A quick introduction

My name is Emily, I am a fourth year Education student studying at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury, New South Wales, Australia. This blog forms part of an assessment task, in which we were asked to discuss and display our key learnings and understandings surrounding literacy and demonstrate how these key learnings would be implemented into our future classrooms.
The blog is partitioned into sections- one for each area of importance surrounding literacy. Each section will include references to research, interesting webpages and ideas for lessons.
Links to webpages, videos and books that are mentioned in this blog, are listed for your convenience in the side bar. You can also search the blog for key words, topics and links if you need to.
Please feel free to comment on any of the postings with your own thoughts or ideas.

Over a semester of studying Advanced Studies in Numeracy and Literacy (a compulsorary teaching subject at CSU) my ideas of literacy, how it should be taught and who it should be taught by have continued to strengthen and develop. As a learner,  I have come to understand that literacy is so much more than just reading and writing. Literacy is viewing, creating, reading, writing and understanding. These skills form an integeral part of every subject taught across our schools. Therfore it is vitally important that every teacher, in every school is a teacher of literacy. Literacy is no longer a topic left solely for English teachers. To ensure all students receive quality literacy education, a consistent whole school approach is needed. The school and greater school community must recognise and respect that all students have a right to literacy, that all teachers are teachers of literacy and that literacy continues across all ages, year levels and subject areas.

Image courtesy of http://tech.district30.org/?p=945

My understanding that literacy includes viewing, creating, reading, writing and understanding has lead me to appreciate the fact that liteacy is a diverse area of learning, and that it must be taught in a diverse manner. Students enter our classrooms with their own understandings, knowledge, experience and skills surrounding literacy- some may have a great number of skills concerning literacy, and others may have a more limited number of skills.Teaching of literacy needs to recognise and appreciate this.
The fact that students enter our classrooms with diverse levels of skills demands that we teach literacy in a diverse manner. No longer will teaching 'book skills' suffice. Our students live in a digital interactive world, where they view and experience webpages, TV and radio adds, magazines, newspapers, packaging, books of every style and genre, movies, songs, emails, computer and video games, text messages and a huge variety of speeches, whether that be from teachers, parents, friends, TV personalities politicians or royalty. It is our responsibility as teachers to ensure that students are able to view and understand these varying
mediums.  

"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world"

http://21stcentliteracy.edublogs.org/page/4/

Ensuring that literacy is accesible for all students is important as literacy is an essential communication skill and tool for life. A strong understanding of literacy is crucial throughout life; it ensures a love for language and all mediums of communication. Holding a strong understanding of literacy assists in developing students who will become life long learners.