- The beautiful birthday card from my husband, left on the kitchen table, next to equally beautiful flowers
- Several emails
- Birthday wishes on Facebook and via text messages
- Appointment reminders
- A Lands' End catalog
- Street signs
- The menu at the coffeehouse where my friend and I met early this morning
- Emails another teacher was showing me, to illustrate a point
- My car audio system readout, identifying what song was coming up in the queue
- The drive-through menu at Fazoli's for lunch
- An entertainment magazine at the hairdresser's salon
- The label on some new hair gel I purchased after my haircut
- Even more happy birthday wishes on Facebook, as well as some interesting and funny stories
Things that I have written so far, on this day, my birthday:
- A to-do list for this afternoon
- A check, for my massage
- Captions for posts on Facebook
- My signature on credit card transactions
- Lots of thank-yous for birthday greetings
- More posts on Facebook
- This blog post
All of this is ordinary stuff for me, and probably for readers of this blog. But these very same activities are difficult for a substantial number of students and adults who have learning disabilities, language barriers, visual impairments...or are simply illiterate due to life circumstances.
Reading and writing are important. Pass it on.
Great reminder about the importance of literacy which many of us take for granted. Happy Birthday! I hope you enjoy the rest of your day!
ReplyDeleteIt was a good day to count my blessings; thanks!
DeleteI liked reading your lists of what you read and wrote through the day. I think this is a great activity to do to be reflective of our own practice and instruction, and it would also be fun to have our students do this activity for a few days to show how much reading and writing is a part of their lives! (Happy Birthday, by the way!)
ReplyDeleteFunctional literacy is often glossed over when focus is placed on testing; as a special education teacher, it was a passion of mine to instill the need for literacy as a life skill for my students. And thanks for the birthday wishes!
DeleteYes, reading and writing are important. And, just as important is recognizing how much of both we do every day that doesn't get validated. Thanks for the reminder.
ReplyDeleteOur lives would be so much less without literacy! Thanks for stopping by, Elisa!
DeleteLet us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world.~Voltaire
ReplyDeleteBeautiful, meaningful, poignant post. Perfect to celebrate...YOU! Jo Ann
Love the quote! Need to incorporate more dance into my life. :-)
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