's theory could be very helpful when working with ESL students.

I believe that the main point of the Tompkins chapter was to highlight the importance of knowing and understanding how the students in your classroom learn. It is essential that teachers get to know how their students learn because each student learns in their own unique way. One part of the reading that I found particularly interesting was the part about new literacies: The Internet. Since technology is such a huge part of a child's everyday lives it plays a large role in the motivation students have with reading and writing. It makes a point that teachers need to be prepared to use the internet and other technologies as a part of teaching literacy to students.