Yes the holidays are upon us again. This year is very different for me. In years past I would not have even considered putting any Christmas lights up before Thanksgivinhg. As is often the case in my life, when I have strong feelings and reactions at one time in my life, I get to experience the "other side" somewhere down the line. That would be this year. I kid you not; Halloween had scarcely been gone one week, when I began to pine for colorful lights to shine at night brightening our ever-earlier darkness. The odd thing is that my whole family felt this way - unheard of for each of us! We made quick work of hanging lights, checking bulbs and setting the timer. Now as the twilight approaches, lights magically appear chasing away the darkness. Why might I write this for my literacy blog you may be asking yourself. Good question.
I liken illiteracy to darkness. Each tiny step we take, or help someone else take toward literacy brings light to our lives; the ability to communicate our needs and our gifts with possibilities for ever-more growth. As my classmates and I grow our writing skills, and our toolboxes for teaching both reading and writing, we carry the potential for bringing light to others - the very light that helps them grow further into their blossoming. This may be the most significant thing we get to do. The big idea for me - Let There be Light - and do everything that I can to support it whenever the spirit moves me!
I'm right there with you Ms. Meadnerings, except in a totally different place. One (Me) can be so involved teaching someone else to read, then turn around and get bored so easily when I sit down to do the same thing. In helping students find their light we need to make sure we have found our own. I've been closely monitering my reading and the types of reading that capture my attention. The last article I even remember reading was an article in Diabetes Forcast on Brett Michaels that was sitting in my doctor's office two weeks ago. Why did this interest me? Becuase I knew something had happened to him but I didn't know what. I was filling in missing information with answers. In other words, Brett Michaels is my light.....wait what? Well, I do think that helping students open their minds to what interests them at a young age will engage them to want to answer more questions and therefore look for more information from books, articles, even wikipedia. Either way they will be reading.
ReplyDeleteMy Xmas lights are in teh crawl space if you still have some of that motivation left...maybe?
Good stuff here. Thanks