Comments for Teachers 2

I was assigned to comment on Ms. Angela Maiers blog for this weeks assignment and after reading her most recent post, I am more than thankful that I was assigned her blog. Her post was titled World Read Aloud Day 2011: Words Changing Worlds. She says, "World Read Aloud Day is about taking action to show the world that the right to read and write belongs to all people." World Read Aloud Day is on March 9, 2011, and you can find links (for more information about participating) in her blog. Attached to her post she has a video and this is what she said about it, "See first hand how the simple act of reading a book aloud to a student unleashes the full power of words and changes lives in the process." I encourage you all to watch the video. As I watched it, I was truly touched by the pure enjoyment of children having a story read to them. The video tells you several devastating facts:

• Over 72 MILLION children around the world are NOT in school.
• 759 MILLION people worldwide are illiterate and two-thirds of them are women. 
• 10.3 MILLION teachers will be needed worldwide to achieve universal primary education.

"Together we can ensure that all children will learn to read stories to change their lives. And tell their own stories to change the world." This video is truly inspirational and I think every teacher and teachers in training should be required to watch it. I am not going to lie, I was even a little choked up while watching and I cannot wait to make a difference, even in the lives of just a few children. The following is a little bit of my response to Ms. Angela Maiers blog post and the video:

"...After reading this post, and watching the video, I cannot help but to think of all the people who CAN read and write but take it for granted. When you think of the number of children, and adults, who cannot read or write and would love to have the opportunity to learn but do not have the means, it is depressing. However, to have people like Pam who go all the way to Kenya and read such an encouraging story to young people is truly amazing. The response to Charlotte's Web from Diana should be looked at as motivation to all of those who CAN read and encourage them to teach others. After hearing the story she sees the importance of bravery and if you can positively influence just one child's life by reading a story, well, it cannot get much better than that..."

Now I leave you with these two questions and I would love to hear your answers:

• Are you taking your literacy for granted? 
• How can you make a difference?

All literacy begins with the alphabet.

"WRAD Assignment: What would you miss most if you could not read or write?," is the title of Ms. Maiers second post that I commented on. In her post, she simply asks you to think about this question and then answer it. Doing just that, I decided I would be devastated without these abilities! Think of all the simple things that you would not be able to do. You would not be able to read a simple recipe, write a distant loved one a letter, or even read what you are right now. In my response to her post, I stated that as a person that has had the pleasure of these abilities, I know I would be devastated to no longer have them. However, a person who has never experienced these luxuries, doesn't know what they are missing out on and how horrible is that? It is up to us, the future educators, to change that. I have always loved to read and I will always love to read. I just can't imagine life without a good book in hand! So what would YOU miss most if you could not read or write?