Reading: Window and Mirror

I keep coming back to the ideas that we talked about in Curriculum and in Administration about the essential questions that are crucial to our work as teacher librarians. It seems to me that the importance of early literacy is even more crucial now that there are so many ways to read.

If a student wants to follow blogs or post on Facebook or participate in the digital revolution, it seems more urgent than ever that we as educators find ways to ensure that students master learning to read so that they can better read to learn.

I feel inadequately trained in teaching reading because I was a secondary teacher before coming to the library. I realize that elementary teachers are truly amazing in all the things they have to help students master, and the more I read about early literacy, the more it seems to me that this nation needs to get on board with preschool programs and other efforts to help our children become the readers they will need to be.

If illiteracy is hard in the traditional classroom setting, the difficulties that must be overcome in the digital world may become insurmountable for students who may struggle with manipulating a tool that is predicated on a literate user. You can only surf videos and via point-and-click for so long before needing to digest the information. And though we have assistive technology, having the computer read everything to you robs the information of voice, context, and interpretation by the reader.

We cannot allow the digital divide to grow from a trough to a canyon, stranding a significant portion of our student population on one side. The future depends upon our ability to see forward and reflect back.