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This is how I felt after reading our very first article in class. I had a very limited understanding of literacy and its definition. I had only known it from an academic perspective. That literacy was simply reading and writing in school. I never judged anyone's academic literacy, but it was fascinating to open my mind up to the possibility that a lot of things can be considered literacy, such as tattoos.

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One of the times we were asked to reflect in class we were asked, "Who do you think were sponsors of your own literacy?"

I created a list:
- reading Sundays (church)
- reading buddies (school)
- Archie comics (subscription)
- School Library
- Mom (1st reader books)
- Public Library
- Barnes and Nobles
- Pinterest
- Bible Classes (reading scripture)
- Book Fair
- DEAR (Drop everything and read)

Originally, when I created this list I didn't have the full understanding I did not because some of these actually aren't "sponsors" just more of how I acquired reading materials.

My sponsors were probably more like:
Teachers
Parents
Media
Marketers

These are people who will gain from my literacy and therefore they are actually my sponsors. Teachers gain from my literacy because it means they are doing their job. My parents benefit from my literacy because they want me to become successful, and they benefit from seeing me do that. The media wants me to read everything that is presents so it benefits from my literacy. Lastly, marketers such as kindle and barnes and noble benefit by my literacy because if I am literate I am paying for books and benefiting them.

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Literacy is all influenced by one's lens.

Thankfully I do not think that literacy and its definition is one set thing for every single person. I think it is much like set of glasses that's prescription is constantly being modified and adjusted as it sees the world around it.

I think that everyone figuratively is born blind, and that their exposure to certain things is what builds the lenses in their glasses. I think a lot of factors influence literacy.

How highly valued it is at home.
How peers are seeing the world.
By what they are learning in school.

A majority of people's young lives, kindergarten through college, are spent in school. Which means that it has the biggest ability to make an impact in people's lenses which is why it is so important to have a broad lens in school. To not focus on simply on what has always been taught because that suffers major biases and discrepancies, but to instead introduce new ideas and introduce new ways of looking at literacy.

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"Kids don't read and write anymore"

I find this seriously ironic since the cover photo of this post is a meme (huge for younger generation culture) and it has words in it... which means people have to read them to think its funny, which means people are reading!

Kids are constantly responding to one another, and using the internet to look things up, communicate with each other, and read a ton of different types of things.

That means that they are typing questions, and responses to their friends - Writing.
And they are reading answers and their friends responses - Reading.

Basically they are using reasoning and communication skills all the time, just because they are using a different medium doesn't make the communication any less meaningful. It just means that they are LITERATE in a different form.

I think considering technology as a literacy would help students feel like they are actually producing ideas and are educated. It is probably demeaning to hear that there is no value in your form of literacy (technological communication) and only one way is the right way (Reading and Writing).

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The biggest thing that I have learned is that once it is my responsibility to run the classroom it has to be a safe snd comfortable zone for the students to express themselves and share their different, unique, and diverse literacies.

I think its important to make certain that there is equal representation through out the works of literature I would pick for them to read in class.

That the literature addresses issues that are relevant to their lives outside of the classroom.

That there are equal opportunities to share and reflect and let their voices be heard.

Also for me as a teacher to be open minded and willing to learn from my students and what they have to teach me.