This is a work in progress. When I was growing up and even until recently I considered an acceptable definition of literacy to be the ability to read and write at the level appropriate for your age and educational experiences. However, as I attend this class I realize that I have a lot to learn about literacy. The following are definitions of literacy that I have been exposed to during this course that I am examining. Literacy encompasses a complex set of abilities to understand and use the dominant symbol systems of a culture for personal and community development.
Literacy is completely different for someone who is blind or deaf.
I feel that this reflective overview is a great way to sit back and look and see what you have been doing in this course. It's also a good way to wake up and see that you need to get to work. Once I learned about whole language education I feel that I have been doing better in this class because I understand the basic goal of the class. Learning about literacy in this class has been helpful. I actually think that I'm learning about literacy more in my own evaluations of literacy than if a teacher just told me what literacy is and told me to memorize their definition.