To think about what I am literate in,
besides my academics, was extremely difficult because I have never really
equated literacy with anything other than my schooling. I began by composing a list of things
I enjoyed and activities I did rather routinely. After contemplating for some time,
there was a potential literacy that kept probing my mind, pushing its way to
the forefront. For some
reason, I decided to suppress this particular literacy because it is something
that many people partake in, so I did not view it as a potential area that
someone could specifically be literate in. So, I took a step back and really
thought about what literacy is supposed to signify, and I decided that the
activity I was trying to suppress would serve as a good literacy piece. Well, I am proud to say that I am
literate in the act of driving. That is right, I am literate in driving
automobiles, which is pretty impressive coming from a Rhode Islander.
Ever since I was a child, I was infatuated
with driving, and I could not wait for the day that I would be able to get
behind the wheel and cruise to California (not knowing how far away that really
was). I remember collecting
little toy cars, of all kinds, but my favorites were the emergency vehicles. I’ve always dreamed about driving an
ambulance someday, but I could never make a career out of that because I make
excessive Dunkin’ Donut pit stops, and that is obviously bad for business. Being a literate driver is important
because one mistake could provoke severe consequences. I know I am literate driver. I must
be, seeing as how I am everyone’s personal taxicab, within my group of friends.
Before I could actually start rolling
down the streets of my neighborhood, I needed to complete a thirty-three hour,
state-mandated, instruction program to teach me how to drive. At first, I did not really feel like
thirty-three hours were necessary, but reflecting on it I think it was
beneficial. Yes, I have
watched my parents drive many times, but I was in a passive mode, and I didn’t
really pay attention to what they were doing and why they were doing it. All I really knew about driving was
that your hands were supposed to go on the wheel, right pedal was to
accelerate, left pedal to brake, and seat belts should be worn at all times. However, during the classroom
instruction I learned that driving entails much more than just sitting and
looking fabulous (although, I would argue, that is one of many crucial aspects
of driving).
Driving requires you to
be literate in many things, and a person needs to rely on multiple intelligences
to be an adequate driver. There is a specific language one must master when it
comes to driving, and I am not talking about the profanity that drips from
your mouth during a fit of road rage when I-95 is backed up. The
first thing I had to learn right was how to read the road signs. Whoever decided to use visual aids for these signs was a
genius because not everyone is literate in reading or literate in the
English Language. This makes me think of an ELL student within a
classroom who may benefit from the use of pictures on an assignment
or assessment.
My first driving session was a big mess, and here I thought I was
going to rock out like a superstar for my first time. By law, with my permit, I was required
to be under the supervision of a licensed adult when operating a motor
vehicle. So, my parents
assumed that role. This is like using the Vygotskian Theory, where a teacher
helps push the student to learn a new skill. It’s called the zone of proximal
development, and student driving is very much predicated on this notion. It was
a daily struggle, but I finally got the hang of it. Of course, I had to put up
with the stress that my parents induced on me when I messed up, but I have to
say it did benefit my driving skills. I
learned that it was a collective process to get me to that level.
My driving literacy definitely impacts
the rest of my life because knowing how to drive efficiently offers you a sense of freedom. The road is mine for the taking,
and I can discover new places whenever I want to. However, I drive a
gas-guzzler, so maybe road trips are not in the foreseeable future, but it
is something I could do if I wanted to. Being literate in something provides this sense of power and
expertise, but it would be incorrect to say that learning this new skill
was easy work. I realize that I was lucky to have the opportunity to
gain this literacy. That was my biggest epiphany, and I am taking this golden
nugget with me for my future classroom. As a teacher, I cannot expect everyone to be literate in
something because they may have not had the same opportunities as I have.
I will
also carry this literacy with me as a future teacher. I may not be teaching
students how to drive a car, but I can
teach them multiple skills to master literacy within the classroom. With
driving, I realized that everyone has a different way of learning and
absorbing new information. This is why my parents stressed me out whenever
they were in the passenger's seat. I knew how to do something one-way,
while they knew another method. Sometimes, I could sense the frustration from my parents because
they just automatically assumed I would pick it up within a day. Oh, and
another bonus of this literacy is that I actually have a way to
get to work, which in the future will allow me to teach students.
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