Chapters 3 & 16

I felt that both of these chapters held a lot of information that is extremely relevant to the literacy issues that are happening in the schools today.  So many students today are interested in literacy, however it just might not be what the curriculum teaches.  Donna Alvermann reported, "It's almost ironic that, at a time when young people are becoming credible consumers of mass media and popular culture, curriculur standards move further from real-life engagements with media more traditional approaches to teaching and learning" (19).  More than ever students are finding their own means of literacy through the internet, video games, cell phones, blogs,  etc.  However, schools are not acknowledging that times are changing and that students are not the same as they used to be.  I think that this point is really important.  The chapter mentioned that it is getting harder and harder for students to just sit in class for a lecture and then take a test.  The Institution of Old Learning (IOL) is now something that needs to remain in the past, not something we should center the entire curriculum on (26).  It is time for advocates of IOL to recognize that newer approaches to literacy are in fact beneficial to the students. 

I was shocked when I read that 7,000 students drop out of school each day.  That number seems impossible to me.  It really gave me hope to read about the one student who believed "one teacher motivated her because the teacher refused to believe the stereotypes" (244).  The teachers have to be willing to put in the time for each student.  I think this is where a lot of teachers go wrong in the schools.  So many teachers get burnt out and stop caring about each individual student, instead caring only about overall grades and averages.  When Jackson said, "teachers must first work smarter" I think that is right on (246).  It all starts with the teachers and I feel that too many people forget that.  Another point I thought was great was "confident teachers use strategies that empower adolescents" (247).  I think the best thing a teacher can do is to get his/her students to want to learn.  That is my biggest goal for when I have my own classroom.  When the students want to learn their initiative is so much greater.