Secondary Literacy Plus

Today I am starting this blog on secondary literacy. Lately adolescent literacy has been in the news, even Bush who appears to be challenged in this area included adolescent literacy in his new addendum to the No Child Left Behind bill.
From an American Idol phenomenonally talented singer who cannot read nor write to the concerns of the Alliance for Excellent Education who are terribly concerned about the reading and writing of our future work force, adolescents are finally getting some attention regarding their literacy needs.
After attending a zine conference where 8th graders were buying and selling their zines among a host of adults who create their own work in this genre, I believe the difficulty is not that our young adults aren't literate. But rather that they don't believe that school is the place to display these capabilities. They email, text message, create newsletters, and zines and probably a host of other literacy product. These all require writing and reading and they like doing these things. Why aren't we as educators seeing a spin-off in the classroom? Mainly because we are so good at telling students what to write; what to read. And they are so good at not feeling motivated to accede to our wishes. So what does an educator do? This is the purpose of this blog to explore avenues that young adults want to explore.