Figueroa 1

Katherine Figueroa
Literacy Final
No one is a perfect reader, and we all continue to learn every time we read
(Smith, 1994, p.214).
This semester I was in a first grade classroom and I can remember at the
beginning of the school year when students were asked during writing workshop
to write, draw or do both about an experience that had. The results varied.
Some students just drew pictures of their own family. While others wrote 1-2
lines, and then there were some students who were able to do both. I can look
back at the time when I thought to myself, what message are they trying to
convey? I asked students at random read to be what they wrote. A lot of the
times, when students went back to read what they had written, they had no idea
what they had written down. I found this to be an interesting developmental
reading and writing stage because in the moment of writing, students knew what
they wanted to say, but when it came down to decode the words they had written
it made no sense to them, because the words they encoded as they wrote it
down did not match the words they thought they had written down in a way that
would have made sense to them as they read it.
My philosophy of teaching and learning literacy is that we are all here to
learn. I think it is important to model for students how teachers learn and grow
too. As I get older and read more about the different ways children learn in
general, I realize that I need to be aware student responses do come from
somewhere although in the moment it may not seem like the case. The teacher
had wanted her to read efferentlythe student had read aesthetically
(Rosenblatt, 1982, p.269). The example above helps to show that we have to be
mindful of the fact that students will always learn something even if it is not
exactly what I hoped they would get out of it. With that in mind, I know that I will
have to be reflective about how to teach literacy in a way that is clear for
students.
What has truly blown my mind this semester has been read-alouds. I
never thought read-alouds could have such an impact on an audience. I hope to
in the future explore units from all disciplinary through read-alouds. Ganske
(2014) discusses how interactive read-alouds afford opportunities to engage
children in meaningful talk about the language and vocabulary in the books
(p.35). There is no written rule that read-alouds with picture books have to stop
by the end of 3rd grade. However, it seems teachers do stop incorporating picture
books and focus more on the interactive read-alouds with chapter books. In
terms of my own philosophy, I hope to incorporate all types of text interactively. If
we want to continue to learn and continue to teach others to learn, we must be at
the forefront and serve as an example.

Figueroa 2
Smith (1994) offers an interesting perspective when comparing it to my
own personal experiences. I agree in that we learn by reading, but I feel that
reading is only as good as the experiences you associate or attach to them.
Growing up I was into fiction texts, and really disliked non-fiction texts. But now,
as an adult, I am growing to really enjoy non-fiction texts. Ive come to realize
that they reason at least for me is that I had little exposure to real-world
experience. I didnt understand the realities and complexities of adulthood
because I knew very little. My joy was in the repetitive fantasy-themed texts.
Therefore, I agree with Smith about the non-existent perfect reader because a
balance between different types of texts, and personal experience must exist in
order to continue to learn, and apply them to one another.
The readings have both challenged and supported Smiths assertion:
There are a couple of readings I feel that support Smiths assertion. Lindfors
(1999) states, If inquiry is what real readers do- then inquiry is what teachers will
demonstrate and engage their students in (p.58). Every time we read we learn.
But the reasons why we learn are because we apply our experiences when we
read or vice versa, and because we engage with what we are reading. Asking
questions, having wonders about a text is how we continue to learn. It is not
merely enough to just read. We have to think critically, challenge the context,
and share experiences because it allows us to continue to learn when we read.
During reading workshops in my field placement, I would check-in with
every student by having them read a book of choice to me from their individual
reading box. I remember an instance where a student was reading a book about
what it means to help and be a helper. The student made a connection from the
book to the change agents unit the students in the class work on. They student
knew that being a change agent is someone who helps to try to help others and
make a difference. As this particular student is reading the book, he shares
about how the character in the book is similar to all the change agents theyve
learned about.
Smith (2014) mentions that no reader is perfect and every one learns as
they read. There is some truth to that statement, but reading alone does not
equate to learning. There are other ways to learn that support reading, which
helps to continue the growth of reading. Although no one truly is a perfect reader,
everyone can read and learn from reading.