The Art of Presenting

Over the last two days, my students have been presenting their ideas from the environment project they've been doing that was described in this blog entry. As I sat watching their presentations, I was struck by how lightly most took the presentation portion of their project. I started to think about why. I wondered if it was because I did not stress the importance of doing a good job or because they didn't think I was serious when I told them they had to memorize their Spanish sentences.

Granted, this was the first time I have done this project with my students so I wasn't really sure what I was looking for or expecting. I admit that my directions were not clear nor specific. I did inform the students that they should each say two sentences in Spanish and as much English as they wanted. I directed them that they should tell what their idea for helping the environment was, where that idea came from and how it will help people.

Literacy & Language

Literacy.

What is literacy? I have taken many classes on this and I remember when it first became really clear to me that literacy is not simply the ability to read. Literacy involves understanding the world's communications as well as the cultural and social contexts of those messages. We receive these messages via written texts or images as well as through body language and facial expressions. When we speak of literacy, more often than not, we are referring to the written texts or images of society. However the message and context are not mutually exclusive. In order to read these messages and interpret them accurately, one must understand how you create them and why.