My Kindergarten Thoughts on Disciplinary Literacy

Ok, here we go……so far here is what I think about disciplinary literacy….I think (from my kindergarten perspective on that scary high school stuffJ), that it all makes sense to me! Why wouldn’t you want to use more specific strategies that are relevant to a certain subject compared to a generic strategy that doesn’t necessarily work with a subject. It really made sense after having the feeling like I was slapped in face right off that bat while reading Jetton & Shanahan when they pointed out that most of elementary school is about everyday language and that it becomes more complex in secondary(that I knew already). All I could think was, “Oh my goodness, they are right!!!” Most of what kindergarten involves, even our science/social studies/math, involves common language that they will use on a daily basis. It may seem difficult because they are generally learning it for the first time but in the end, it’s everyday language.

I think that the possibilities become endless if you are able to teach using disciplinary literacy. My major ‘aha’ from Elizabeth Moje’s webinar was that it can actually help high students have better insight into a career path. Maybe they wanted to be in a position where math is a huge factor. If they have the opportunity to think, speak, listen, read, and write like a mathematician, they might have conformation that they are on the right path. Maybe they decide that this is definitely not what they thought it would be and help them look at other options. Maybe they never thought about doing anything with science but….when they are given the opportunity to think, speak, listen, read, and write like one, it could open a path that never crossed their mind.

I think that all these opportunities would give them some guidance if they were not sure what path they wanted to take in college. I always use my own example of wanting to switch from Elementary Education to Early Childhood Education about halfway through my four years at NIU. I was told it would take me at least another year. All I could think was “NO WAY” and “Man, do I feel bad for anyone who starts college without really knowing what they want to do”. If it was going to take me that much longer to switch between two majors that were so closely related, think about someone who completely changes their major because they had no idea what they were interested in.

I feel that between new ways of teaching (disciplinary literacy) and technology (TED Talks From Knowledgeable to Knowledge-able) that we are currently in major crosshairs. We have the side of us that wants to throw everything out the window and start tomorrow with these amazing new approaches. Then we have the other side that is reality, the side that includes administration, curriculum, Common Core, student progress used as part of our evaluations, etc. I feel that we are at the beginning stages of education making some dynamic changes in the overall way we teach children and that in, I’ll guess 10 years, we will be saying, “I can’t even remember what it was like to not have __________ or teaching the way we did!” I think we can follow what Will Richardson said while speaking to our district during an institute day about just being able to take a tiny piece to start using and implementing. If we can all somehow take that tiny piece that works for us right now in this moment then we are helping the bigger change take place.