My community experience

While I was looking around the community in Walled Lake, I noticed a lot of things occurring. I was very impressed at the way the community emphasized events that were taking place. I also forgot about the many ways that you can see literacy occurring. Because there are so many types like social, emotional, cultural, political, mathematical, informational, etc., it was easy to find a lot of places that had literacy incorporated somehow. Within the community, I noticed a lot of signs, advertisements, and a large emphasis placed on literacy in education within schools, social interactions taking place and an area of friendly people.

I know that from my school experience, we place an emphasis on literacy being taught heavily in the classroom. For example, for one morning of class, I wrote four lesson plans that had to do with literacy in some way. I was shocked to find out the school district’s emphasis on literacy being very heavy as well. The website emphasized many types of literacy as well including civic, social, occupational and personal literacy (Walled Lake School District). It was very nice to see that many types of literacy were being advocated for other than just the typical reading, writing, and oral language and discourse. Just from looking at the district website, I understood the programs that were being implemented at my school and the emphasis that are placed on them.

I also noticed in the community that there were a lot of advertisements that were posted on buildings and establishments. It was nice to see them out so that the members of the community could look at them while they were out. I also noticed the menus that you could get from restaurants. These menus could be used in reference to students regarding lists and types of food that they may have eaten. I also noticed the type of discourse happening in these restaurants. In one restaurant, I ate there it was very informal communication; however the staff was very concerned about your opinion of their food and took it seriously.

While driving around the area, I noticed how things were pretty close together in terms of distance between popular places. It is an area where you can walk around downtown and walk to the beach and to the surrounding restaurants. A car is not always required when you are in this area. When thinking about these things, I think it will be important to reference these places and help students to think about their prior knowledge and remind them that literacy really is all around us. Even the signs we see like school crossings is a part of visual literacy. The sign helps us to recognize that there is a school. The visual provides us with meaning. There are many parts of literacy that many children do not even think about and that is what I want to incorporate into the classroom to help all learners.

I noticed a lot of community events and although I was unable to attend the events, it provides a sense of community togetherness. Even the school community, I noticed was important to parents. My school had a school picnic and is having an ice cream social in October and curriculum night to inform parents of information about our classrooms. It is important that I know what is happening in the community so that I can  help inform my students as well as listen to what students do so I can help myself relate to them. If I relate to my students prior knowledge, it will be more beneficial to my students learning!