My Local Literacies

Ever since I finished Barton and Hamilton's (1998) Local Literacies, I can't stop thinking about all of the ways literacy impacts my daily life. I don't know how I would function if I couldn't read and write. It doesn't seem like I can go 10 minutes without reading or writing something!

As I read the case studies of people's literacy practices, I found many similarities to my own life. Like Shirley, I have a lousy memory and because of this [rely] on written records" (p. 98). I write shopping lists before going to the grocery store as June does, and I have "kept diaries at various points" (p. 136) like Cliff.

On Thursday, I thought it would be interesting to jot down my literacy activities in a single day. I started the morning with good intentions and detailed notes, but as the day wore on, I got so engrossed in my literacy activities that I wrote less. Here's what I captured:

• Reading began before I got out of bed. I read, replied to, and deleted the 53 e-mails which had accumulated on my BlackBerry since 10 p.m. Wednesday night.
• As I surfed through TV channels, I read the screen--prices on the home shopping network, the upcoming schedule on the TV guide channel, credits on TV shows.
• I spent 1/2 hour on the elliptical machine, first reading a magazine, then reading my MP3 player as I scrolled through the play list.
• I took a shower and read the shampoo and conditioner bottles to distinguish between the two.
• I spent about an hour reading a textbook for class, writing notes in the margins while I read.
• During lunch, I watched the noon news on TV, which required reading all of those scroll lines at the bottom of the screen. I also scanned the Giant Eagle ad and wrote a shopping list, coordinating my trip to coupons, which had to be read for expiration dates.
• I spent the early afternoon reading and matching ranking sheets for my graduate assistantship. This activity was followed by writing e-mails to inform students and employers they had "matched" with one another.
• I read my calendar to make sure I was doing everything that needed to be done.
• I wrote a To-Do list for Friday.
• By 4:00 p.m., I had read/written 30 more e-mails (in addition to the 53 which began my day).
• I pulled receipts out of my purse and wrote them in the check register, which was then reconciled against my bank statement, which I read online.
• My husband and I went to H&R block to do our taxes. More reading. I also had to sign my name multiple times.
• After the taxes, Mike and I went out to dinner, where we read a menu. Along the way, we read many road signs and bill boards.
• When we got home, I sorted and read the mail. I scanned the newspaper headlines and decided there wasn't anything I wanted to spend time reading. Perhaps, like Shirley, I felt the newspaper was "old" since I had watched the TV news earlier.
• I went back to e-mail and ranking forms. Wrote a spreadsheet of matches.

After writing and reading this list, I think I know why I'm so tired! The bulk of my day was consumed with reading and writing e-mails. It's the main way I do work for my assistantship. I also may (who am I kidding? I do) have an addiction to my BlackBerry.