My (Yiola) first blog post of the year. Happy new year friends and readers. Over the course of the holidays I developed a list of interesting topics and ideas that I am excited to share here on the site. Just as I was about to select one of my ideas to share, a student teacher sent this video my way today and it took precedence. The messages may be imperfect yet the voices of children ~ of young adolescent women ~ make it so incredibly powerful for me. The energy and the passion and the inspiration rising from literacy make it a worthwhile share. The rhythm alluring, the tone inspiring, the messages thought-provoking, the effort immense. If literacy inspires young people to speak in such passionate ways about such timely issues, then I say BRING ON LITERACY TEACHING.
Enjoy.
Literacy Teaching and Teacher Education 
This is incredible! It says so much about our current educational system. As a teacher, I want to be teaching my students content that is relevant to their lives, not what the state decides is relevant. Yes, it is import for them to learn standards, but what are we doing to help them prepare for the real world? I know that as much as I love Language Arts, how often do students have to determine various types of figurative language? It is very thought provoking.