Definition of Literacy

I think that it is important that we do not underestimate how the desire use technology drives students desire to read. Over the holiday break, I visited my brother and his family. His five year old son is not reading yet. My brother said, "If he ever wants to play Zelda, he will learn how to read." He was referring to a video game.

Teachers also complain that students do not read and write. This is untrue. Our real complaint is that students are not reading and writing what WE want them to read and write. We want students to read The Old Man and The Sea. They want to read TMZ on the internet. We want them to write research papers. They want to write rants on their myspace pages and emails to their friends.