Sarah McVey's Literacy Snapshot

When we first got this assignment, I was afraid that I would not be able to think of ways to demonstrate the literacy I use everyday, and also that I would not have enough to present. As soon as I began to write the things I do everyday, I realized that I would have more than enough.

The place where I spend the most time is on my computer doing any number of things. Most of what I do on my computer lately has been school and work related. I am on OnCourse a lot trying to figure out what exactly my assignments and readings are. I am also an RA in Wright Quad this year, so I spend time on my email and our online duty logs to keep up with what is going on in the center. As with many of my classmates, I spend a lot of time on Facebook keeping up with friends and staying in contact, as well as just seeing what people are up to. Lately I have been looking at a great deal of wedding photos since I am a 5th year senior and have many friends/former classmates who have already graduated and are starting their lives as “adults.” Recently I also reactivated and updated my Twitter account. I find Twitter to be much easier to keep up with, and there is much less information to take in, plus you can easily get quick updates from things like CNN. I also utilize Google in many ways; I have an email account, a group account to keep up with my former IUSF Steering Committee, a Picasa account, and now a BlogSpot account, not to mention that I “google” (verb form) just about every random wondering of my brain. I also have had to use Microsoft Word a lot lately for classes.

As I have seen, literacy is everywhere and I also use it during recreation/relaxation time. I am trying to finish the first Lord of the Rings book, which I have been working on most of the summer, but have been at a loss for time, and the reading is harder than I had expected. Of course, I have also had many various readings for my classes, and have had to write some responses to these readings. I am also working on finishing a cross-stitch design, which requires more literacy than you would think because different symbols have to be deciphered, and a lot of counting has to be done so that everything turns out right.

My smartphone is another area where I use a lot of literacy to keep in touch with the outside world through texts, calls, emails, Twitter, and Facebook applications on my phone, as well as looking up weather reports and using the browser.

Hannah Troxal Literacy Snapshot

As I tried to focus on what literacy I am involved with this week I was worried I would have nothing to say besides books for school, thankfully this was found not to be true. Besides reading about math, science, technology and teaching students with disabilities, I realized I read every morning and evening at least one chapter from my Bible. Teaching Sunday school at church requires me to read over my lesson every week.
I am trying to become more organized and lists are my favorite, so reading my agenda and other lists I make is always an important part of my day. I also always have my phone with me and am constantly texting people about scheduling plans, school, church, catching up with friends and sometimes just meaningless texts. I worked with Marj this weekend and quite often when I am with her she has me read the front page, sports section and obituaries from the newspaper to her; she also likes us to read her what is on the residential cafeteria menu (sometimes repeatedly until I have it memorized!)
I set up wireless internet in my apartment and was forced to read the directions (and call for help) to do so. Now that I actually have it working I am able to check my facebook and email constantly. I check these both a few times a day for school and personal purposes and also to stay connected with family, current and old friends. I read them on campus, in my apartment and occasionally on my phone. I am a huge fan of listening to music and singing (loudly) and since not knowing words is a pet peeve I find myself always looking up and reading the lyrics.
One thing I don’t usually read but found particularly uplifting this past week was when I went through some old papers in my room at home and found a letter I received from my grandpa in January 1999. It was encouraging me about school so it was another reminder to remain focused 10 years later! Other materials I usually read are recipes, nutritional values, receipts, road signs, backs of movies, scriptures posted by my mirror and syllabi.
After looking at all of the material I read and wrote this past week I realized how important literacy is in my life. Obviously being illiterate would be quite difficult and elminate many opportunities that I apparently take for granite every day. While I don’t seem to find a lot of time to read freely I do seem to read and write many things rather it be important or not.

Courtney Dressler's Literacy Snapshot

It was last semester that I was first introduced to literacy awareness. In the course Critical Issues For the Reading Professional (EDUC-L 409) we were educated on ideas such as critical literacy, literacy in the classroom, and literacy techniques for reading professionals. During my time in this class we were made aware of various literacy practices that both students and adults participate in during their daily lives; those which include reading signs, newspapers, comic books, television commercials, websites, billboards, menus, etc. With last semester’s background knowledge in mind, I was fully aware of how…complex… my literacy snapshot logging would be. In only a few days I took part in various literacy activities the revolved around different technologies, texts, and daily living:

Technology (pictures with yellow frames on my poster): Oncourse, Email, text messaging, Facebook, ordering products online, iTunes, television, and video games.

Text (pictures with blue frames on my poster): Various class materials, menus, mail, textbooks, daily readings, magazines, class schedule, and Indiana Daily Student.

Daily Living (pictures with red frames on my poster): Cooking ingredients, grocery shopping, road signs and billboards, daily planner, and To Do lists.

Although my literacy involvement seemed to vary from activity to activity, they all seemed to hold the same purpose: to both introduce and improve oral and visual literacy skills. Let me refer back to last semesters literacy class previously mentioned; In the class we discussed the effect of socio-economic status on literacy development. Although it has been proven that lower socio-economic status typically results in slower and less advanced literacy development, there are exceptions to the concept. Take, for instance, a young student who spends his time after school at a local restaurant while his mother finishes her shift as a waitress. Not only is the child able to observe and hear communication and conversation surrounding him, but he also has the opportunities of “reading” newspapers, magazines, menus, signs, billboards outside, juke box albums, kitchen instruction, product ingredients, dollar bills, name tags…and it goes on. Although this child may not have appropriate knowledge to accurately decode certain words and information, he is being introduced to literacy concepts that, in turn, will later help him while in the classroom. The point of this little side note, of course, relates back to my literacy snapshot activities. Just as a child of low socio-economic status has the opportunity to gain literacy knowledge through daily activities, so do I. While growing up the scribbled letters I wrote, made-up spelling words I created, and stories I told all helped to develop the literacy knowledge and information I have today. The daily activities that I have logged for my literacy snapshot, of course, continue to both educate and improve my literacy understanding.

Kate Neal's Blog Posting 9/9

When I was given the assignment to be attentive on what literacy I was involving myself in, I was quite stressed. I do not consider myself to be one to read much. To my surprise, I have found myself reading lots of interesting things over the past week. For instance, not only have I read many books from my fall semester of classes, I have read some articles in the local newspaper back in my home town, cooking recipes in cook books, and magazines I hardly ever look at.
This past weekend, I spent the entire three days at Oreilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. My father was drag racing up there which led me to reading an article about my father in the newspaper as well as reading the National Dragster. My father does very impressive work when it comes to mechanical work and building race cars, so the local newspaper decided to compose an article about him and his new race car. The National Dragster decided to do the same thing. In the articles, it is mentioned that he has won several awards including the Best Engineered Car in 2009. This was awesome because my dad builds as good of cars, if not better than, professional race car builders.
On another subject, I have been concentrating on my calorie intake for multiple reasons and have found myself buried in a cookbook called The Calorie Countdown Cookbook, by Juan-Carlos Cruz. This cookbook is amazing and has many tips for people who are trying to consume healthy meals.
For the most part, my time is spent reading for classes, much like my classmates, in books including but not limited to Strategies for Teaching Students with Learning and Behavior Problems; by Vaughn and Bos, Elementary and Middle School Mathematics; by Van de Walle, Karp, and Bay-Williams, and the field experience guide that goes with the last mentioned.
It also needs to be mentioned that I, like many others, do, on occasion, partake in facebook and television if that is considered to be literacy in this assignment.
Contrary to what I have previously written about the literacy I have read over the past week, I do not normally read the National Dragster or the newspaper. This was a rare occasion. I do read the cookbook often, as well as my school books, but not usually the school books I am reading now. However, I will be reading them more and more throughout the semester.

Lauren Flaspohler's Literacy Snapshot

When we were first assigned this, I had no idea how I would make a collage of my literacy activities because I didn’t feel like I did a lot of things pertaining to literacy. However, as I started to write down everything that I was reading and writing, I realized that I actually read and write more than I expected.
Now that school has started back up, I’ve been reading a lot of textbooks. Also I send/receive about 500 text messages every day. Even though, it is coming to an end, I have been trying to find time to finish a book I started this past summer. Other literacy items that I mentioned in my literacy snapshot include gym schedule, recipes, my planner, questions for science, Oncourse articles, and menus.
The top three items that I used every day are textbooks, text messages, and my planner. I use textbooks every day because I read for my classes. Generally I will have a textbook with me everywhere that I go including my apartment, my boyfriend’s house, and the education building. Like I said in the previous paragraph, I send and/or receive 500 text messages every day. I have my cell phone with me at all times. My boyfriend lives about two hours away, and when he is working or I am at school we usually text back and forth all day long. My planner is something that I could not live without. It has all of my homework written down and what events that I have going on. It also includes birthdays, dentist and doctor’s appointments, and special days to remember like anniversaries and holidays.
On the weekends, my boyfriend and I are little chefs. We love to cook and try new foods. Almost every weekend we try new recipes so this past weekend we made chicken cacciatore. Either we cook at his house or my apartment.
Specifically this weekend, I had Oncourse articles to read and questions to answer for my science class. Homework is something that is always going on for me, but varies week to week. Usually, I will try to get it done over the weekend. On weekends, I am either at my boyfriend’s house or my apartment. This weekend I completed my reading and my science questions at my boyfriend’s house. Another item that was specifically this weekend was that we went out to eat for a birthday dinner. So my literacy snapshot from that day was a menu from the cheesecake factory.
I never thought that I would be able to find so many items to put in my literacy snapshot. I was very surprised by what I found. I actually read and write a lot more in a day than I ever realized that I do.

Literacy Snapshot

Literacy Snapshot -Alex Lew

Over the past several days of documenting my literacy on a daily basis I have come to realize how important literacy is in my life. Before this assignment I never once thought about literacy as reading a receipt or directions to a camera, I only viewed literacy as reading books. I began four days ago by writing down everything I read, but I soon figured out that this was too daunting as I read almost every second of the day. I then switched to only documenting every hour or so. Through this project I learned that as a literate individual I rarely engage in scheduled reading. Most of the reading I do is either assigned to me or is done in a spontaneously. I also began to realize how difficult it would be to function on a daily basis if I was not a literate individual, from road signs to the newspaper my everyday decisions are influenced by what I read.
The literacy activities that I engage in the most would be reading for class, (which consists of syllabi, notes, power points, books, and e-mail) and reading for pleasure. Although I did not originally feel that I engaged in many literacy activities for my own personal enjoyment I realized that I do this more often than I had thought at the beginning of this project. I begin everyday with reading for personal enjoyment by reading the Bible, “My Utmost For His Highest” by Oswald Chambers, and “When God Writes Your Love Story” by Eric and Leslie Ludy. This early morning literacy act determines how the rest of my day will be because it controls my mind-set for the day. Other pleasure literacy acts I found that I engage in are Facebook, and foxnews.com. I spend time on both of these websites several times each day. I also found that when I watch television I engage in literacy, for example, when watching the Glenn Beck show every day, I am not watching mindlessly but reading the newsfeeds and words that come on the screen. The two places in which I engage in literacy activities the most are the classroom and my house/room; this is because I spend most of my time in those places. This activity forced me to actively pay attention to my daily life and realize how literacy is incorporated into nearly every aspect of my life.

Literacy Snapshot, Danielle Rolley

Before this literacy project I didn't really realize everything in my daily life that counts as a form of literacy. I never thought that being on facebook, checking my email, and surfing the internet were forms of literacy activities. I knew that reading a book or textbook, reading a magazine or even reading a menu were all literacy activities, however they none of them really took up a lot of time during my day. Once I realized all the activities that really do count as literacy activities I also realized how much literacy activities take up my daily life.

The literacy activities I mostly engage in are facebook, twitter, checking emails, oncourse, and surfing the internet. I found after keeping track for the past 3 days that those few activities are common things that I engage in more than twice a day. Twitter I tend to only engage in once a day. Other literacy activities I engage in are reading textbooks and reading menus. I have gone out to eat a couple of times in the past 3 days so menu reading is a literacy activity that was common. However menu reading is not a daily literacy activity and is one that I will go days or a week without doing. Textbook reading is a daily activity that I engaged in only once or twice a day the past 3 days. However Textbook reading is a literacy activity that will increase in my daily life as the school year progresses.

Most of my literacy activities are done in my apartment or at home. I check my facebook or twitter on my phone a lot and I sometimes surf the internet for specific things whenever I am out of the apartment or home. Reading textbooks, checking emails, and surfing the internet are mostly done at home. Reading menus is a literacy activity that always takes place in some sort of restaurant. I really enjoyed this literacy project because it was interesting to me how many times I engage in a literacy activity and all the things that really count as a literacy activity that never really occurred to me were. On a more negative note it occurred to me during this project that I spend way too much of my time on faceb

Before this past week I have really never thought about where and how literacy is a part of my life. I actually thought when we got this topic for this blog I really would not have anything to write about. But after paying attention to everything I read, write, and listen I realize that literacy activities are a bigger part of my day than I thought. I will split the sections up into school work and entertainment.
The first section I want to discuss is how much I actually read for classes every week. This past week, I read over 200 pages and that was just Thursday through Monday. The topics that I read ranged from science to learners with disabilities. I also realized that in order for my reading to be beneficial I must do it in a quiet place. Also, it takes me around 2 hours to do readings per day. That does not include taking notes and other homework assignments.
The next type of reading I do on a daily basis is for my entertainment. I am on the internet a lot of my time at home, in addition to typing papers, I take breaks to read up on music and sports. A website that I read at least a couple times a day is for my favorite band, Breaking Benjamin. I will go to their site to read about news, tour dates, and other band activities. The other site I spend the majority of my time is on is ESPN.com. I spend around an hour to an hour and half on it to catch up on my favorite sports. Even though I watch ESPN on television as well, it is easier to read what I want, than to have to wait for the story to come on the television. The other means of entertainment that I read other than the internet is the IDS. Every day I will grab an IDS paper and read before or after I go to class. It’s nice to read because I know what kind of activities are going on around campus and other news stories.
It was nice to realize what kind of reader I am. Even though I could read a lot more than I do, it is still good to know I spend most of my day reading some sort of information.

Literacy Snapshot-Courtney Silverstein

It was funny to me to realize just how much I read throughout the day. I never thought of myself as a huge reader-I always enjoy reading just don’t always find the time to sit and read a book. However, after I thought about it I am constantly reading every day. It made me think back to when I was a kid and I was just learning how to read; I was probably pointing out everything in sight that I could read. Now it seems I take advantage of my skill. I read street signs, labels on food or drinks in the mornings, text books, text messages, internet articles, scores to sporting events etc. I do all these things without even realizing I’m reading! I realized that if I didn’t know how to read I would be lost. It made me feel bad for the people who do not get the privilege to learn how to read. Here I am taking advantage of being literate, while some adults can’t even read their name on a piece of paper.
However, I do read and write probably at least ¾ of my day! When I wake up, I read emails and my assignment book to make sure I bring the right materials to my classes for the day. I read the labels of the food in the pantry to find my breakfast. I read during all of my classes and on my breaks I continue to read-crosswords, text messages, facebook posts, articles in People magazine etc. When I get home from class, I read homework, the guide to the TV, pages on facebook, etc. All throughout my day I read, listen and write-using my literacy in many ways. I also discovered that even though I am quite a literate individual I don’t read a lot about the world. I seem to be caught up in my classes and own life to pay much attention to the news outside my local life. I feel like I should be reading more about what is going on around the world, especially since today’s society is so globalized. Being knowledgeable about the world is important as an educator because so many of our future students will have different cultures and backgrounds. Knowing more about each of their cultures would greatly benefit the classroom. In general, this project has opened my eyes to the importance of literacy.

Literacy snapshot Kristen Whitesides

Society has transformed and progressed to a wonderful state that provides so much for the people in it. At times, however, it seems that society tends to move too quickly and we forget to cherish the small things. One of these things that, through this assignment, I have realized is being literate. It’s amazing how many things I do and could with the simple task of reading. Just the fact that I think reading is simple is a great thing. Being a Teaching All Learners major I am asked by many teachers to think through a child’s perspective. Their perspective on reading would most likely not be the same which makes me appreciate it even more.
I used literate skills on the computer and internet a lot during the last few days. Through Facebook I check up and talk to friends and family back at home. I use my email every day more than once to double check homework assignments and talk to people. The ease the internet gives us makes things so much easier. I have been on the internet trying to find the best deals on a ton of textbooks I’ve had to buy for school. I also use Yahoo messenger to talk to friends and play games to take a break from homework. Internet has given an additional opportunity for literacy skills to be in use.
Originally I thought it would turn out that I am most literate on the computer, however, as I took a long of my literacy activities I was surprised to see I use books just as much. I have definitely come to appreciate books a lot more. These past few days I have read a lot for homework assignments, which aren’t always enjoyable, but I am able to learn more about my future profession. I read a little for pleasure which is always a great break in the day. For me, novels have become an escape from my own stressful life. They take me to a different world which I appreciate more than when I was younger. Another time literacy became important to me was when I spent time reading to my nephew. I love being able to use that skill to make a child happy and to try to teach it and pass it on. I am taking a Children’s Literature course this year and so I have listened to and read children’s books recently. They have progressed from when I was younger and I am excited that children are being taught to appreciate books more.
Of course literacy became important with simple, practical tasks such as reading road signs when driving and going grocery shopping. Through recording these things however I’ve learned it doesn’t matter how I use the literacy skill it is apparent I use it and gain from it absolutely every day, all day and I am thankful I have the skill.

Literacy Snapshot (Emilea Bade)

For the literacy snapshot project we were required to keep track of the reading and writing activities that we participated in on a daily basis. At first when we were told about this project I thought, "That is easy enough, we are all college students and all we ever do is read and write for class." But as I began to really pay attention to what I read and wrote those days outside of just what I did for my classes, I realized that I am almost always participating in some type of literacy activity.
I think that often times at our age we don't realize how often we do these things because we have been reading and writing for so long that they just come naturally to us and we do them automatically without consciously thinking about them. When I began to dig deeper than just the reading and writing that I do for class I realized that sometimes I also read books just for fun, like right now one of my friends has recommended that I borrow a book and I have been reading it when I have free time (which is rarely, but it happens). Reading for fun and reading for class, however, are common of most people our age and most are very aware that they do these two things.
It was when I looked farther into the literacy activities that I participate in that I began to get a bit more creative. For example, I went to my parent's house this weekend so that my dad could change the oil in my car. On the way down to Williams (a small town near Bedford), I noticed that I was reading all of the road signs along the way as well as the signs for different stores along 37. As I noticed this I realized that I always do that when I am driving somewhere even though I already know what all of the road signs between Bloomington and Williams say. While I was there I also helped my mom make a dessert for the Labor Day cookout they were having today. In order to do this I had to read the recipe so that I knew how to help her with the cookies. When we start to pay attention to all of the times that we are reading and writing, we realize that doing both of these things is a major part of our functioning throughout the day and we realize how lost we would be if we were unable to do them.

Literacy Snapshot, Jamie Patton

I really enjoyed this assignment and I learned a lot about myself as a literate individual. I started to read a lot more over the summer because I had a job where I was able to sit around and read (and get paid for it!). I really got into Chuck Palahniuk books (don't ask me how to pronounce his last name because I can't) and plan on still trying to read a few for pleasure during the school year. That is, as long as my eighteen credit hours don't weigh me down with too much textbook reading.

But besides the readings I have to do for my classes (which I often find interesting anyway), a majority of my day-t0-day literacy is done through technology. Of course, I check facebook (way too much) and rely on it to keep in constant communication with my friends. I also use my phone to text message and send/receive e-mails. I used to be horrible about checking and replying to e-mails. I would get messages that would sit in my inbox for weeks before I ever read them. But, I finally got my e-mail sent to my phone and now it's much better, thankfully. Another source of "reading for fun" that I put on my poster were some magazines. I read Cosmopolitan religiously and have saved every issue I've ever read since I was a sophomore in high school. The heaviest box I had to move down to Bloomington when I came to school was filled with nothing but magazines!

Over all, I think the biggest thing I realized while doing this project was that I have a very literate lifestyle. I am able to keep in almost constant communication with my friends, family, and professors thanks to new technology. I am also fortunate enough to be able to balance my reading so that I can squeeze some "fun reading" into my workload. Luckily enough, I tend to enjoy the readings I am assigned for homework as well. Of course, there are always some articles or chapters that seem to drag on and on but I would say that the majority of things I read for class are really interesting to me. A large part of why I believe my literate life to be so enjoyable is because I truly enjoy what I am going to school for. Enjoying what you do and what you read can make your life much more entertaining.

E342 Wednesday, Literacy Snapshot

I have always firmly believed that people take for granted those people or aspects of their lives that are most important to them and/or are vital to their survival due to the fact that they are natural. This is true of our ability to breathe, see, feel and think. As teenagers, most of us did not put our all into being gracious and kind to our parents and it is usually our best friends or significant other that takes the brunt of our emotion when we feel overwhelmed. Upon putting concentration towards noticing the times in which my literacy has served me, I can now place “being literate” into one of the things I unfortunately take for granted. This was especially apparent to me as I sat in the office of the school of education on Friday morning with the topic of literacy fresh on my mind. I was attempting to read all of the services offered to students but, being that I was on the inside and the letters were posted on the window as to be read from the outside, I struggled to comprehend the opportunities that awaited me. Sitting there attempting to read backwards letters and symbols I experienced, in my mind, what it was like to have some sort of learning disability with reading. I was unable to decipher the symbols that made up these phrases and took much longer than someone standing from the outside to read words that I already knew.
The aforementioned experience was by far the most meaningful to me as I was actively aware of my own literacy the past few days. One of the ways I noticed I use literature the most is in keeping in touch with the people I care about. I used facebook on multiple occasions throughout the day, every day to see what my mom and sister are up to as they both live three hours away in opposite directions. I also used facebook to catch up with friends from home who are at different colleges all over the Midwest. I used my reading abilities all evening on Saturday (sad, but true) to complete Monday’s homework. I read multiple textbooks to gain an understanding of the material I would need to be an active participant in class.
The final most apparent way I used literacy was by being entertained. I frequent People’s website to read celebrity gossip and see embarrassing photos of celebrities *GASP* eating! I use my understanding of the English language to enjoy television shows such as “Criminal Minds” and “How I Met Your Mother.” I also challenge my own knowledge of language (and my sense of humor) by watching “The Big Bang Theory” as it is both informative and hilarious, but more often than not you have to be able to understand the joke before you can get it. Overall, my ability to read and understand language serves me on a multitude of levels, which I now have a greater knowledge of and appreciation for.

Literacy snapshot

Reading is just a natural part of my everyday life and until this assignment I had not realized how large of a role it actually played. Just about everywhere I go or everything I do involves reading. Whether it is reading for an assignment or reading street signs, I’m constantly doing it. And to some point, what I read affects my decisions and actions throughout the day.
Through this project I noticed that I have a routine to beginning my days. Without logging everything, my days just seem second nature and I don’t really think about what I’m doing. But I realized that I do the same few things every morning before starting each day and when I do not do those things I feel unorganized. I start with reading my clock when my alarm goes off. The first thing I do when waking up is check my phone to see if I had missed anything while I was sleeping. Then I check the weather for the day to decide what I’m going to put on that day. Then after getting ready for class, I checked my schedule to see what class I had and what rooms they would be in (since it was the first week of classes and I was not yet used to my schedule). Those are just some small details that I noticed I was actually reading although not consciously thinking about it.
Through out the week I also noticed that since classes have started, I was spending a lot of my time reading for my classes. Which include articles, textbooks, emails, etc. I noticed that when I read, I need to take good notes and then read over my notes after I am finished in order to make sense of what I just read. Of course when I was at the library doing all of these about every 30 minutes to an hour I was on facebook or perez. I can only focus for so long until I have to take a break otherwise I have no idea what I had read. I do check facebook often since I have access to it from my phone but surprisingly I did not use it as much as I had originally thought I used it. It was mainly when I would get notifications on my phone or when I was waiting for a class to start. One major aspect of my literate world is bbm and texting. I noticed that I am constantly on my phone talking to multiple people at once about the night before or what our plans were going to be for the weekend, etc. I’m not even sure I could put a number on how many times I text and bbm a day, it’s that bad. And then for pure leisure time, I read cosmo when I get them in the mail when I have time. Luckily I got one this week otherwise that wouldn’t have been part of my literacy snapshot because I don’t like to read the same thing twice (another thing I noticed).
In all, completing the literacy snapshot made me aware all the reading that I do and a majority of it I do it subconsciously. Without the reading skills that I have, going about a daily life would be difficult. Things such as eating would be challenging if I could not read the menu. Just about everything revolves around reading.

e342wednesday, Snapshot

After keeping a day to day journal for the past five days of every time I read, I became aware of how fortunate I am to have the literacy skills that I posses. As a child, I never enjoyed reading. I would struggle in that subject much more than any other. What I did not realize though was that I needed the reading skills in order to succeed in all of my other subjects. My mom hired a tutor to come to the house once a week to help me with just reading. She would assign me different library books to complete for the next week. We would go over reading out loud and stopping and pausing each time a new character spoke. Over time, I began to enjoy reading. I liked getting lost into other character's worlds. From about seventh grade on, I never struggled with reading again. It is harder to understand and enjoy reading if it is assigned to you, but the skills I learned no doubt have helped me throughout college.
I included everything that consisted of reading in my journal. When I woke up I would look at my clock. To me, that is considered reading. At night I would make different meals for dinner. Reading the ingredients on the box is considered reading. I enjoy to work cross word puzzles in my free time. Knowing the words and letters is crutial in order to solve the puzzle. I never realized how much I really counted on reading in order to live a normal life. Even when driving, reading a map, the street signs, or the word "stop" at a stop sign, you use reading. If I did not know how to read, I could not function in the ways that I wanted in order to live the life I have now. Staying in touch with my family and friends over the Internet is very important to me. If I could not read or write I would be unable to communicate with them through emails.
Overall I learned how important it is for young students to know the importance of learning to read and write. They may have a difficult time grasping the idea of why they need these traits, but this activity would benefit them if they wrote down every time they needed to read or could read something. Incorporating reading and writing into your everyday classroom is a must. In order to function in this world, you have to have those skills.

You never realize how much time you spend doing something until you actually write it down. When I first started logging my literacy activities I was writing down the usual things I read such as my textbooks, e-mail & the IDS newspaper. But once I started writing those down I started to notice things I read daily that I never really thought much about. Things such as commercials on tv, text messages on my phone & labels on food boxes. I also started to notice some other things about myself. One of these was the ridiculous amount of time I spend online everyday. I wish I could say most of it was spent checking Oncourse or doing other academic activities, but sadly most of it is spent checking out celebrity gossip on Perez or updating myself on peoples Facebook statuses. In one day alone I went online six times throughout the day. Only two of these times I was actually doing something school related. The other times I was reading for personal enjoyment. After seeing that written down I realized that I should probably start spending less time online and more time doing schoolwork. Another thing I realized about myself was that whenever I was trying to pass time I most often found myself reading whatever was around me. These would be situations like reading a magazine while working out or reading a poster on the wall while waiting for my dinner to heat up. It never struck me until I looked at my time log how much reading plays a big part in my daily activities.

After all this I thought about how much I take fore granted that I actually could read everything around me when and if I wanted to. I thought about how simple day-to-day tasks would be greatly affected if I couldn’t read. The one thing I will definitely take to heart from this project is that I will make sure that I do everything I possibly can to make sure the students in my class get as much exposure to reading as possible. I want them to be able to benefit from all the wonderful things reading allows me to do everyday.

E342-Literacy Blog, Kelly Reeder

After completing this exercise I realized how much of my days are actually spent reading. I was surprised to find how much of this reading is done without me being aware. For example, each morning this past week I woke up and automatically looked at my class schedule to see what classes I have, what buildings or rooms they are in, and what time I would be done for the day. Other times that I read subconsciously included reading recipes, labels, restaurant menus, and even the Comcast channel guide.

While reading consciously this past week I noticed that a lot of the time I spent reading was from textbooks, or articles posted onto oncourse. Even though this took a lot of my time, I still had time to do some enjoyable reading. Facebook is something that I cannot go one day without checking, let alone a couple of hours. Since I was focused on all of the reading that I was doing for a few days, I became aware that I constantly needed to check my facebook to see different statuses of people, new things that were written on my wall, and even captions written underneath newly posted pictures. I not only check my facebook regularly, I also check my email just as much. Through my email I can see if a class is canceled, if I have new notifications on facebook, coupons or different advertisements to my favorite stores, and even emails from my friends and family.

Even though a huge chunk of my conscious reading is done on the web, I also enjoy sitting down to read a novel. This past summer I almost always brought a book with me wherever I went. Now I cannot do this as often because I am so preoccupied with the mandatory reading for my classes. When I can find time I try and pick up the book that I am currently in the middle of, Twilight. I usually read before I go to bed or if I can’t sleep. I found that reading late at night helps me to fall asleep, and with this particular book I am able to have dreams about my vampire friend, Edward Cullen.

I will admit that I took a lot away from this assignment. Before, I unknowingly took for granted the gift of literacy. I did not realize how much I depended on this skill for my everyday life. Without this ability life would be much more difficult and complicated, as well as BORING.

I never realized how much reading I actually do each day until I started keeping track this week. I did not realize how much time I really spent on the Internet on Facebook, I spend a fair amount of time on Facebook everyday. After monitoring myself this week I have learned the excessive amount of time that I waste getting on Facebook and reading through my friends pages. I have also learned this week that I get on Facebook when I am supposed to be doing my school work. I did not realize how much reading I actually did on a day to day basis until I found myself reading a People Magazine in the line at the grocery store the other day, I have also learned that anytime I have free time when I am not studying that I will occasionally go to the store and pick up a magazine to read. I have really realized this week how important it is this week to be a literate person. I did not really appreciate the little things I am able to do being a literate person until I was at Panera today and I was able to read the menu. I am truly blessed that I have the ability to be literate. I do not usually like to read, but this summer my sister told me about the series Twilight and I just finished the last book of the series this week, I found myself picking it up and reading it in between my readings that I had to do for my classes and also in between my classes. Being a literate individual is important, because I have to be able to read on a daily basis for the classes that I am enrolled in and also to be able to do simple tasks such as reading a thinking of you card that my mom sends me every week. I have found that almost every task that I do on a daily basis has some type of reading involved in it and I am very thankful that I am a literate person and realized this week exactly how much reading I actually do everyday and every week for school and also just for my own pleasure.

E342-Literacy Snapshot (Jayne Royal)

Until this project I never really noticed how often I really do read throughout my daily activities. Honestly, I really only correlated reading and books. I did not even think about all the times I mindlessly read during the day. Many times I would notice after the fact that I had just read something.

            I really enjoy reading books in my spare time. One of my absolute favorite authors is Chuck Palahniuk. I am currently reading the book Choke by him and I try to read a few pages every night before I fall asleep.

            Besides books that I read for pleasure I read a lot for my classes. I have quite a few classes that require lots of reading so I spend a great deal of my time reading those things. Not only do I spend a lot of time reading textbooks, but I also read a lot of articles for my classes.

            One thing that I noticed is that I spend a lot of time reading signs. The amount that I read signs may also be unusually high because it was the first week of school, but I constantly found myself reading directions in order to understand where I was suppose to go. Granted these signs were a few words at the most, but they really seemed to add up in the end. Also this weekend I happened to spend a lot of time driving. I went to Indianapolis and am notorious for taking a wrong turn somewhere. I not only had directions in my lap as I drove, but I also have a habit of reading aloud every sign I pass to make sure I do not miss the correct exit.

            I constantly have my phone on me and like to keep in contact with my friends as much as possible. Therefore, I spend a great deal of time reading text messages. I find myself reading text messages  every ten to twenty minutes with the exception of when I am in class or working on something.

            Lastly, I spend a lot of time online. I check facebook an overwhelming amount. I would say that on average I check it twelve times a day. I also have the guilty pleasure of being a big fan of TMZ. I have a phone that is capable of getting on the Internet and alerts me whenever I have an email or a notification on facebook so I feel as if the amount of time I spend online has increased dramatically recently. 

Meredith Monserez's Literacy Snapshot

Prior to completing this Literacy Snapshot, I never realized how much I truly read each day. I was very surprising to see how much reading is incorporated into my daily life. From reading for school, to reading for pleasure, to reading just to survive in my every-day environment, I was involved in some type of literacy.
From various text books, to articles located on oncourse, to reading through every class syllabus and checking their calendars hourly, I am engaged in reading for a great portion of my day. Every morning before I go to my first class, I check my e-mail, my Facebook, and the weather for that day. By reading through my e-mails I am able to stay up to date with what is going on in my classes, to actively communicate with my family members, and stay up to date with events going on in my sorority. If I was unable to read these I would be completely disorganized and unconnected with my friends and family. Facebook, where I tend to spend too much of my day, is also another tool that allows me to actively communicate with my friends and family. Every day before my first class I also read the Indiana Daily Student.
Reading occurs in everyday typical tasks that I would have never of considered literary if I had not been inclined to take notice of them. I went out to dinner Wednesday night and had to read the menu. I also went to a friend's lake house this weekend and had to read not only the directions i printed off mapquest, but also the street signs along the roads. Unfortunately, I also got sick this week and therefore had to read the directions on the back of each medicine container.
I also found that I spend time reading for pleasure. Just as I enjoy spending time on Facebook, I also tend to read many magazines (I subscribe to about five) and spend extremely too much time text messaging. I also am a huge fan of music and download new music about everyday and therefore I am continually looking up and reading the lyrics to many songs.
Prior to this assignment, I was not only unaware with how often literacy is used in my everyday life, but I was also unappreciative of the fact that I am literate. By recording the times I am interacting with literacy and how often this occurs, I can not possibly imagine a living life illiterate.