Hi Everyone,
I've enjoyed reading your background pieces and am excited that we have quite a diverse group here --- though we are all united by our passion for literacy and learning.
I asked you all to think about your own histories as a literacy learner, and I will do the same. My first very vivid experience of assuming an identity as a reader was in The Bluebird reading group in 2nd grade. This was the advanced group, but I was always acutely aware that I was being pulled away from my peers for something "special." The Bluebird table was in the center of the room for everyone to see and hear. What I remember most is the feeling it gave me -- not of pride, but of sadness. It didn't feel fair to me at the time; something just seemed "off" about the entire practice! It must have had something to do with my closest friends not being Bluebirds. Reflecting on this moment makes me understand that even at that age, I was aware of the inextricable connections between the social and the academic, between language and identity.
That 2nd grade year really is the root of my love of language. I was a middle school LA teacher for 6 years in Atlanta, and my PhD is in literacy. If I could not read, and could not write, I don't know how I could live fully. Thus the impetus for this course -- to critique ways in which those whose language, literacy, and identity are *not* valued in the classroom, and what we can do about it!
I look forward to the course and lively discussions.
Alecia Jackson