Ohh What a Community we Have to Consider

1.Where/What will you visit? Why did you choose to go there?
-We attempted to go to a bookstore, A laundromat, Kroger, McDonalds, Ace Hardware, and the liquor store directly next to the school. I say attempted because when we got to the book store (the only book store listed online as being in Hazel Park) we discovered it was an "Adults only" store, and was immediately stricken from our list. We chose the laundromat because if students are sent to do laundry they must read the instructions on both the bottles of detergent and the machines themselves, also they must read any and all rules regarding behavior so they know what is expected of them. We choose Kroger to show how they must understand what items are, where in the store they are located and things of that nature. We picked McDonalds because when asked nearly all the students in my colleagues class stated that their favorite restaurant was McDonalds. We chose Ace Hardware for many of the same reasons we chose Kroger. Lastly we chose the liquor store because every student will go into that store (or very nearly) many multiple times a week, and we wanted to look for the types of literacy to be found in such a staple location.

2. What do you expect to see? Spend some time thinking about common ARCHETYPES and BIASES present in your community.

-I will be honest that when going into this activity I expected to find simpler words on signs and sales given the problems many of my students have with reading. Also I expected to see more people of color than other based upon my observations when driving around the city not based on my classroom. I also did not expect to see that many people at the places like McDonalds and Kroger as economic times are tough so there may not be enough money for these kinds of things.

3. What do you think an "outsider" would see? Does what an outsider might see differ from what you think you will see? If so how? If not why not?
-I think an outsiders view would vary depending on where this outsider was him or herself from. An outsider from Detroit would see things differently than an outsider from a highly wealthy community like Bloomfield Hills. This aspect of every outsider being different makes this question very challenging to answer not knowing where the outsider is from. Hopefully that makes sense...

4. Florio-Ruane (2010) explains, "The ecological view of literacy asserts that reading, writing, and oral language cannot be separated in their learning and in their use to learn subject matter. They are interrelated because they are all part of communication and are meaningful within social groups, contexts, knowledge and activities" (p. 2). Think about the setting/event you will visit as part of your Inquiry 1 investigation, and jot down some notes about the types of interconnections you are likely to see among reading, writing, oral language and other literacies and how they might contribute to communication in that setting.
-At Kroger I might see interconnections between reading, writing, and oral language, as people read the written sale signs and discuss them. At any of the locations there is the oral language and connections between people in the location.

5. Think about the connections you could make between and among contexts such as your school, classroom and the community. Literacy can and is found in all of these contexts, though they are not always as "obvious" as they are in our classrooms.
-I think that the "traditional literacies" are covered quite well in the classroom setting as students read something, write about it, and then share and discuss. Also things like artistic and technological literacies are addressed in class. I think the literacy that I most need to work to make connections to is social literacy. Students I work with often have a difficult time working with others, or understanding the appropriate way to behave in specific social settings. I think that the more examples I can give them of these things the better off they will be.