Memo #1: To my fellow educators Welcome to the Power of Knowing Your Discipline Literacy

1. Memo #1: To my fellow educatorsWelcome to the Power of Knowing Your Discipline Literacy

2. My Discipline I have to admit I was not a studious student as a child maybe because my parents were not educated or maybe because they didn’t know how to read themselves or both or maybe the school I attended didn’t care about my kind of student or maybe all of the above. You see my first language was not English it was Spanish and when I started school they were teaching in English and I needed to be taught in Spanish. So began the struggle of educating Elsa. This may not seem at all such a big deal, but to a five year old it is. I had to learn how to speak English and also learn how to read and write English too. As you can see the odds were against me, but I survived. I learned to speak, read and write in English. Thus, bringing me to discover I wanted to help children like me learn in any language. I want to help children who are caught in the web. Trapped with no way of getting out the traditional way. I had to learn how to survive my way out of school. Then I became an educator to help children learn nontraditionally. I have a discipline/philosophy that I use and has helped me teach children of all academic levels to achieve success in literacy. I know I need to motivate students to learn and if I can motivate my students to learn, then together we have achieved our goals.

3. Knowledge It is important to know the Standards set by DPI, which after reading them I realized how important it is to know them and internalize them to help me be a better educator. These six core academic standards are essential to teaching all students. I also included the following website for more insight, (http:/21languages2worlds.wordpress.com/2010/12/27/bilingual-literacy/), which helped me understand my responsibilities as an educator. Knowing and understanding the responsibilities and the impact we have as educator will make teaching fun and meaningful for our students.

4. Understanding your Discipline The tools available to assist you in teaching are countless. There are the traditional methods, for example, the blackboard, books, magazines, newspaper, etc., And now we have technology, for example the computer, internet, computer programs etc. But what good are these tools if we do not diversify. Our students come from diverse backgrounds and we need to use all these materials to bring diversity in the classroom. The technology bridges the gap to provide diversity in teaching and learning.