It's Lit

As I think back to my personal experiences in my English classes, most of them were positive. Beginning in the sixth grade, I had a delightful teacher named Mrs. Fehrenbacher who exhibited her passion for English very boldly. She invested in me personally as we exchanged our interests in literature. She introduced me to Agatha Christie books. I loved the way she raved about the mystery and suspense. When I began reading those books, I was astonished by the way the author controlled my mind to craft vivid images contrasting the colorless words on each dull, yellowish page. Mrs. Fehrenbacher revealed to me the love I already had for English. She also introduced me to good poetry. It was this year that I joined the poetry club, despite what other kids thought of me. She encouraged the students in the club to also go to poetry slams outside of the school setting. It was easy to learn in her class because she shared her love for the subject to inspire and identify my passion for it as well...

Engagement is vital for the student's ability to learn and retain information involving literacy. In fact, it is not only necessary for learning literacy, but learning just about everything. If one is not focused on something, the likelihood for absorbing information is significantly reduced. Engaged means that one is fully invested in something for a particular amount of time. Randy Bomer writes in Building Adolescent Literacy in Today's English Classrooms that we, though we like to think ourselves capable, are unable to truly multitask and must decide what we will  intentionally be attentive to and what we choose to ignore. Engagement is an invitation not only for the students but the teacher also. Students and teachers alike make a commitment to be actively present to learn from one another through a variety of means within the classroom. Bomer writes that "engagement involves motivation, desire, care and participation."  I chose the word engagement because it i...