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Learning — especially learning to communicate with new audiences and in new genres — benefits from what we call reflection (or metacognition) — thinking critically about how as well as what you are learning. Extensive research confirms that reflection makes learning easier and faster. In fact, recent studies show that writing even a few sentences about your thoughts and feelings before a high-stress paper or exam can help you reduce stress and boost performance.

Spend a few minutes thinking about your own literacy experiences: What memories stand out as formative? You may define literacy narrowly as the ability to read and write, as it has been traditionally defined, or you may think of it more broadly as the ability to make meaning in the multiplicity of languages and genres, media and communication practices we are increasingly called upon to use. Here are several questions and examples that may help you remember and reflect on your own literacy experiences: