Question: What do you value for adolescent literacy instruction?

Answer: In working with both Elementary and Middle school, it has been extremely interesting to compare the differences within literacy instruction. Through my exploration of the different grade levels, I have discovered many things that I value about instruction. One thing that has not changed has been my belief that balanced literacy is essential to successful literacy learning. Therefore, one of the top three things that I value about literacy instruction is a strong literary framework. I believe that it is necessary for students to see the balanced literacy approach in the classroom because I believe that the only way students can truly understand reading, writing, and vocabulary is to see HOW and WHY they are used together. For example, I had one student come up to me nearly every class to ask me about her grammar usage in the weekly vocabulary exercise. Without the balanced literacy approach, I suspect that this student would not have even cared about the mechanics of writing during her vocabulary time because she would not have been able to see the connection between writing and vocabulary, rather, she would have thought of each as its own separate entity. I also value collaboration in literacy instruction. Its interesting because one of the most important things I have learned during my time in the Education department is that learning is a social activity. During my time in school, this was never the case; however, in most classrooms today collaboration is the norm. Working in the Elementary school, I saw collaboration as very structured. Because the students were so young, often their conversations seemed very artificial. However, while working with Middle Level students, I have seen much more genuine collaboration. Also, I have seen a lot less of it. This is not to say that collaboration is minimal, it is to say that it was used when it was purposeful. I should rephrase my beginning sentence and note that I value purposeful collaboration. Having students talk for the sake of talking does not achieve goals in the classroom, but rich and genuine conversations enhance student learning. The last of the top three things I value about Middle Level literacy instruction is humor. I know that may seem as such a little thing compared to all the content focused values I hold; however, I have found that humor is just as important to instruction as the actual content. In order to have good classroom management, a teacher must develop caring relationships with his or her students. That relationship is essential to a productive and successful school year. One of the ways I have found I can implement this relationship with Middle School students is to have a sense of humor with them. Teachers can have a sense of humor about the subject manner or even about themselves. For example, when teaching about characterization, my cooperating teacher used a Charlie Chaplin video to illustrate a point. The students loved that video and when the video finished, they were able to clearly demonstrate knowledge of characterization. Even just laughing in the classroom can help create a sense of community. I value classroom management immensely in my classroom; therefore, using humor to help build caring relationships is something I hold in very high regard.