Prompt 2: What is Literacy?

What is literacy? What are the essential components? Why is it important? How did you become a literate person?


Here are two ideas of what literacy is and should be:

• A fourth “r” for 21st century literacy
• Net Smart: Introduction to fundamental social media literacies

What is your reaction to these ideas/suggestions?


Think about your own journey to literacy. How did you learn to read and write? What about 21st century or social media literacy? What were some important moments on that journey?


For example, I always remember loving to read and write and desperately wanting to be a writer, but it was my sophomore (high school) English teacher who taught me the important lessons that made that dream possible. That was a very pivotal moment in my development as a writer.

Check out these serious and not-so-serious Literacy Narratives (descriptions of how a person--and sometimes why--becomes literate): 

• http://youtu.be/m85Z86IY_tM
• http://youtu.be/vofvV1C3BUE
• http://youtu.be/N1hapehM5SM

You can also find these in Blackboard (under Course Documents): 

• Jimmy Santiago Baca's "Coming Into Language"
• Malcolm X "Learning to Read"
• Sherman Alexie "Superman and Me"

Some additional thoughts on literacy narratives including one more example.

First write a journal entry about literacy (your thoughts about it in general such as what it should be and include as well as specific experiences from your own life). Then Tweet some response to your journal entry. Try to include a hashtag (label) so your response becomes part of a wider conversation. Some possible hashtags include: #writer #writers #writing #literacy #reading. Finally, discuss on Blackboard.

Prompt 1: What is a writer?

Our first literacy reflection prompt will focus on writing and writers -- and where you think you fit in those definitions.


Watch this video (Everyone is a writer): http://teach4learning.org/ncow.org/site/index.htm

Do you agree (that everyone is a writer)? Are you a writer?

Check out a couple of Dr. Amy Taggert's interviews @ http://teach4learning.org/ncow.org/site/spotlight/interviews/index.htm 

You don't need to watch the entire interview - just the answers to the specific question about whether or not they are a writer - but you might find the full interviews inspirational (for your own reflection). 

What is your answer to this question? Especially think about Jennie and the way she differentiates between a writer and a Writer.

How do you describe a writer? Are you one? How do you become one? Have you ever thought of yourself as a writer? Have you ever thought it was possible you could become one?

Note: You don't need to answer each question individually in your journal (although you can). Just watch the videos and think about the overarching question (what is a writer) and how you feel about whether or not you are a writer then write a journal post about it (you can find your journal in Blackboard under Tools).

Then Tweet some response to your journal entry. Try to include a hashtag (label) so your response becomes part of a wider conversation. Some possible hashtags include: #writer #writers #writing 

Finally, participate in the Blackboard reflection discussion for your Week 1 prompt. 

Help us become a community

During the first three weeks of classes (and hopefully beginning BEFORE classes) we will use Twitter to get to know each other as people. One of the greatest drawbacks of an online class is that we do not get the opportunity to get to know each other as we would in a face-to-face class through discussion and regular interaction.

You will need to take three steps to help us learn more about each other. First, you will need to follow your classmates (check the list of people that the class account is following. The class account will only follow your classmates--you can ignore those Twitter accounts related to writing). You will need to keep checking the class "following" list as that will change over time as people join the class. It is entirely up to you whether or not you want to follow me on my personal account. You may decide that you already hear enough from me. I am more concerned with getting to know you and for you to get to know each other.

Second, over the first three weeks of class you will need to post at least 10 updates (spread over 10 different days). These are Tweets so they are short. Just give us a glimpse into what you are thinking, feeling, and/or doing. You can do more than that. Post every day if you life. Post more than once a day if you like. We are just trying to break the ice here and help us see you as a person. You don't need to share your deepest secrets or anything terribly personal. This is just meant to help us overcome the fact that we won't actually "see" you in person and know that you are suffering from allergies or a truly horribly haircut or that you just had an awesome weekend or are sporting the perfect shoes (note you can even send pictures of your perfect shoes, cute dog, or funny kid with applications such as http://twitpic.com/.

Finally, you will need to read the Tweets of your classmates and participate in some conversations. Ask people about their six-word memoirs or their updates. Commiserate with those struggling with campus parking or long lunch lines or expensive books. You don't need to respond to everyone and you don't need to do this every day but try to do it at least a couple different days.

Notes:

To send a public reply to someone use @username (such as @mascle200)

To send a private reply to someone use D username (such as D mascle200)

To link your post to a larger conversation use hashtags (such as #mascle100 or #sixwords) to label a conversation. Some other examples include:

#iamsotiredof

#fail

#fun

#notfun

#college

#writing

Introduce yourself to the class…in just six words

Your challenge is to write a six-word memoir.

Why just six words? Because that is the rule of the game! Learn more about the Six-word Memoir Movement:

The book:



It began (and continues still) at Smith Magazine

Some examples if you need inspiration:

On Twitter and more Twitter!

This is the six-word memoir I created for my Fall 2010 class:

And my Spring 2011 class:

This summer I wrote this six-word memoir for my Morehead Writing Project work:

Head too full...it's gonna blow!

These are some six-word memoirs created for other classes:

Mr. Ream’s 9th grade class:


Mr. Wright’s Creative Writing Class:


After you have created your Twitter account and the class Twitter account is following you (it might take a day or so for that to happen) then post your six-word memoir to your Twitter account. Please include @6_word_memoirs #sixwords at the end of your post to "label" it and link it up with other 6-word memoir Tweets.

Also add your six-word memoir to your Twitter "bio".

Not required but strongly suggested: Share your six-word memoir on Smith Magazine so you are officially a part of the movement!

Get ready to Tweet

As I told you in the introductory materials, we are going use Twitter this semester to provide an important channel of communication within the class but also with the outside world.

Learn more about Twitter:
http://twitter.com/about
http://tweeternet.com/
http://webtrends.about.com/od/socialnetworking/a/what-is-twitter.htm

So how do you get started?

In order to begin you will need a Twitter account. Register here:
https://twitter.com/signup. If you already have a Twitter account it is OK to use that one.

Add your bio and pic & then follow the class Twitter feed:http://twitter.com/mascle100Look at the list of followers on the the class Twitter page as those are your classmates and you will need to follow them as well. Over the next few days you should check back regularly. As I get notifications of new followers I will have the class Twitter feed follow you. 


You should also do some searching for other Twitter accounts to follow. You can find many celebrities. For example: my son is a huge Mythbusters fan so I follow Adam Savage. I mostly follow friends and people who interest me professionally (with my personal account) but I do follow some accounts which I think are funny such as: Some Grey Bloke and Fake Pew Research. A great way to get started is to search key words or phrases about a topic that interests you. For example, I searched for some Twitter streams about writing and found: Writing Tips, Writing.com, Fuel Your Writing, and Writers Write. The class account is currently following these writing feeds but I may unfollow them once the class starts Tweeting.

You should put some thought into how you want to keep track of Twitter for this class. You can simply check your Twitter account and the class blog @ http://mascle100.blogspot.com/ (see the feed for Twitter in the sidebar) but this doesn’t really harness the power that Twitter offers you to stay informed.

I have my Twitter account displayed on my computer’s home page (I use Netvibes to watch my email, Twitter, FaceBook, and the weather) and I also have an app on my Ipod as well as my Kindle Fire that allows me to read and post to Twitter. I have a lot of friends who use Twitter via their smartphone. Making Twitter easily available will mean that you actually check it – regularly! Between Netvibes and my hand-held devices I easily check my Twitter accounts multiple times a day.

Have you really thought this through?

I want you to be sure that I am the right teacher for you, that my class is the right writing class for you, and that an internet class is right for you.

Please watch these videos and carefully consider the issues I raise in them. I have been teaching online for about eight years now, teaching at MSU for 11 years, and teaching writing for more than two decades. I know that the wrong teacher, the wrong class, and the wrong course delivery system can impact your success in a class. This can impact your semester grade by a letter grade or more – and the impact of a negative experience on your confidence can have even more serious long-term effects on your ability to stay in school and earn a degree. So please watch these 3 videos and review the syllabus.

Am I the right teacher for you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NSUFu9txcY

Is this the right class for you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztNNzJiyCeM

Is an internet class right for you?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCCCLp1mb5g