This blog is created to inform teachers, future teachers, students, and the general public about the concept of social literacy. "Literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. In modern contexts, the word refers to reading and writing at a level adequate for communication, or at a level that lets one understand and communicate ideas in a literate society, so as to take part in that society" (www.wikipedia.org). However, in today's society I find that being literate requires much more than stated in the definition of literacy.Social literacy requires one to be able to communicate with others which in turn can create relationships amongst a wide variety of people. It also requires one to be able to understand social cues such as body language, emotions, facial expressions, etc. Being able to write informally or in a more social context is another aspect associated with social literacy. Seeing as learning is a social process I feel that social literacy is quite important, especially when it comes to children. Eva Cox wrote, "We learn from those we associate with, as social beings, we draw from others’ views of us, learn from the groups we are part of or excluded from" (Learning Social Literacy).
Once children begin to interact with other children they begin to understand the social norms surrounding them. In elementary school most students pick a group of friends that they stay close to and as they get older that group keeps changing. Some group members leave and new ones join. Each group member finds their niche and they play their role that makes them socially acceptable to the other people in their group. As we become adults we learn that social literacy is a vital component in our lives because it helps us network and create relationships that can further our career or lead to new and exciting adventures.
I want to use this blog to create discussions about current events (local and worldwide), music, school work, sports, etc. This blog will be used to link students from different schools who are of different ages, races, religions, backgrounds, cultures, etc. I view this as a type of "pen pal" device because students have the ability to communicate with other students they don't see on a daily basis about a wide variety of topics. Ideally after using this blog students will have become more socially literate because they have widened their views based on conversations they've had with other students.
This blog will be the main blog where the topics are listed; and each student will have their own blog where they can respond to the topic given. Students will be expected to not only respond to the topic at hand, but they will also be expected to respond to other student's blogs. In their response the will be need to:
1. Agree or disagree with the response and explain why they feel that way.
2. Explain if there is anything in the response that had not occurred to them and why it may have changed their thinking or not.
