New Literacies Perspective

The relationship between literacy and technology, collaborative content, and new forms of knowledge are just a few of the central principles of the New Literacies Perspective. With new literacies, come new skills and knowledge that are central to a global community in an information age. Futhermore, students who enter the workforce with such skills as collaboration, critical thinking, and publishing will be able to successfully navigate their way in an often digital environment Teachers also are important because our role changes from expert to facilitator and colleague. We work with our students to become active consumers of information as well as teach students that their voices matter and people are listening and responding through the use of ICT technologies. Moreover, students are able to connect with other learners around the world to share knowledge and break down the traditional four-walled classroom. New literacies are constantly changing and the need for up-to-date information regarding current literacy practices is one responsibilty of a literacy coach. The change is happening just as the world turns on its axis.
Personally, I like the idea of becoming active consumers of information rather than just accepting what is in front of them. Explicitly explaining and modeling critical thinking strategies through the use of visuals is one instructional technique I would use to introduce my students to thinking critically. Often times I find that most students do what is asked of them and nothing more, but if I can provide the motivation to dig deeper and exercise the neurons in the brain (as I have experienced during graduate school) they may begin to see the world from a different perspective (which can be hard for most middle school students).


As for our virtual showcase, I had a discussion with Frank about his Civil Rights Movement project and the use of visuals to introduce critical thinking skills. The images from that time period would be wonderful to use for journal prompts, creative writing, and digital storytelling(as used in his lesson plan). Similarly, Jenn R. created The Secret Life of Bee's Webquest (love the book) which is another time period rich in history and turmoil often caught in photographs. Meg's Holocaust Prezi caught my eye because I do a unit on Anne Frank and her project would help students develop background knowledge outside of Anne Frank. So much more happened during that time in Germany, yet students tend to associate Anne Frank with the Holocaust because of how it was taught. All the projects were wonderful and skillfully done.

Skyping It Up!

Melissa and I had fun with Skype, but it did feel a bit awkward also being on camera. A bit like watching yourself in the mirror? Anyway, we also found an IM Chat function with different emoticons to liven up the conversation. In relation to the readings, we discussed issues from "What is New About the New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension" by Leu, Zawilinski, Castek, Banerjee, Housand, Yinjie, and O'Neil. Few of the 'new literacies' have found their way into the classroom environment other than the original intended use of technology. According to Leu et. al (2007), new literacies are multiple, multimodal, and multifaceted which increases the complexity to understand them (p. 7). Online reading comprehension is being labeled as a new literacy because it requires strategies and skills that allow students to locate information, analyze usefulness of information, and synthesize and communicate the answers to others(Leu et. al, 2007, p. 9, 21). Melissa and I discussed the change from traditional to online reading and the need to teach students the necessary skills and strategies prior to letting them loose on the Internet. Model, model, model! In this same light, traditional methods of reading comprehension will not be sufficient to adequately prepare students for the new literacies required online (Leu et. al, 2007, p. 24). Melissa and I discussed the importance of changing the approach to reading to include a focus on online reading so our students are able to successfully participate in the global community. Melissa and I agree that change is occurring regarding reading, be it online or off, but a lack of research regarding the pedagogical implications of online reading comprehension make it difficult for us to fully accept the idea. Teachers need to be trained and informed of the changes to successfully prepare our students.

Classroom Web Pages Blabberized!

So much fun getting a computer to talk about the benefits of a classroom web page. Unfortunately, the video link appears broken. For now, check out my blabberized video here

Blabberize: Pictures come to life with voice!

How cool is this?!? Now we can really make history come alive in our classrooms with Blabberize!

Hypermedia Design Projects

Great article about incorporating hypermedia design projects, such as creating a school webpage, into the Language Arts curriculum. Hypermedia design projects can provide authentic literacy experiences in an inquiry-based classroom.
http://www.readingonline.org/articles/eagleton/text.html

Have you heard of Wiffiti?

Wiffiti is another Web 2.0 tool that incorporates text messages, Twitter updates, and Facebook statuses as if it were a real time conversation. Students, and adults (I'm guilty), are attached to their cell phones and with Wiffiti, we MAY be able to incorporate the use of cell phones in the classroom as a quick response to a question or provide examples of figurative language. I do think you could engage students to hook them into a lesson and then move on to another more educationally relevant Web 2.0 tool. Check it out here!

Pres. Obama National Address to Students

Good way to start the school year on a high note as well as learn about persuasive, demonstrative speeches!

Visual Literacy Using Comic Strips

Check out Make Beliefs Comix to create your own comics with students in your classroom. Student can play around with thought and word bubbles, characters, background colors, and learn different commands of the English language such as grammar, puns, inferences, and more! I created my own comic and am currently trying to figure out how to post it on blogger. For now, check out my comic strip here.

Sharon G. Flake Internet Workshop Example

Before we begin our reading of "The Skin I'm In", you will be completing an Internet Workshop to help increase your knowledge of the author, Sharon G. Flake. For this activity, you will be responsible for locating two specific websites and finding interesting facts about Sharon G. Flake to share with the class. Use the websites given below to begin. Keep your responses in your Internet Journal and bring to class on Friday for our workshop. As always, be smart and safe!

1. Go to http://www.sharongflake.com/ and click on the "bio" tab to find out why she writes books about young adults.

2. Now click on the "4U" tab and tell how her message makes you feel as a young adult.

3. How many books has Flake written?

4. Now go to www.nypl.org/author-chat-sharon-g-flake to read the text from an Author Chat with Sharon G. Flake. What inspired Flake to create Maleeka Madison?

5. What advice does Flake give about teenagers interested in writing a story?

6. After researching Sharon G. Flake, are you excited, semi-excxited, not at all excited to read "The Skin I'm In"? Why or why not?

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As an English teacher, reading novels is an important part of the curriculum but rarely do we provide students with background knowledge about the author to specifc themes presented in the novels. We tell them we are reading a novel because 'we have to', or 'I said so' when we should be saying, 'I cannot wait for us to read this novel' or "This is one of my favorite novels and I cannot wait to share it with you'. Utilizing an Internet Workshop is a “simple way to integrate the Internet into the curriculum” and to focus student use of the Internet on important information” (Leu, Leu, & Coiro, 2004, p. 106). Today's students use technology on a recreational level, but focusing their attention with specific structured activities can help prepare them to devleop critical literacies to participate in a “highly competitive global economy” (Leu et al., 2004, p. 105). Leu (2004) explained that Internet Workshop is a powerful instructional method because it supports collaborative skills by sharing and exchanging information about a topic, provides strategies for navigating information on the Internet, further enhances content knowledge. The instructional framework of Internet Workshop integrates the new literacies of the Internet, such as evaluating Internet sites and information, that are "essential" to our students success in this information age (Leu et al., 2004, p. 99). Internet Workshops have the ability to transcend literacy learning because we can "thoughtfully guide students' learning within information environments that are richer and more complex" (Leu et al., 2004, p. 99). Students can still use the library and traditional methods of researching information, but incorporating the Internet supports the acquistion of new literacies (critical thinking and evaluating information) and the social construct "requires us to learn from one another since no single person can be expected to know everything that exists" (Leu et al., 2004, p. 105). Teachers and students need to work together to figure out how to take advantage of such expertise provided by the Internet.

Just Vocabulary Podcast

The Education Podcast Network has a plethora of educational podcasts availabe in all content areas. As a secondary English teacher, The Just Vocabulary Podcast was most meaningful to me because it provided tier 3 vocabulary words that are required and often difficult for secondary students. Each podcast was short and consisted of two vocabulary words that are "taught" by saying the word, providing example sentences, and synonyms and antonyms over a five minute span (give or take). After a brief introduction to the word and its definition, the podcast asks the listener to participate by defining the word and uses a musical transition to signal the listener to pause the podcast. Throughout the podcast, the vocabulary word is said multiple times to help register the word on the listeners lexicon. The podcast "extends learning beyond the traditional school schedule" and reachs "outside school walls" so that learning can take place at home with parents or outside in a park (Putman & Kingsley, 2009, p. 101). What a wonderful idea because learning does occur outside school and connecting the two worlds may help further motivate and enhance student learning. Furthermore, this type of podcast could be used to teach tier 3 vocabulary words in the ELA classroom, or content specific vocabulary used in science, math, and social studies. Students could also create a vocabulary podcast using popular slang (with teacher approval of certain words, naturally) and how the English language has evolved. Finally, English Language Learners could become familiar with basic vocabulary through such a podcast and use it as a reference on an Ipod throughout the school day. In this light, podcasting has the potentional to transform literacy teaching and learning by making it more interactive and student-centered. Students are still listening, reading, and speaking, but using digital technology to enhance their knowledge.

Check out the Education Podcast Network for more podcasting examples! Great site!

Lost Generation

I want to do something like this in my classroom

Do you wiki?

According to Wheeler, Yeomans, and Wheeler (2008), use of a wiki “enable students to collaboratively generate, mix, edit and synthesise subject-specific knowledge within a shared and openly accessible digital space” (p. 989). Last semester I took a course that utilized a wiki page for course information, uploading of assignments, and communication among classmates and the professor. None of the assignments for this particular class were shared or collaborative. Individual assignments were to be posted each week (similar to the standard pencil and paper assignment).
Wheeler et. al. (2008) also stated that wikis have the potential to “transform the learning experience into student-centered” where all students contribute fostering a sense of community (p. 990). However, physical editing one another’s documents in this particular course was rarely done. Instead, we’d offer (type) suggestions in a polite manner to improve a sentence or question. Perhaps the lack of discussion around the wiki and the potential for developing a community of practice caused me to be weary of such a technologically interactive environment. (Perhaps I’m a BlackBoard snob?)
In reading the research surrounding the use of wikis in the (educational realm, I do see how such technology could support and enhance collaborative learning as long as students are familiar with the features of the wiki. Wikis should also be a part of the regular classroom routine to have the complete effect of “developing communities of practice, within which they can store their treasure house of knowledge about their specific interests and learning” (Wheeler et. al., p. 990, 2008). However, I wonder if students will become bored with constant use of technology for educational purposes when they are primarily used for social interaction. It seems (we) I have come to the great divide in education and technology.


Reference:
Wheeler, S,. Yeomans, P,. & Wheeler, D. (2008). The good, the bad, and the wiki: Evaluating student-generated content for collaborative
learning. British Journal of Educational Technology. 39(6) 987-995

Podcasting in the Classroom

Resource guide on creating podcasts in the classroom, including educational value, teacher applications, and educational podcasts.

Step-by-step tutorial guide for creating a podcast using Audacity on a PC
Download Audacity here

Lesson plan for creating a persuasive podcast from Read/Write/Think

Example Podcasts:
Radio WillowWeb produced by elementary students and teachers in Nebraska
Podcast Alley
Education Podcast Network

On my nightstand....

Beautifully written in free verse poetry with a heartfelt message of survival for two young adolescent females trying to make lemonade out of life's lemons. Read it!

Does social networking have a place in education?

Social networking has successfully seeped into the hands and minds of adolescents and adults alike, but has yet to permeate the educational culture due to a lack of research and use among teachers. Through social networking, students become active consumers of information in a collaborative setting that reflects continuous creating, sharing, and editing (Alvermann, 2008).



Classroom applications of social networking sites, such as Facebook, allow students to combine written text with pictures, hyperlinks, and other relevant websites as well as “remix” print texts to allow interaction among popular characters (Alvermann, 2008). In this light, instruction shifts from teacher-owned to student-centered because students are able to tap into more primary sources beyond subject areas to enrich and broaden their understandings (Alvermann, 2008). Check out this Creative Writing Lesson Plan using Facebook
Social networking sites transform literacy by changing the way we read and write text. The individualized paper and pencil days of writing can be enhanced with shared writing, editing, and critical thinking. Adolescents already have an online identity and educators need to remain open to the changes in literacy to help fortify and extend the literacy practices students already possess and value (Alvermann, 2008). In this light, teacher education programs need to restructure, or include, literacy training that allows teachers to feel comfortable using social networking sites in their instruction. The shift from the normative school culture has begun. Are you in or out?
I am in the middle. I do see how Facebook could be used to provide a voice to characters within a print text, post classroom updates and assignments, and provide school-home connection, but I worry about safety and the mundane that could potentially develop among students who just want to check on (or stalk) their friends and photos. Explicit explaining and modeling would have to be present in all aspects, as well as constant monitoring. As an English teacher, I do feel that reading and writing is becoming a dying art form with the explosion of the Internet and digital media but there is nothing like picking up a book to get lost in the pages or writing a heartfelt letter. I do not want my students to lose that. I am in the middle.

Genre Study: Blogging

Many times students are assigned a novel but receive little to no background knowledge about the author and the life experiences that may have influenced the novel. According to Johnson (2010), one way to engage students with literature is by “developing a depth of knowledge about the author” to help create meaning and connections (p. 174). Providing students with an authentic audience, such as an authors’ blog, can create a powerful learning environment to promote the 21st-century literacy skills of critical and analytic thinking.
For this purpose, I followed Laurie Halse Anderson’s “Mad Women in the Forest” blog because I enjoy her books and she is a native of Syracuse, New York. As I perused her blog, Anderson used literacy to describe her day, offer suggestions of young adult literature, praise new authors, offer a safe space for developing authors and musicians, and a natural plug for her own writing and clothing. Anderson also posts pictures of her family and nature that both surrounds and inspires her writing while in the forest. The personal touches pull you in and her positive and inviting tone holds your interest to continue reading. The thought of starting my own blog has occurred to me more than once while following her blog. Digging deeper into her blog, her alma mater was putting on a production of one of her books, and she wrote about the dread she felt in returning to school. I connected with Anderson on this note, and realized I like her books because she writes about adolescents in the tumultuous years of high school.
As a secondary English teacher, I am drawn to books that relate to my students to remind myself of what it is like to be a teenager in our technology-driven world. No longer do paper and pencil assignments engage our 21st-century students. With blogging, the skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking are combined to “allow students to create content in ways not possible” (Johnson, 2010, p. 179). Students can now post a comment about a written paper or provide a link to offer a suggestion or revision as well as post a video, which adds “new layers of meaning” (Johnson, 2010, p. 179). I welcome technology in my classroom to further engage and promote thinking among students as well to provide an authentic purpose beyond the paper and pencil assigment.



Reference:
Johnson, D. (2010, November). Teaching with Authors’ Blogs: Connections, Collaboration, Creativity. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy,54(3), 172-180.

On my nightstand....

Take another perspective on life through the narration of death and his watching of Liesel Meminger, a young girl living with foster parents in Molching, Germany during World War II. With 560 pages, the book appears daunting but Zusak's diction and description keeps me mesmerized!

Wonderful book..highly recommended!