Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (JAAL). March 2006.

Some ideas on teaching literacy from the Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy (JAAL), March 2006, a publication of the International Reading Association.


Scale of the value of each idea to me, RayS.
* Not much interest, either because the ideas are not new or the topic is uninteresting.
** I'll think about it.
***Very much interested.


Why do people become teachers?
"None of us became teachers out of a burning desire to raise students' test scores." CM Santa. JAAL (Mar. 06), 475. *** [RayS. In light of the No Child Left Behind law, I think it is time to poll teachers on why they became teachers. How do the effects of the No Child Left Behind law affect their goals as teachers?]


How can teachers learn and use multicultural literary works that are unfamiliar to parents?
Prepare rationales for teaching the multicultural literary works. [RayS. For examples of rationales for teaching literary works, go to http://www.ncte.org.] Share the books with parents and other groups. Expose yourself to people different from you. RJ Stallworth, et al. JAAL (Mar. 06), 478-489. ***

How introduce critical literacy into the classroom?
Read supplementary texts with different points of view on issues. EH Behrman. JAAL (Mar. 06), 490-498. ***

How do you define "literacy"?
"...speaking, reading, listening, writing and understanding language is being literate." MC Taylor. JAAL (Mar. 06), 500. *

How teach literacy?
By modeling the practices you are asking your students to learn. J Trier. JAAL (Mar. 06), 510-523. *** [RayS. I think modeling the skills you are teaching is simply the best teaching method ever invented. Show your students how you listen, speak, read and write.]

How is reading related to thinking?
The question is good. The answer by this author involves listening when reading. [RayS. Didn't make a great deal of sense to me.] R. Bomer. JAAL (Mar. 06), 524-535. **

How teach effectively?
Teacher explains exactly what she is going to do to the students who therefore understand what and how she is teaching them. BT Williams. JAAL (Mar. 06), 536-540. [RayS. The best dentist I ever had, the most painless, was the one who explained to me ahead of time exactly what he was about to do and what to expect. I think explaining how you are going to teach is another form of modeling that helps students understand what they are learning and how they are learning and how to go about teaching themselves. I think this technique is worth thinking about.] ***

Other topics: Teaching is discovering like the Lewis and Clark expedition. Forming policy on listening--written in language I almost choked on. *