Inspiration

Do you ever read an article that a friend posted on Facebook or a quote that someone has pinned on Pinterest and feel so inspired? It might be a verse or a chapter in a book sometimes for me that I highlight AND underline. I need to share the knowledge I've just attained. Sometimes that knowledge is incredibly overwhelming at the same time though. I kind of feel like that is happening to me as I attempt to learn what content literacy is and how to teach my students how to "read" in different subjects. For example, here are a few of the quotes that I excitedly underlined this week and highlighted. 

"Teacher of any subject are going to help their cause by teaching their students to be better readers of their content. The industrial technology teacher didn't need to teach kids how to read poetry. He needed to teach students how to read directions and blueprints and whatever else students read in his class. Perhaps he does this reading so automatically that he isn't even aware of the skills required for it." Do I Really Have to Teach Reading by Cris Tovani p.25-26

Other times, that inspiration comes from a short but very clear talk. I will be the first person to tell you that I am a math nerd. I love it. I always do math homework first. I love helping my nieces with their math and pushing them to see how much they can figure out without being taught. Enough babbling... I just found this podcast by The Math Dude. Holy moley do I have a new math crush. Oh don't worry! Dan Meyer is still my main math man, but this new guy is slowly moving in... In this podcast he explains just a small part of how to understand the language of math. He literally took the words right out of my mouth. 

Students (and people in general) often say that "math is just not my subject" or "math and I don't get along very well." This could be due to an inability to speak math very well. I love that TMD (The Math Dude) compares math to a foreign language in which we need to be immersed in order to learn it. We also need "to speak it proficiently before we can use it efficiently." (Boy am I a sucker for cleverly placed rhymes.) This point almost begs teachers to teach their students how to read math. It begs for word walls in your math classroom like this one. Students need help learning this language and being immersed into the culture of math. Give them lists of words that they will see in the following units and allow them to sort these words into columns of "words I know and could teach to someone else" and "I have no idea". You can then allow students to help you in creating your word wall using words that are relevant and necessary in your classroom.

It may seem like I've gone off on a rant, but I've been inspired and so that inspiration had to be shared. Also, maybe if people know how inspired I am now, they'll continue to encourage me, as I become a teacher, to remember these lessons. 

"Content Literacy - the ability of someone to interact with and use strategies to interpret the content of some subject (in its own language) including being able to speak, listen to, read, and write in that language"

{Sassy}