Literacy+Interview

 **751: Literacy, Libraries, and Literature**

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__Betty Lou: Literacy Provider __  Don't let my mother know that I called her by her full name; it infuriates her but I find it quite endearing. I took this assignment as an opportunity to not only take a closer look at the literacy needs within my hometown, but also to learn more about my mother's profession. Whenever we sit down to have a conversation, talk of our work is usually at the forefront. The satisfaction that my mother has in her work is something that I used to envy but now I strive for. Coming from a job where I sat in front of an editing station for 10 hours straight with basically no human contact, her job of helping others to become lifelong learners made me reevaluate what I was doing. Betty Lou doesn't know this, but her passion for helping others is one of the reasons that I am now in library school. I realized that was what I wanted too – a passion and belief in what I was doing.

 My mother has been working within Florence County School District 5 for 20 years. When she started work as a substitute teacher in 1991, I was 11 years old and I begged her to never, ever substitute for one of my classes. I didn't get my wish, because one day I walked into art class and reliable Mrs. McCutcheon wasn't at the head of the class– it was Mrs. Thompson. But sitting in the class and watching my mother be a teacher, I knew she was in her element and I never forbade her to substitute in my class again. It wasn't long before Johnsonville Elementary (JES) offered her a full time position as a 4K teacher's assistant and from there, she worked at the libraries at both JES and Johnsonville Middle School until finding her place as a fluency teacher at JES. “I love it. I absolutely love it,” is what I have often heard her tell people when she speaks of her job.

 Because Betty Lou takes such pride in her job, it pains her to see children who struggle with their reading. When asked what her hopes are in working within the fluency program she says, “I want the children to believe in themselves, believe that they can do it. To hold their heads up high.” Although she agrees that each student could benefit from one on one help, the amount of students, the limited number of teachers and limited amount of time do not allow for that. She emphasizes that working with a group of four can help the children to feel more comfortable because they all share the same goal. It also allows them to help and encourage each other, something that she believes helps the process.

 A variety in her methods of teaching is also something that Betty Lou believes helps the children progress. But the small size of her room, which is actually just a small office, does not allow for much active participation from all the children at once. Instead, she relies on alternating days of reading to them and asking detailed questions, echo and partner reading, group discussions, choral reading, and reading theater. Betty Lou is particularly fond of reading theater and reading to the students with exaggerated actions and expressions, but again, her small office limits her ability to do so.

 In addition to the limits of a small space, Betty Lou also finds the availability of usable technology limiting as well. Her office is only equipped with one computer on which there is no educational games or software installed. She must search for free online word games for the students to utilize. While this offers the students a different way of learning, it does not allow any way for the students to keep track of their progress. Educational software that is tailored to their needs and able to keep track of such statistics would be an easy way for the students to connect the fun games with their reading progress. That way, they may be more inclined to work on such software at home, if supplied. Betty Lou also has the students record themselves so that they may hear how they sound when they read. Right now, she uses an old cassette recorder and headphones (“That work //sometimes,//” she sighs). It seems that the students would most definitely benefit from multiple computers and workstations that make available to them audio software that tracks their reading progress and games that do so as well. She says that the kids really enjoy playing with what limited technology they have and that it would be interesting to see how they would react to better educational technology.

 Limitations aside, Betty Lou and her fellow five fluency teachers have been able to provide a solid supplemental reading program for those forty children who need extra help. My mother talks fondly about two students in particular – a fourth grade girl and a first grade boy. The girl did not work with my mother until the beginning of the 2010/2011 school year. She had been working with another teacher but for this year, she was assigned to my mother. Her problems included reading comprehension and struggling under pressure. “You just have to keep trying methods until you find one that works for them. They all have different learning styles and that's important to remember,” she says. The young girl really started to blossom when they began working on reading phrases and doing reading theater. Betty Lou also found that she was able to time the girl’s reading, telling her to concentrate on the words and nothing else, to help her get over her fear of reading aloud. “She became more confident each time. Into the 2nd nine weeks, she didn't need to return to me. It was bittersweet.” As the girl was in the 4th grade and would be moving up to the middle school the next year, my mother was able to build her self esteem and open the door for success in her new school. “That’s all the encouragement that I need to keep doing what I am doing,” she says. Another short and sweet success story is found simply in the words of one of her 1st grade students, after he read a passage smoothly: “Wow, was that me? It only takes one success to give them the confidence to keep trying, and from there, you just have to build and build.

 This assignment gave me not only the opportunity to better understand the work of a literacy provider but it also gave me an insight into Betty Lou’s life outside of being my mother. As I have noted before in one of my “watch and readactions,” my mother has been reading to me my entire life and still makes me sit down with my niece on Christmas Eve so she can read us “The Night Before Christmas.” She understands the value of reading and the quality time that it gives to families. And that is exactly what she is sharing with her students. She wants them to not only read to gain success in life, but also wants them to share that time with their families. I also discovered, while doing research for my literacy analysis, that my mother is highly esteemed among the librarians around Johnsonville. When mentioning that my mother used to work in both the elementary and middle school libraries and that now she works as a fluency teacher, they reply, “Oh! Mrs. Betty? She’s wonderful!” And her praises aren't only sung by adults, either. Whenever I visit home and we are out and about, there is at least one child that comes up to my mother and hugs her. If that isn't proof of a quality literacy provider, I don't know what is. It is my goal with the action plan assignment to work closely with Betty Lou and to provide the Fluency Program at Johnsonville Elementary school a stronger voice.

__ Bibliography __ Thompson, B. (2011, June 14). Telephone interview.