What I've learned

When I started this project, I honestly had no idea what cultural literacy was. I thought it solely meant to be literate about cultures of the world. That is one aspect of it, but it is obviously so much more. It is about how our culture affects all aspects of our lives and how we respond to it. When I took the cultural literacy test, I think I scored in the 75% range, which I was kind of disappointed with, especially since I love history. But that just goes to show that you cannot be affluent in just one aspect of culture, but in all areas in order to be culturally literate.

As I become more familiar with this literacy, I have learned to look deeper into things. For example, I've always heard the saying 'an eye for an eye', but I never took a second to think of how old that saying was or even where it came from. The fact that my parents and grandparents used that phrase shows that it has been around for a while. It is the little things like that which have convinced me to look deeper into the things I read and hear. Whenever I watch the news and when they talk about world events or wars, they seem to always add something or compare it to the way things used to be. When I hear that part, I try to listen closely, because I know that I wasn't around when that event happened and want to become culturally literate about it.

Working with the new technology

With blogging I am definitely using writing and viewing in a new way. By writing on a blog, I feel that I am writing more in a way that I would speak rather than a formal paper. It feels much more open and laid back. Also, in terms of viewing, I am displaying my information in a new way, which would be a new view for the reader. I like that I can have a variety of lists on the side of my blog, along with pictures to help me capture my thoughts.

What is challenging about this new technology would probably be keeping it up. I know many of my friends have had blogs before and just forget about them. I think it is hard to keep up, because it may be something that you are not used to doing on a regular basis, or if you get out of routine of doing it, you may just forget to go back and write something. Another thing that I think is challenging about blogs would be using them as a valid source for papers, because since they are someones opinions most of the time, it is hard to know if what you are reading is factual.

Aspects that are the same as the traditional forms of print would be that it is still someones thoughts written down. A blog is just a post of a person's thoughts or opinions. It is also similar to a formal paper in a way that I have some sources listed on the side of the blog. The links that I have provided are most of the sources that I used to gain the information in this blog.

As I'm working with the technology I realize that there are so many different settings to play around with. I like the additions you can put on the side of your blog, but I wish they made them more mobile. For example, I wish that I could have a huge title over my blog, but the site doesn't allow for that. Also, sometimes I get sick of the template that I'm using and want to switch it up a little bit. Even though you can switch up the color scheme, it can be rather tedious and time consuming.

If the students in my field were using blogs, they would need some reading, writing, and viewing skills. It is important that what they put on the blog is reader friendly, because the point of a blog is to have someone read it. If you are posting something that is going on the world wide web it is important to be conscious of what you are putting out there for people to see and read, and to be conscious how you represent yourself. Also, with the options of responding, I think it would be important for the students to respond to each others' posts, in order to provide feedback on a topic. Students will need reading comprehension skills in order to understand what their peers or blogging about and to do other research on the internet if need be. As for viewing they need to understand what is appropriate and inappropriate to use in their blog. I assume that those rules would be given out by the teacher. I think it would be difficult for my students to blog, because many of them have a hard time typing. However, it would make for good practice, and their posts do not have to be very long.

BLOGS as a new technology

The new technology, blog, is an online journal in which people can comment to various posts, which are placed in chronological order with the most recent post at the top of the page. The difference between a blog and a website is the fact that people can respond to what is written on a blog. Blogs can be used as a journal, place for ideas and opinions, or to talk about hot topics. What was "new" for me in using this technology rather than traditional literacies would be the fact that I was writing backwards, because blogs put the most recent entries at the top and go down chronologically. Also, it was new to type out various topics in order to plan my writing and to just start my thoughts, rather than making sure everything was flowing smoothly between each paragraph.

The change in my conceptual understanding of literacy since the beginning of class has changed drastically. I started out thinking that literacy was simply reading and writing. Now, through all the readings and lectures from class I realize that it is all about reading, writing, viewing, listening, and speaking. Also, I never realized all the various skills and strategies that went along with each one. With reading I figured that you start out learning sounds of letters, then you put those sounds together to make words, and then you put those words together to make a sentence. It is not that easy! There is are so many complexities to literacy. Through the experiences of the course from learning how writers feel when they don't understand how to use the language, to learning how difficult it can be to learn how to read for young readers. Children are not born readers, they have to be taught how to read. As a future teacher, I can never assume that a child already has reading and writing skills.

In order to use a blog I really needed to develop a commitment to start writing in the blog, and once I started, to write in it at least every day or every other day. Maintaining a blog is not easy, so I had to train myself to remember to write it. I started writing it down in my planner and it became the first thing I thought about before I went to sleep. In terms of knowledge, I had to know how to use the internet for good research sources, especially since I didn't know much about my topic. It is easy to just click on any link and assume that information is true, but to learn how to filter out the good and bad sources is something that had to be learned. For example, I kept getting information about Prof. Hirsch's book, which led me to believe that the book had legitimate information.

In order to use blogs successfully for authentic purposes for K-8 students, the teacher would have to play a large role in facilitating the blogs. Since an email is needed in order to create a blog, a teacher could create one for the whole class and use it to facilitate discussion on something talked about in class; or the teacher could use it as a way to post homework and assignments from class for students who were absent that day and as a way to correspond with parents. I think it would be fun for kids to make their own blog and use it as a way to document how they have changed over the school year. They would still be learning the writing skills required by the GLCE's, because students can write formally and informally, and students can critique and edit each others' posts by leaving comments. It would also, be a great way to get them excited about writing, because it would be something different from the way that they are used to seeing writing in their classes.

Learning to use this technology fits with my current conceptual understanding of literacy, because literacy is something that is constantly changing. In our fast paced, technology centered society, we are moving to more reading and writing being done online. It is important that students learn computer skills in the elementary grades, because computer use is so prevalent in high school and college. To me, effective literacy instruction would be to introduce children to the various forms of literacy.

How blogs reflect the importance of cultural literacy

Blogs definitely reflect the importance of cultural literacy, especially since we are living in such a technical world that is ruled by computers and the internet. You can't even buy a phone without being asked if you want to have internet access on it! Our world is becoming so global and small with all the advanced technologies and communications, that our children are learning how to do things on the computer at such a young age. In a technology class I had last semester, we learned how we can use various technologies in the classroom. I was absolutely blown away at the number of ways that teachers are implementing technology and various websites into their classrooms.

Blogs are a new way for people to pretty much keep an online journal. There are several blog services such as livejournal, xanga, and obviously blogger. Some teachers use blogs as a way to communicate with their students or even the parents. I believe it is important for students to learn about blogging, because it something that is becoming important in our culture. It is something that students should know how to use and even know how to create. By creating a blog, they are becoming culturally literate, because it is a new way of communicating with people. They are also not just communicating with their community, but even the whole world (unless privacy settings are set).

A blog is a direct reflection of what cultural literacy is, because if you think about it, how many people write with pencil and paper anymore? Very few people do, and the vast majority use computers as a way of communicating with the rest of the world.

What does it mean to be literate?

To be literate in something means that you have the background knowledge and skills in a specified area. If I say that I am computer literate, it means that I can navigate myself around a computer and have the basic skills to use the computer to do what I need it for. A culturally literate person can read and write about other cultures and understands the basics of that culture. They may be able to recognize the traditions or foods of that culture, and etc.

Why is it important for children to learn?

It is extremely important for children to learn about cultural literacy. They need to know where the things they say came from and the significance they had. Also, children will come across cultural events in text books they may need to read for school, or even in articles and other books they may read. I personally know it is frustrating when I'm reading a news article on the war in Iraq and they may refer back to a previous war in Iraq that I am unfamiliar with. I am not culturally literate in this area and it can be frustrating for me to read. When I come across something that I am not culturally literate in, I usually google it (new cultural term) or ask a person who is culturally literate in that area (my mom).

The traditional literacies of reading, writing, speaking, listening, and viewing all play a part in cultural literacy. Everything that we read in books, magazines, journals, etc. all have cultural literacy in them. I believe viewing plays the largest role in today's society, because children all play video games, which is definitely a viewing stimulation, watch movies and television shows, which is where they pick up on many aspects of our culture. If you think of what we see when we watch commercials, we could probably judge a lot form our culture just from the advertising on television and billboards. Also, listening is another aspect that children use to learn about cultural literacy, because they all listen to music. They may love the new hip hop or pop song on the radio, but that song reflects the culture and society that we live in.

Examples of cultural literacy

Examining if you are a cultural literate person you may want to try to take some of the quizzes provided in the link: cultural literacy quiz. Here you can take several tests ranging from American history to science.

Some examples of cultural literacy are knowing old sayings such as what it means to bury the hatchet, burning the candle at both ends, an eye for an eye, or that you have a chip on your shoulder. Do you know what all of these sayings mean? They are all part of our culture.

Other examples may be broad aspects such as the American Dream. There is no right answer for this, but several people have their own idea of what living the American Dream really is. Also, the American Dream has changed since the 1920's, 1950's, to even today.

Also, historic examples or quotes from famous world leaders, presidents, or even movies are part of cultural literacy. What day will live in infamy? Who read the famous lines "fourscore and seven years ago..."? What leader said "give me liberty or give me death"? Which American president said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country"?

All of these examples are various aspects that are part of our culture. They remind us of historical events or advices to how we should live our lives.