The importance of being an effective literacy teacher cannot be understated. Indeed, literacy has much to do with how we communicate with and understand others. Without effective literacy skills, we are left limited in our ability to understand the world around us and to contribute to it. Literacy by definition is the ability to read and write. Further, it is the competence or knowledge in a specified area.
In her book Literacy for the 21stCentury: A Balanced Approach (2005), Gail Tompkins discusses how the practice of becoming an effective literacy teacher contributes to the overall effectiveness of said teacher. She explains that the goal of literacy instruction is to ensure that all students achieve their full literacy potential, and in the first chapter of her book, she introduces nine principles of balanced literacy instruction. These principles are stated in terms of what effective teachers do.
African Americans held “an affinity of complexion with the Filipinos” and saw the “similarity between the predicament of the black man in the United States and the brown man in the Philippines: both were subjects of oppression.”
“…our focus on the achievement gap is akin to a focus on the budget deficit, but what is actually happening to African American and Latina/o students is really more like the national debt. We do not have an achievement gap; we have an education debt.”
Explaining the intentions behind a lesson plan can boost engagement and help students get back on track when something isn’t working.
By Mark Gardner
“Routine reflection on practice is a hallmark of effective teaching, but often this reflection is considered a solitary endeavor—or at most, a discussion among adults in a professional learning community or collaborative team. Students don’t always realize that reflection is part of a teacher’s job.“
“Some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice I say the darker the flesh then the deeper the roots I give a holler to my sisters on welfare Tupac cares, if don’t nobody else care And uh, I know they like to beat ya down a lot When you come around the block brothas clown a lot But please don’t cry, dry your eyes, never let up Forgive but don’t forget, girl keep your head up And when he tells you you ain’t nothin’ don’t believe him And if he can’t learn to love you, you should leave him ‘Cause sista you don’t need him And I ain’t tryna gas ya up, I just call ’em how I see ’em You know it makes me unhappy (What’s that?) When brothas make babies, and leave a young mother to be a pappy And since we all came from a woman Got our name from a woman and our game from a woman I wonder why we take from our women Why we rape our women, do we hate our women? I think it’s time to kill for our women Time to heal our women, be real to our women And if we don’t we’ll have a race of babies That will hate the ladies, that make the babies And since a man can’t make one He has no right to tell a woman when and where to create one So will the real men get up I know you’re fed up ladies, but keep your head up“
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
