# data[].attributes.body
From this week's group of readings, it seems that literacy is deserves to be student-led and for-the-student. As Friere writes, it is about reading the world and not merely the word. To value literacy in education we have to draw on students experiences and prior knowledge in order to inform curriculum design and instruction. Literacy is directly tied to one's community insofar as students build familiarity and come to love things in their communities that they can read, see, and develop closeness with. It seems that we must unlearn a strict interrogative method of imposing literacy on students and instead guide students to learn, share, and understand more about things that already have meaning for them. With a student-directed lens to literacy, students can begin with the familiar, gradually expand their worldview, and develop interests in new things and the process of learning itself.

# data[].attributes.body
As I reflect on these readings, I am thinking about how important it is to respect and value your students and their ideas within the classroom. Ornella, McNamara, Lyman, and Harvey, all discover- in their own ways- that children become more engaged in their education when they find something they can relate or connect to. As educators, we have the power to make children feel heard and engaged with by taking their the parts of their lives that they wish to share with us and incorporating them into our daily life in the classroom. This could look like a morning meeting where we check in with the students and allow them to share aspects of their lives, it could also be used when helping them search for books and creating reading groups. Another aspect of all of these readings is allowing the students to lead their learning when you are able to. Giving students some autonomy in the classroom could motivate them to to become more independent and help them to apply critical thinking skills on their own in real life. This could look many different ways depending on the age and skills of the students. My hope would be to establish a classroom community built on mutual respect and care so my students feel heard, valued, and motivated to learn!

# data[].attributes.body
This group of readings seemed grounded in the schools of thought of Freire (1983) and Moll et al (1992). The former, reminds us that reading the word is preceded by and intertwined with reading the world around us. The context of that world-reading is grounded in the language of our cultures, beliefs, and values (Freire, 1983). This connects to Moll et al who emphasize the significance of the "funds of knowledge" students bring to the classroom- their cultural capital. Therefore, literacy is not just words on a page, it is the way students understand and interpret the world around them. To place value on one form of literacy over another in education is to place limitations on the brilliance students bring to learning spaces. Critical literacy helps us understand the systems of power that have made those value judgements and unlearn them. We need to allow our students to show us the literacies that speak to them- musical, lyrical, visual, and word-based. As an educator committed to honoring student voice, critical literacy helps me unpack my own biases to create spaces where all literacies are valued and honored.

These readings invited us to use place-based learning as an entry point into discovering the literacies of our students. Observing how they viewed the world around them in literacy walks helped reveal what spoke to them, what knowledge they possessed, and what curiosities they wanted to explore. It is a delicate act to explore the communities of our students without othering them, or creating spectacles of difference, but it is an important act to take. Grounding literacy in the lived experiences of our students helps them see themselves as part of a community where their voices and stories shape learning.

# data[].attributes.body
Based on our readings, literacy is something that should be a main focus for students. Teachers should be using their students schema to build and develop upon their understanding. Literacy is connected to everything that the students do both in school and outside of school. It can connect to the languages spoken at home as well.

Critical literacy is important because it allows teachers and students to make deeper meaning with texts and build their understandings of language more. Critical literacy is important now, in the past, and for our futures. It seems like now more people are learning about critical literacy and being active in understanding different forms of language.

Orellana and Hernandez(1999) are focused on expanding on literacy past using words. This involves using both verbal and non-verbal communication for students. They also discussed being aware of bias. There are bias that teachers come in with and it is important to be aware of this in order for students to be better communicators.

McNamara and Andes(2016) are focused on place-based learning which is using local communities to create learning spaces for students. They are also focused on student-driven inquiry which is super important because it helps students be able to explore and learn through their experiences.

# data[].attributes.body
The first book that made me actually like reading and transformed me into a reader was Percy Jackson and the Olympians in third grade. It’s interesting to think before that I saw reading as a chore rather than the ability to go and escape for a little bit. After this I became a voracious reader and my new punishment wasn’t no TV it was no books. This book helped me find a love of reading while also seeing myself in the stories since it was about a kid.

# data[].attributes.body
One book that has transformed me is called "The Giving Tree". This was a book that I read a lot as a child. This books discusses the importance of kindness and generosity. The tree gives everything its ever had until there is nothing left to give. Although it is important to share and always be kind, it is also important to respect boundaries.

# data[].attributes.body
A book I recently read called Babel which was about students revolutionaries at a fantasy Oxford. Language and translation are used for industrialization/capitalism and colonization, and foreign languages of the colonized are highly valued. The book deals heavily with ideas colonization and how it impacts the lives of everyone involved. It was quite a timely read with student protests and how the destructive nature colonialism and capitalism will come for everyone, and you will have to figure out what you want your part to be. (I had some critiques of the writing itself, but overall I appreciated the message and it made me think!)

# data[].attributes.body
I don't find a lot of time to read for pleasure these days, but a few years ago, I read a mystery novel called "The Silent Patient," and it changed my perspective on reading for fun. It brought me back to how much I enjoyed it when I was younger and encouraged me to continue to find time for this hobby.

# data[].attributes.body
A book that has been transformative for me was "What I Know For Sure" by Oprah Winfrey. This book was instrumental during a time in my life where I was looking for inspiration and direction. This book was filled with vignettes about joy, resilience, and clarity. It gave me some good perspective regarding what was going on at that point in my life. And it helped me to push forward beyond any doubts I had. This is a book I like picking up every now and then when I need some "lightness" in what might be a heavy day.

# data[].attributes.body
A book that has been transformative in my life is The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson. This book helped me see that everyone has a story, and that it's okay if your story is different from others'. In the book, the main character feels nervous about sharing her background with her classmates because she thinks she won’t fit in. When she finds the courage to speak, she learns that her story is special and that other people feel the same way too. The Day You Begin showed me that it’s brave to share who you are and that our differences can bring us closer together, not further apart. This book transformed the way I think about myself, my students and others. Now, I try to listen more closely to people’s stories and appreciate what makes each of us unique.

# data[].attributes.body
I don’t know if I have a book top of mind that was “transformative” in my life. Once I finally learned how to decode I really started to enjoy reading and became an avid reader in elementary school. That habit ceased as I got older but has once again picked up for me in the last 4 or so years. A book that I really love is “unaccustomed earth” by Jhumpa Lahiri. It is a book of amazing short stories. I think I chose to write about it now because it’s one of the books I’ve read in the past few years that has made me love reading and really shifted my perspective on the act of reading.

# data[].attributes.body
Where the red fern grows is a middle grade coming of age story about a boy and his two dogs. I remember reading it in second grade on the advice of my teacher who wanted me to branch out. I didn't think it would be for me but then ended up sobbing in the corner of the classroom during math class when I got to tragic ending. As a younger reader it really opened my eyes to how powerful a story can be and solidified a love of reading. The feeling of being so captivated by a story you can't put it down is one i've been chasing ever since!

# data[].attributes.body
A transformative piece of literature for me was the Series of Unfortunate Events books. The books were focused on 3 children who were orphans. They had to face many difficulties and overcome their misfortune throughout each book in the series. There was always a new wild challenge to deal with but the siblings worked together each time. This book series was really interesting for me as a kid because I saw the kids as brave and tough for fighting through their difficulties, and never giving up hope.

# data[].attributes.body
Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry was transformative for me when I first read it in High School. I still often think of the quote, "Toutes les grandes personnes ont d'abord été des enfants. (Mais peu d'entre elles s'en souviennent.)" This means that all adults were once children, but few among them remember it. This makes me think of the way Dr. Muhammad encourages us to center the lives and experiences of our students honoring and cultivating the geniuses they bring to the classroom. This perspective often helps me tap into youthful enthusiasm or "joy", the same joy that children seem to find so easily in the things they love, that adults often struggle to understand. Another element of this book that I found transformative is the way the Little Prince loves his Rose. He loves it, because he is responsible for it, he takes care of it. This reminded me of Dr. Muhammad's reminder to connect to whose we are and to whom we belong. Saint-Exupéry tells us that we belong to whatever and whomever we care for, and this is a beautiful message for teaching and for life.

# data[].attributes.body
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer was a book that transformed my relationship with my discipline immensely. I studied environmental science in my undergraduate degree, and always felt an element of exclusion in the scientific white dominated jargon. I looked for every opportunity to research ways people and communities are interconnected to our environment. Robin Wall Kimmerer is an indigenous (Potawatomi) botanist whose work is dedicated to validating the traditional ecological knowledge of indigenous people and letting it be a guide to how we plan, grow, and conserve our environment. This is a great example of how all perspectives should be included in each discipline to disrupt the exclusivity of academia.

# data[].attributes.body
As a kid I remember reading The Tiger Rising by Kate DiCamillo and feeling very connected to the story and the mood of the text. I remember wanting to reread the story over and over again. Even though the book was set in Florida, in a very different setting than where I grew up, something about the characters captured my imagination.

A few years ago I read "The Body Keeps the Score" and there are points from that book that still pop into my mind on a regular basis. I think that it really transformed the way I think about healing.

# data[].attributes.body
In Eating Meat and Eating People, Cora Diamond discusses vegetarianism from an ethical standpoint. This work was transformative for me insofar as it facilitated an unconscious shift in my orientation towards the world. I felt deeply moved by the work, but I had never considered vegetarianism before reading this work nor soon after. Two years passed by until one day I realized I no longer wanted to eat meat. This process revealed the unconscious work done unto me by this work. I had unconsciously experienced this moral seep through me over the years. This wasn't a meaningful experience because I am a staunch vegetarian (I don't care if others eat meat). Rather it demonstrates the moral force (to me) and the power of words.

# data[].attributes.body
Sometimes, if I am honest, I don't have much time for reading besides readings for my classes, but one book that truly changed my perspective was "The Color Purple" by Alice Walker. I first read it in high school and immediatly saw the impact this book had on literature and culture. Not only does it explore race, but also gender, and power. The story has a depper meaning on growth for women which is very impactful with what is happening currently around the world.

# data[].attributes.body
After reading "Fostering Deeper Learning: The Understanding by Design Framework," I noticed that the focus of UbD encourages thinking about the big picture in teaching, instead of just “covering the curriculum.” The framework shows that tests and projects aren’t just for giving grades—they help students learn and guide how teachers teach. It makes me think about my own teaching: do I sometimes plan activities without knowing exactly what I want students to learn?

# data[].attributes.body
The readings this week provided good insight to UDL and UdB. I have to admit, I was only familiar with UDL and had never heard of UdB. However, after reading about UdB, it goes hand in hand with UDL. While UDL's focus is making learning accessible for all students, UdB is a foundational building block to how we teach students. It's the planning stage that helps with the lesson planning. One big takeaway for me from UdB was the reminder how "Essential Questions" are meant to be explored and revisited over time, not answered by the end of a single class period. For me, this is an important takeaway to remember. Often, when I plan lessons I get caught up in making sure my entire lesson addresses the essential question and students finish with an understanding of the lesson. Both of these frameworks build on each other, as UdB reminds teachers to take a step back and look what the students need to learn and how to teach it. While UDL helps with lesson planning to ensure there is representation, access, and different ways for students to engage and express what they have learned.

# data[].attributes.body
Reading "Fostering Deeper Learning: The Understanding by Design Framework" made me reflect on the big picture a lot. Being in a classroom full time for the first time is really making me think about the deeper understanding that is happening through the lessons and learning. I am in a kindergarten class so everything that seems so simple really has such deeper aspects. For example the students sign in every day and when I first thought of this I was like yes of course for attendance. When thinking deeper about this it helps them with learning their letters, working on their pencil grip, understanding spacing for writing, getting into a routine and prepare for school behavior vs home behavior. Another one that stood out to me was when I was telling my family that the students take theater class where they practice expressing emotions which is so important for children to understand how to identify and express these emotions. Reading about UbD helped me reflect more on these practices and seeing the larger picture of helping these students become not just learners but quality participants in society.

# data[].attributes.body
The UbD framework presents a way of planning curriculum “backwards” by starting with desired results. This framework emphasizes transfer of learning, that students should be able to use content meaningfully in context (McTighe & Wiggins, 2012, p. 4). Additionally, the teacher is positioned as a “facilitator of meaning making” (p. 5) as opposed to a disseminator of knowledge. This aligns well with the inquiry based learning model that is often used in science classrooms, and I love the repositioning of this approach as central to all subjects. Something that stood out to me were the six facets of understanding (pp. 3-5). Perspective and empathy are particularly important within the context of HRL, when we consider whose stories are being told, and whose are missing.

Whenever I read about UDL I always remember something my MLL professor said- that “good differentiation is just good teaching.” While UDL adaptations address learners with disabilities, they benefit all learners. While UbD provides an intentional design process to curriculum, UDL ensures representation, access, and engagement for all students.

Muhammad’s HRL framework pushes these ideas further, asking us not just to consider desired learning transfer and accessibility, but also students’ cultures, identities, and histories. She urges us to design curriculum that takes “the full measurement of our children” (2023, p. 136). Muhammad’s assessment strategies align with UbD in that they should reveal both the genius of children and the success or shortcomings of the teacher (2023, p. 138). Her curriculum design also aligns with UDL’s multiple means of representation but in a way that is deeply culturally grounded, using the “oral histories, traditions, and social context” of our students (2023, p. 135).

Using these three interconnected frameworks to design curriculum will help us foster learning that is meaningful, accessible, and affirming to student identities.

# data[].attributes.headline
Fostering Deeper Learning: The Understanding By Design Framework- Aaliyah Alleyne

# data[].attributes.subject
Fostering Deeper Learning: The Understanding By Design Framework- Aaliyah Alleyne

# data[].attributes.body
The reading did a deep dive into ways to improve and foster deeper love of learning. The key method noted was understanding by design and using the backward design method. That involves teaches teaching with the desired learning outcomes at the forefront of their mind. It helps guide and structure the instruction and can better support the learning at hand. The first stage of backward design is identifying designed results. The second stage of backward design is determining acceptable evidence so teachers are thinking about “What performances and products will reveal evidence of student understanding and ability to transfer? What additional assessment evidence will be sued to assess other learning outcomes?”(Heineke McTighe, pg 7). The third stage of backward design is plan learning experiences and instruction. As the learning progresses, teachers are addressing whether or not standards are being met based on students ability to transfer the information. Learning is being supported and enhanced as students know what their goals are from the beginning. It was also noted that the Understanding by design framework “… foster students’ learning and understanding through rigorous and meaningful curriculum across disciplines and academic settings”(Heineke McTighe, pg 16). This method can be really helpful for students and teachers.

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout this course, I learned so much about literacy and how to best teach literacy to students across all subject areas. One of the most important aspects of this course was learning about the various frameworks that support historically responsive and culturally appropriate learning. I enjoyed looking at the different videos that were assigned for the padlets as well. It was really nice watching the teachers use best practices and strategies to educate their students. My identity as a literacy educator has evolved from the beginning to the end of the course to an educator who is even more driven by the cultures of her students. I want to value my students' identity and affirm them while also spending time exploring other cultures and appreciating each other's identities.

# data[].attributes.body
Muhammad's framework had the most profound impact on me throughout this course. It gave me a new lens to look through when considering lessons I am teaching in school as well as the unit plan I put together in this course. Her five pursuits give specific goals to consider while also giving space to come up with my own ideas. I found myself asking a lot more questions about why I am teaching what I am teaching and what I can change to make it more impactful.

# data[].attributes.body
I think all of Dr. Muhammad's HRL framework really help to not only expand my thinking, but clarify my role as an educator in the classroom. Something I would struggle with when planning lessons for classes at Hunter has been the why when thinking about a lesson, or why it was being taught a certain way. With this framework, I can breakdown the different elements from the lesson and figure out the core of what I am teaching.

I think most of my questions have to do just with what will naturally arise with experience. Being in the classroom will bring new curiosities and questions that I will have to think about and engage with from moment to moment and lesson to lesson.

This class has helped me to become a more thoughtful, critically minded, educator and I hope to bring these new skills to the classroom!

# data[].attributes.body
One of the most transformative understandings about literacy that I gained is that literacy is never neutral. Muhammad's HRL framework taught me that reading and writing are tools for transformation, justice, and truth-telling. Literacy shapes whose stories are hard and whose knowledge is values, whose humanity is affirmed. This fundamentally shifts how I view my role as a teacher. One of my purposes is to teach students how to question the world, honor multiple perspectives, not just teach them how to read and write. I want to teach truthful, critical literacy, in ways that challenge dominant narratives, holding families' traditions, emotions, and beliefs with care.

# data[].attributes.body
Walking away from this course, I feel that my identity as a literacy educator as definitely changed for the better. In a school where you can't change the curriculum and you have to work with the script, I have found the work to make the content accessible to all children is really beneficial to them. In a class with a lot of different needs, my students have struggled reading a historical fiction novel so far and I really had to think about what is the most important theme for them to take away. While reading the novel brought on a lot of different stressors, I found myself prioritizing what they were going to take away rather than completing the scripted "assignments." I also fear that some of my students may take away the wrong narratives away from the book and apply it the real-world problems. Students found themselves thinking the work was non-fiction. I have also prioritized students bringing in their own cultures to the classroom, as we worked through the curriculum called "Cultures in Conflict."

# data[].attributes.body
This course has largely been defined by the work of Dr. Gholdy Muhammad and has thus imprinted each pursuit in my teaching pedagogy. Amongst the pressures of ELA standards, Muhammad has created a portal into interdisciplinary multimodal hyper-inclusive learning opportunities for students. In previous reflections, I have emphasized the importance of the first and last pursuits: identity and joy. These are pursuits where students choose to care, to extend, to remember, and to act in the knowledge they have learned. The last chapter of Cultivating Genius showed us that these pursuits should not receive all the credit, that they are rooted in scholars, leaders, and people before us. bell hooks writes that love is always knowing that we belong. Martin Luther King says that love and power are not at odds. Each quote commands us to fight against the oversaturated skills-driven literacy curriculum we are forced to mold to. Yes, it is not easy, yes it is uncomfortable, and yes it will take more time. But the class has taught me that all of this is not just worth it, but necessary for the literacy relationship of every student.

# data[].attributes.body
Something that has transformed my thinking about literacy teaching is the idea that teaching is never neutral. This has been echoed by several of the authors of this course: La Croix et. al, Muhammad, Souto-Manning, Ladson-Billings all point to the political nature of teaching. It is more than a simple act of transference. Good literacy teaching, as Muhammad tells us, should be connected to acts of social justice and the betterment of humanity. One of the best ways to carry this forward is to continue the work of knowing my students deeply (their identities, interests, strengths, cultures) and the work of knowing myself deeply. By that I mean, continuously doing the work of examining my biases and privileges, and being brave enough to confront my own blind spots.

Understanding of yourself and your students is springboard to finding pathways of connection to an otherwise impersonal curriculum. Another way to carry this forward is to see curriculum as a starting point. We can always find ways to make adjustments to make it more inclusive, more accessible, and more reflective of its students.

Muhammad's framework will definitely continue to inspire me as I plan lessons moving forward. Specifically, the pursuits outside of skills and intellect, which are more typically valued in American schools. Developing identity, criticality, and joy are so instrumental in doing what good teaching should really accomplish- developing self-aware, critical citizens of an ever-changing world.

# data[].attributes.body
Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Cultivating Genius really expanded my thinking about literacy by reminding me that teaching reading and writing isn’t just about skills it’s about the things she wraps up in her four pursuits, particularly joy. This made me step back and realize how often traditional literacy instruction drifts toward compliance and routine instead of nurturing students as whole human beings with histories, and voices that matter.

Going forward, I want to be much more intentional about designing lessons that help students see themselves in the texts we read, ask big questions, and create work that feels purposeful. I’m especially carrying with me her emphasis on joy choosing texts that spark excitement rather than just meet standards. I also want to build more opportunities for students to develop their identities as readers and writers by centering their cultures, interests, and community knowledge.

# data[].attributes.body
Muhammad's framework as a pedagogical basis was transformative for me - in particular, the pursuit of joy. I often felt in my work as an educator this lack or absence that I couldn't really name. Sometimes I would think to myself, these kids are nine years old - why isn't there more "childlike wonder" in this lesson? Now I know that what I was missing was joy, and the inclusion of joy as equally important to the learning process as skill and intellect building. The study of individuality and criticality were also new and transformative for my thinking as an educator. I am really glad to have a transferable framework to bring forward as I assess future lessons and curriculum.

I also believe that the historical study of the Black literary societies of the 1800s will stay with me. This is something that I feel compelled to learn more about. It feels like I have learned just the tip of the iceberg about this important American history - in fact, I feel like I am leaving this class with a long list of books and topics that I am energized to explore. It is a buoying, propelling, life-affirming feeling. I feel grateful to be in a position to learn more and more as an educator.

Muhammad also spoke to the importance of loving, accepting, and committing to yourself if you are going to work as an educator. This felt transformative as well. I slip easily into criticizing and finding fault in myself, and it was helpful to think about self-love as a calling, so that I can model it for my students, too.

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout the duration of the course I have learned a lot about Muhammads framework. Literacy is very important for a child to learn and learning about the expansive aspects that literacy has to offer has been interesting to hear. This class has taught me how to be a better literacy educator. In making the lesson plan, I have learned how to adapt to different students needs and make sure that every child feels supportive.

# data[].attributes.body
Coming into this course, I was not expecting it to be grounded in CRSE. Finding out we would be studying literacy using Dr. Muhammad's research was a delight for me since I had a little background in CRSE from my internship over the summer. Throughout this semester, I gained more appreciation for it and I also am still learning. I'm am still continuing to build on that foundation of CRSE.

So, for myself, I want to continue exploring how I can incorporate Dr. Muhmammad's pursuits into my lessons. Additionally, I want to read Dr. Brian Jones' book since I found his lecture interesting and thought provoking.

# data[].attributes.body
Throughout this course, I learned that literacy instruction is about much more than teaching reading and writing skills. It is about honoring students’ identities, voices, emotions, and lived experiences. We learned that students come to the classroom with knowledge, culture, and stories that deserve space in literacy learning.

One of the most important ideas from this course is that equity and joy are not extras, they are essential. Frameworks like culturally responsive and humanizing literacy showed me that students learn best when they feel seen, safe, and valued. I also learned that differentiation is not about lowering expectations, but about providing different pathways so all students can access the same meaningful learning.

My biggest takeaway from this class is that literacy is human work. It is about connection, expression, and belonging. When students are given space to be joyful, curious, and themselves, literacy becomes more powerful and meaningful. This course has changed how I think about teaching.