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I begin my class every year by discussing the definition of literacy with my students. I like to use Paulo Freire's definition both because of its simplicity and its inclusiveness: literacy is the act of reading the WORD and the WORLD. Most of my students have grown up, often out of necessity, with a keen ability to read the world. They can read the movements of their neighborhood in order to find the quickest and safest path to school. They can read the look in a teachers eyes to know how he is feeling. They can even read the sounds outside their houses to know when it's a good time to go out and when they should stay inside. However, far too many of them enter my high school classroom having been left behind in terms of the other half of Freire's literacy equation: reading the world. Though they are brilliant in many ways, over 80% of my students enter high school reading significantly below their grade level.

About my class

I begin my class every year by discussing the definition of literacy with my students. I like to use Paulo Freire's definition both because of its simplicity and its inclusiveness: literacy is the act of reading the WORD and the WORLD. Most of my students have grown up, often out of necessity, with a keen ability to read the world. They can read the movements of their neighborhood in order to find the quickest and safest path to school. They can read the look in a teachers eyes to know how he is feeling. They can even read the sounds outside their houses to know when it's a good time to go out and when they should stay inside. However, far too many of them enter my high school classroom having been left behind in terms of the other half of Freire's literacy equation: reading the world. Though they are brilliant in many ways, over 80% of my students enter high school reading significantly below their grade level.

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About my class

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