The first time I heard the term "visual literacy" I truly thought it had mostly to do with using your eyes to read printed text, or something similar to that. I hadn't put too much thought into the fact that yes, eyes do play a part in visual literacy, but that is no where near the end of the road. Visual literacy encompasses so much more than that (hence the title of my web page). I had always thought about sign language in terms of a literacy, but I wasn't sure which literacy it would fall into. I now think that it is definitely a part of visual literacy, but that it also fits deeply into many other literacies. Due to this one example, I now believe that trying to put one label on any topic or concept is kind of impossible.
In regards to new techonologies. WoW. That's really all I can say. I've peeked around at some of the other projects and I am blown away by how many different technologies there are out there. Even though I have taken the CEP 416 class about education and technology and the iTECs displayed some, I am still kind of intimidated. I think one way that I can use my students' knowledge and understanding of these technologies in my class would be to have them teach me how they use it and then make some sort of a project in class for others. This would require individual time and commitment from both myself and the students. I also think it is going to take commitment from myself to continue to develop and grow with the new technologies and ever changing definitions of literacy.
The new technology I used was a web page which is a document shared via the World Wide Web on which any person with internet access can view. In my experience, it was only within the past few years that just anyone could create a web page. I typically thought that you had to pay someone with a web design degree to create such things for you. I had some experience from last semester working with web pages for two different classes. I found google to be the easiest for me to use to convey my overall messages. However, every experience I have had in creating something with a new technology has been completely different. Part of this is the purpose of using the specific tech. For instance, if I am truly trying to convey a message or if I am just trying to get acquainted with the tech. One variation from a traditional literacy was that I was able to incorporate moving images on my page, which one would not normally get if using a typical book.It allowed me to provide more images at once that did not overwhelm the viewer.
When I created this web page, it took a great deal of trial and error and accessing my prior knowledge of web pages. I had to really think about how to lay this out, and I am still not satisfied completely with it. I think that it is easy to access, although I think that the viewer has to scroll a bit too much, but I didn't want to separate it all onto different pages since the info I was giving went in a chronological order. I think I might actually play with this more this summer when I am not so pressed for time. One thing I discovered while working through the creation of the page was how much I was using my own visual literacy skills. All of the tools that google offers the page creators are in icon form for the most part, sometimes if you let your mouse hover it will show a word or two, but that still does not really tell you what the icon is going to do if you click it. I had to use what I knew of the icons and their purposes before I could put everything together. Thank goodness for "ctrl+z" or else my page would have been in a world of mess. It actually excited me when I was able to get it to do exactly what I wanted it to do. It gave me a sense of accomplishment that I hope to pass on to my students in all of their learning. I hope to also pass along the ability to take risks in exploring new things and in learning in general. If we don't take some risk and step into unknown territory then we won't really progress forward ideally.
I am not sure that my overall definition of literacy from my initial post has changed much. I said "I will define literacy as the ability to understand, create, and effectively use messages in ample contexts through various means and tools to participate fully, efficiently, and positively in the ever changing multicultural global community." I still think this is accurate, however, I now have a much clearer understanding of one form of literacy and the tools used within it. I also think that it is hard to have just one ultimate definition of literacy with its every changing and expanding nature. I think that the only thing the works, but is clearly ambiguous, would be to define literacy as 'everything.' I don't plan on using such a definition, but I wanted to illustrate how difficult it is to provide such an enormous definition.
I don't think that I can say that one thing or course of readings has brought me directly to this point in my thinking and understanding of literacy and technology. I think that by being present in this TE 402 class, both math and LA, and making the effort to keep my eyes open to the various literacies and technologies out there this semester has brought me to my new understanding as primarily defined on my web page.
For my Language Arts lesson, the students were not the ones using this new technology, I was. I see how to connect my searching on the internet with skills that they also need to develop. I had to understand which sites had trusted content and were applicable to what I was trying to do. This is not something that just develops naturally but needs to be explicitly instructed about. My lesson used a play script that I found on the internet and it took my several searches to find exactly what I was looking for. I was actually talking about this literacy project with a friend's mother who is a specialist in the Grand Rapids area who works mostly in the school libraries a few weeks ago and she shared with me the amazement she has that so many of the 8th graders that she sees on a regular basis have not idea how to use a search engine or find information on the internet. She has observed them typing in entire questions rather than just using key words.
In my current 6th grade placement, I know that some students did use internet resources on their research reports, but I was unable to observe them in this process. I wonder if their parents did it for them though rather than showing them the proper way to seek out valid information on the internet. This also made me think about the location implications on students use of technology. Each student is going to enter my classroom with a different amount of accessibility to technology and understanding of literacy and technology and it is my goal to help get them all to a similar level before they leave my classroom. I hope to give them the skills to keep learning about the technology in their own rights and not just for school purposes. I believe that the literacy and technology can be integrated into every single curriculum area and hopefully I will be able to provide this for my students and even some of my colleagues. The MDE technology GLCEs state that "Technology literacy is the ability to responsibly use appropriate technology to communicate, solve problems, and access, manage, integrate, evaluate, and create information to improve learning in all subject areas and to acquire lifelong knowledge and skills in the 21st century" which correlates directly with my goals.
Also, though much of our focus was on new technologies in the digital age, I still believe that I will need to provide instruction on how to use all forms of technology and literacy tools like dictionaries, tape recorders, library catalogs that use the Dewey decimal system, and so forth. Just because the students can use a digital form of technology to get to the same end, they may not always have that access and I think it is important for them to know where the technology began to understand and appreciate where we are now. Obviously, more focus would be on how to help them with the digital parts so that they may be competitive players in the future world, but I plan not to neglect the age old versions either.
I think it is important for us as educators to be well informed of every new literacy and technology and appreciate that different students will step into our classrooms with a variety of literacy and technology experience. I akin this to the way in which we respect and utilize the prior knowledge or backgrounds of our students in every other aspect, so why not technology and the various forms of literacy too? I do think it is appropriate to plan initial lesson structures using the knowledge that your students are expected to have prior to your class based on the GLCEs, but I do not think it is appropriate to plan all learning from there. I think a great teacher must get to know her students on multiple levels to provide the best education in literacy instruction and overall learning as possible.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Writing Instruction
I have been fortunate enough to witness a good deal of writing instruction in the field. For the majority of the last few months, my students have been working on their “zoo project”. In the beginning, the students spent a lot of their time doing research on their assigned animals, and filling out packets with the information. However, more recently the class has been using their Language Arts time in a writer’s workshop type of setup. It is a very similar situation to the one that we discussed in class this week. Each student was allowed to work at their own pace, as they created a rough draft in full, complete sentences, went through the revision process with their teacher or another adult, then rewrote the entire research project in a final copy while adding illustrations. Although by the final copy, the students were getting somewhat restless at the repetitiveness and tediousness of the process, I feel that overall they really enjoyed being able to work so independently. My class also has reflective journals that they use to communicate with their teacher. After they have finished reading a book on their own, they write my CT a letter in the journal, telling her about the story (what they liked and didn’t like, about the characters, and what they would change about the story if they could), my CT then reads the journals and writes back to the students. It’s a good way for them to communicate with her, while also practicing writing without much of a prompt; they are able to use their creativity.
I don’t remember experiencing writing instruction with as much excitement or diversity as my current students do. The main thing that I remember in the earlier years of elementary school was drawing a picture, or a scene, and then describing it through writing. In first grade, the thing I remember the most was, if your writing was too messy, our teacher would make us rewrite it, taking our time and making it neater. I feel that this tactic discouraged many of my classmates and me, because instead of our teacher showing excitement at our accomplishment of writing, she deterred us from writing in some ways by making us redo the work that we had spent time and effort on. In later elementary grades, I enjoyed writing much more. I remember having the opportunity to write in a journal a lot, and also creating stories depending on which genre we were working with.
I envision teaching writing in a variety of ways. I want my students to enjoy the process and I want them to become passionate about writing. I really liked a lot of the small ideas that we talked about this semester in class. For example, having stations around the room with different writing ideas like the post office where the students would have the opportunity to write a letter to someone, or a journal similar to the ones my students use to communicate back and forth me with. I want my students to have the opportunity to write about things that interest them, so they are able to use their creativity. I always enjoyed working with different genres when I was in school, so I would like to focus a lot of my instruction around various activities with that. Although I don’t think it would be a good idea to use everyday in the classroom, I also really enjoy the idea of the writer’s workshop, mostly because students are able to work at their own pace, and are really in charge of the work they produce.
I don’t remember experiencing writing instruction with as much excitement or diversity as my current students do. The main thing that I remember in the earlier years of elementary school was drawing a picture, or a scene, and then describing it through writing. In first grade, the thing I remember the most was, if your writing was too messy, our teacher would make us rewrite it, taking our time and making it neater. I feel that this tactic discouraged many of my classmates and me, because instead of our teacher showing excitement at our accomplishment of writing, she deterred us from writing in some ways by making us redo the work that we had spent time and effort on. In later elementary grades, I enjoyed writing much more. I remember having the opportunity to write in a journal a lot, and also creating stories depending on which genre we were working with.
I envision teaching writing in a variety of ways. I want my students to enjoy the process and I want them to become passionate about writing. I really liked a lot of the small ideas that we talked about this semester in class. For example, having stations around the room with different writing ideas like the post office where the students would have the opportunity to write a letter to someone, or a journal similar to the ones my students use to communicate back and forth me with. I want my students to have the opportunity to write about things that interest them, so they are able to use their creativity. I always enjoyed working with different genres when I was in school, so I would like to focus a lot of my instruction around various activities with that. Although I don’t think it would be a good idea to use everyday in the classroom, I also really enjoy the idea of the writer’s workshop, mostly because students are able to work at their own pace, and are really in charge of the work they produce.
Reflection of New Literacies
For my New Literacies project, I chose to focus on cultural literacy, exploring the technology of ScrapBlog. ScrapBlog is exactly what its name states: it is a combination of a blog like form, while incorporating aspects of scrapbooking. It allows you to choose from an extensive amount of photographs, stickers, themes, etc. to showcase your ideas, but you can also use text boxes to include information or research on your chosen topic. It was very exciting to explore ScrapBlog for the first time. I was not used to being able to be so creative with artistic factors when it came to writing a ‘paper’ or completing a project.
As I looked back on my definition of literacy from the beginning of this semester, I noticed that my knowledge on this topic has grown significantly. At that time, I had written, “the ability to read, write, listen, comprehend, speak, problem solve, and communicate, in order to participate in a multicultural, technological, and ever-changing society.” I had spent some time formulating this definition with a group in the beginning of the semester, so I still think that it is an adequate explanation of literacy. However, after completing this project, I have come away with the understanding that literacy includes many other aspects. As I looked deeper into cultural literacy, I discovered that incorporating diverse literature into your classroom is not only important, it is vital. It helped me to understand that there are children all over the world that learn to read and write in different ways and using different techniques. If students in our country are never exposed to literature dealing with other areas of the world, their viewpoints will remain very sheltered. Using literature that allows students to see characters that are unlike themselves, will help them to open their eyes and break away from any prejudices that they may have.
With that being said, I feel as though our Tompkins text has really helped my conceptual understanding of literacy throughout this semester. As I was skimming back over some of my notes, I came across a statement that I really enjoyed. It said, “Motivation is intrinsic, the innate curiosity within each of us that makes us want to figure things out.” This ties in very well with the idea of cultural literacy. Children are the group of people that contain the most curiosity within them. By exposing them to diverse literature, you are answering some of their built up questions that they may have formed.
Tying in technology to literacy practices seems like an excellent and beneficial idea. After experimenting with ScrapBlog, I am confident that students in the third grade and above would be able to navigate the technology. One of the most important aspects that an individual would need in order to be successful with ScrapBlog would be patience, in my opinion. It takes time to test out different ideas and themes, and to relocate them until you are satisfied. It students could learn to take their time, and experiment with different methods, I think that any individual would be capable. Using ScrapBlog would also be good practice for student’s typing and research skills, seeing as you are responsible for creating your own text. The Michigan GLCE’s for technology state that by the end of fifth grade, students will know proper keyboarding positions and touch-typing techniques, identify search strategies for locating needed information on the internet, and discuss ways technology has changed life at school and at home. All three of these goals can be accomplished through work with ScrapBlog. A number of authentic exercises could also be accomplished by work with this technology. It could be used whether you wanted students to use the collage format for a research project, genre work, practice with spelling, or as place to keep their own personal electronic journal.
Even though I really enjoyed working with ScrapBlog and exploring a new tool, I do not feel as though this technology helped my current conceptual understanding of literacy. It was interesting and fun to use the various tools that it had and I liked the availability of all the photographs and designs you had to choose from. However, my new found knowledge of cultural literacy came from the research that I did on the topic. I put together my information about the literacy with ScrapBlog, but I could have used the technology for any subject matter and for any project, it was definitely not limited to the idea of literature.
In my opinion, effective literacy instruction is going to look different in every classroom, and be different in regards to each individual student. I feel that one of the most important characteristics that a teacher needs to have in order to teach literature effectively is enthusiasm and passion. If a teacher does not seem interested in literacy, I think their attitudes are likely to be passed along to their students. Since each classroom will be filled with diverse learning styles, the ways in which you teach literacy needs to be diverse as well. I think that literature instruction should look somewhat different everyday (writer’s workshop, centers, whole group instruction, reading groups, etc.) and be incorporated into every subject matter that you teach. To be effective in your teaching, I feel that every teacher needs to know their students on a deeper level in order to help them reach their highest potential. Since you will have English language learners, mixed in with gifted students, an equal balance needs to be created to challenge those students who need it, and to provide additional guidance to those who are struggling with reading or writing. Most importantly, after completing this New Literacies project, I firmly believe that the literature you introduce to your students needs to be diverse, engaging, and with content that will stretch their thinking and expose them to new ideas, cultures, and ways of life.
As I looked back on my definition of literacy from the beginning of this semester, I noticed that my knowledge on this topic has grown significantly. At that time, I had written, “the ability to read, write, listen, comprehend, speak, problem solve, and communicate, in order to participate in a multicultural, technological, and ever-changing society.” I had spent some time formulating this definition with a group in the beginning of the semester, so I still think that it is an adequate explanation of literacy. However, after completing this project, I have come away with the understanding that literacy includes many other aspects. As I looked deeper into cultural literacy, I discovered that incorporating diverse literature into your classroom is not only important, it is vital. It helped me to understand that there are children all over the world that learn to read and write in different ways and using different techniques. If students in our country are never exposed to literature dealing with other areas of the world, their viewpoints will remain very sheltered. Using literature that allows students to see characters that are unlike themselves, will help them to open their eyes and break away from any prejudices that they may have.
With that being said, I feel as though our Tompkins text has really helped my conceptual understanding of literacy throughout this semester. As I was skimming back over some of my notes, I came across a statement that I really enjoyed. It said, “Motivation is intrinsic, the innate curiosity within each of us that makes us want to figure things out.” This ties in very well with the idea of cultural literacy. Children are the group of people that contain the most curiosity within them. By exposing them to diverse literature, you are answering some of their built up questions that they may have formed.
Tying in technology to literacy practices seems like an excellent and beneficial idea. After experimenting with ScrapBlog, I am confident that students in the third grade and above would be able to navigate the technology. One of the most important aspects that an individual would need in order to be successful with ScrapBlog would be patience, in my opinion. It takes time to test out different ideas and themes, and to relocate them until you are satisfied. It students could learn to take their time, and experiment with different methods, I think that any individual would be capable. Using ScrapBlog would also be good practice for student’s typing and research skills, seeing as you are responsible for creating your own text. The Michigan GLCE’s for technology state that by the end of fifth grade, students will know proper keyboarding positions and touch-typing techniques, identify search strategies for locating needed information on the internet, and discuss ways technology has changed life at school and at home. All three of these goals can be accomplished through work with ScrapBlog. A number of authentic exercises could also be accomplished by work with this technology. It could be used whether you wanted students to use the collage format for a research project, genre work, practice with spelling, or as place to keep their own personal electronic journal.
Even though I really enjoyed working with ScrapBlog and exploring a new tool, I do not feel as though this technology helped my current conceptual understanding of literacy. It was interesting and fun to use the various tools that it had and I liked the availability of all the photographs and designs you had to choose from. However, my new found knowledge of cultural literacy came from the research that I did on the topic. I put together my information about the literacy with ScrapBlog, but I could have used the technology for any subject matter and for any project, it was definitely not limited to the idea of literature.
In my opinion, effective literacy instruction is going to look different in every classroom, and be different in regards to each individual student. I feel that one of the most important characteristics that a teacher needs to have in order to teach literature effectively is enthusiasm and passion. If a teacher does not seem interested in literacy, I think their attitudes are likely to be passed along to their students. Since each classroom will be filled with diverse learning styles, the ways in which you teach literacy needs to be diverse as well. I think that literature instruction should look somewhat different everyday (writer’s workshop, centers, whole group instruction, reading groups, etc.) and be incorporated into every subject matter that you teach. To be effective in your teaching, I feel that every teacher needs to know their students on a deeper level in order to help them reach their highest potential. Since you will have English language learners, mixed in with gifted students, an equal balance needs to be created to challenge those students who need it, and to provide additional guidance to those who are struggling with reading or writing. Most importantly, after completing this New Literacies project, I firmly believe that the literature you introduce to your students needs to be diverse, engaging, and with content that will stretch their thinking and expose them to new ideas, cultures, and ways of life.
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Writing Instruction
In my field placement, I do not see a lot of explicit writing instruction. Writing is definitely there, it’s just that generally it is not very intentional. If the students read from the basal, sometimes my CT will ask them to write a summary of what they read. Another time, she wanted them to learn how to write letters to the editor, so she read aloud a few examples of these from the Lansing State Journal that had to do with public works in Michigan. She then had them write their own letter to editor about how they think Michigan needs to be improved. In most cases, my CT does not provide direction instruction or much modeling in the type of writing she wants them to do (the most modeling I have seen was the read aloud of the letters to the editor), and so students end up very confused and unsure of what to do and how to start. Then, she will finally provide a model on the board using students’ input, but then the students just copy down the model, so they do not engage in their own authentic writing.
My most vivid memory of writing in elementary school was in second grade. My teacher used the Writer’s Workshop instructional format, and I absolutely loved it (I love writing in general, though). There was a degree of guidance in my teacher’s approach; the first piece of writing she had us do was about a fun vacation or trip we had been on. I got to write about the trip to Disney World I had taken the year before, and I loved the whole process because I got to write about something that was important and exciting to me. I also remember learning the conventions of paragraphs (topic sentences and supporting details), the five paragraph essay format (which I used all through middle and high school, and had a hard time kicking the habit in college), and writing my first “research” paper in middle school. I think I had good writing experiences, and to this day I still love writing (but at this point I’m a little burned out from all these college papers ).
I envision using the Writer’s Workshop instructional format, as well. I loved doing it when I was in school, and I was equally excited about this approach as I read the research behind it in Tompkins and an article titled “Welcome to the Writer’s Workshop” by Steve Peha. I would definitely err more on the side of some teacher guidance, depending on how much guidance and scaffolding my students actually need. For example, I can see myself planning units around the Writer’s Workshop format, perhaps units that are 3-5 weeks long. I really liked what Erin talked about in class today – perhaps focusing units on a type of genre, then including mini-lessons on appropriate and relevant topics as far as genre characteristics, literary devices, the six traits, and grammar. These would depend on what I notice my students need help with, much like the activity we did in class today. I also want pair reading and writing workshops, as well as incorporate writing into the other content areas (math, science, social studies). I think it’s important for students to see that writing (and reading!) permeates so much of the things we do in school (and in life). This also provides students opportunities to write in different genres, use different writing styles, and practice writing for different audiences and purposes.
My most vivid memory of writing in elementary school was in second grade. My teacher used the Writer’s Workshop instructional format, and I absolutely loved it (I love writing in general, though). There was a degree of guidance in my teacher’s approach; the first piece of writing she had us do was about a fun vacation or trip we had been on. I got to write about the trip to Disney World I had taken the year before, and I loved the whole process because I got to write about something that was important and exciting to me. I also remember learning the conventions of paragraphs (topic sentences and supporting details), the five paragraph essay format (which I used all through middle and high school, and had a hard time kicking the habit in college), and writing my first “research” paper in middle school. I think I had good writing experiences, and to this day I still love writing (but at this point I’m a little burned out from all these college papers ).
I envision using the Writer’s Workshop instructional format, as well. I loved doing it when I was in school, and I was equally excited about this approach as I read the research behind it in Tompkins and an article titled “Welcome to the Writer’s Workshop” by Steve Peha. I would definitely err more on the side of some teacher guidance, depending on how much guidance and scaffolding my students actually need. For example, I can see myself planning units around the Writer’s Workshop format, perhaps units that are 3-5 weeks long. I really liked what Erin talked about in class today – perhaps focusing units on a type of genre, then including mini-lessons on appropriate and relevant topics as far as genre characteristics, literary devices, the six traits, and grammar. These would depend on what I notice my students need help with, much like the activity we did in class today. I also want pair reading and writing workshops, as well as incorporate writing into the other content areas (math, science, social studies). I think it’s important for students to see that writing (and reading!) permeates so much of the things we do in school (and in life). This also provides students opportunities to write in different genres, use different writing styles, and practice writing for different audiences and purposes.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
New Literacies Reflection
For the New Literacies Exploration, I choose to explore emotional literacy and Blurb, which is an online book making company. To create your own book, you download Blurb’s free book making software -- BookSmart – to your computer. This software includes many different books sizes, themes, page layouts, and fonts. Once your book is finished, you publish it to the Blurb website, where you and others can order hard copies of the book.
I do not think that there can be one all-encompassing definition of literacy. Literacy is not a small, constant, single concept. Literacy includes a wide range of abilities and concepts, and it is complex and constantly changing, particularly now as our society is experiencing so many changes in technology. Before beginning this exploration, my definition of literacy would have been the ability to use reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills to construct and convey meaning, to interact with people, and to participate fully in one’s society and environment. While I still think that this definition of literacy is “good,” I now see that the skills and participation I had in mind before was more about reading and writing print. I failed to realize just how much we do with multiple medias these days. I also think that I left out some important verbs in my definition, which Erin includes in hers – viewing, creating, and communicating. To participate fully in U.S. society, one must not only be able to read and write print, but be able to use the internet, computers, photographs, and other digital media to view, create, and communicate meaning. I truly began to realize this during the class in which one of the itecs came in and we had the opportunity to explore the new technologies. I was astounded by how many new technologies are actually out there, and how so many of them can be used to develop literacy in the classroom. When I was younger, I would never have imagined using digital storytelling, podcasting, or blogging to construct and convey meaning, nor did I realize that the skills associated with these technologies would be considered part of literacy. However, this exploration of new literacies and new technologies, particularly using Blurb, has shown me just how much more vast, rich, and complex literacy actually is.
I think providing “effective literacy instruction” to diverse learners needs to be broken up into two parts. The first part, providing effective literacy instruction, means that we must have a wholistic view and approach to teaching literacy. We must understand that literacy is so much more than reading and writing – it encompasses all the things I mentioned above, and probably more! It is not enough to teach reading and writing, but we must incorporate all aspects of literacy into our instruction. I realize that this may be practically impossible – every day I feel like I learn something new about literacy, so to say that we must teach all aspects of literacy is exhausting and overwhelming. That said, I think we must strive to include as many aspects of literacy as we can into our literacy instruction in order for it to be effective. Now, to address the second part of that statement: to diverse learners. Effective literacy instruction will not look the same for every student – we will have students with special learning needs, students who are English language learners, gifted students, and students from different cultures and family backgrounds. Every child will bring a unique schema to our classrooms, and we must be ready to activate and use that schema to teach literacy. Our instruction cannot be effective for just one student, it must be effective for all of them, and the only way we can be sure of this is to truly know our students. We must know where they come from, what they know, how they learn, think, feel, and interact with people. We must adapt and differentiate instruction, design units, plan lessons, and give work that is appropriate for each of our students. In terms of using new technologies in literacy instruction, we must be prepared to teach students how to use these technologies effectively and appropriately. Not all of our students will be comfortable with or have the necessary skills to type, use computers to compose books, or have their voices recorded. We need to be able to activate prior knowledge and provide students with the background knowledge necessary to use technologies, such as Blurb. I had a hard time using it at first, and I would say that I am fairly computer literate. Using a technology like Blurb with elementary school students would require much explicit instruction and scaffolding. In terms of knowledge and capacities, to use Blurb students must be familiar with computers and computer layouts, such as graphic boxes and text boxes, and using different font sizes and styles. Students need to be able to type, organize their thoughts into “pages,” use computer layouts, and access digital photographs. In terms of commitments, students must be willing to learn something new, because chances are most students will not have used Blurb before. They must be willing to take risks, because trying something new is always risky. Students should be excited about their own writing and the fact that they get to create books for publication – I think that is pretty exciting, and I’m sure students will, too. Blurb is not the easiest tool to use, and it is far too time-consuming to use on a daily or even a weekly basis. However, I do think it has a place in the classroom. I plan to structure writing time using the Writer’s Workshop approach, and I think that Blurb could fit in well with this type of instruction. Students could use Blurb to publish the writing and illustrations they create. Students could type of their stories and scan in their drawings, take photographs and upload them to the computer, or use a website like flickr.com to get photographs to illustrate their books. Books could be printed and published – students and their families could purchase copies for themselves, or teachers could purchase copies to put in the classroom library. Since Blurb does have a page minimum for printing books (20 pages), it could also be a great way to publish books that have been created as a class. Books could then be put on display in the classroom and students could read and enjoy them throughout the year. Overall, I think Blurb is a fun and exciting tool for publishing books and engaging students in literacy, and it can fit into many language arts curriculums with appropriate instruction and scaffolding.
I do not think that there can be one all-encompassing definition of literacy. Literacy is not a small, constant, single concept. Literacy includes a wide range of abilities and concepts, and it is complex and constantly changing, particularly now as our society is experiencing so many changes in technology. Before beginning this exploration, my definition of literacy would have been the ability to use reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills to construct and convey meaning, to interact with people, and to participate fully in one’s society and environment. While I still think that this definition of literacy is “good,” I now see that the skills and participation I had in mind before was more about reading and writing print. I failed to realize just how much we do with multiple medias these days. I also think that I left out some important verbs in my definition, which Erin includes in hers – viewing, creating, and communicating. To participate fully in U.S. society, one must not only be able to read and write print, but be able to use the internet, computers, photographs, and other digital media to view, create, and communicate meaning. I truly began to realize this during the class in which one of the itecs came in and we had the opportunity to explore the new technologies. I was astounded by how many new technologies are actually out there, and how so many of them can be used to develop literacy in the classroom. When I was younger, I would never have imagined using digital storytelling, podcasting, or blogging to construct and convey meaning, nor did I realize that the skills associated with these technologies would be considered part of literacy. However, this exploration of new literacies and new technologies, particularly using Blurb, has shown me just how much more vast, rich, and complex literacy actually is.
I think providing “effective literacy instruction” to diverse learners needs to be broken up into two parts. The first part, providing effective literacy instruction, means that we must have a wholistic view and approach to teaching literacy. We must understand that literacy is so much more than reading and writing – it encompasses all the things I mentioned above, and probably more! It is not enough to teach reading and writing, but we must incorporate all aspects of literacy into our instruction. I realize that this may be practically impossible – every day I feel like I learn something new about literacy, so to say that we must teach all aspects of literacy is exhausting and overwhelming. That said, I think we must strive to include as many aspects of literacy as we can into our literacy instruction in order for it to be effective. Now, to address the second part of that statement: to diverse learners. Effective literacy instruction will not look the same for every student – we will have students with special learning needs, students who are English language learners, gifted students, and students from different cultures and family backgrounds. Every child will bring a unique schema to our classrooms, and we must be ready to activate and use that schema to teach literacy. Our instruction cannot be effective for just one student, it must be effective for all of them, and the only way we can be sure of this is to truly know our students. We must know where they come from, what they know, how they learn, think, feel, and interact with people. We must adapt and differentiate instruction, design units, plan lessons, and give work that is appropriate for each of our students. In terms of using new technologies in literacy instruction, we must be prepared to teach students how to use these technologies effectively and appropriately. Not all of our students will be comfortable with or have the necessary skills to type, use computers to compose books, or have their voices recorded. We need to be able to activate prior knowledge and provide students with the background knowledge necessary to use technologies, such as Blurb. I had a hard time using it at first, and I would say that I am fairly computer literate. Using a technology like Blurb with elementary school students would require much explicit instruction and scaffolding. In terms of knowledge and capacities, to use Blurb students must be familiar with computers and computer layouts, such as graphic boxes and text boxes, and using different font sizes and styles. Students need to be able to type, organize their thoughts into “pages,” use computer layouts, and access digital photographs. In terms of commitments, students must be willing to learn something new, because chances are most students will not have used Blurb before. They must be willing to take risks, because trying something new is always risky. Students should be excited about their own writing and the fact that they get to create books for publication – I think that is pretty exciting, and I’m sure students will, too. Blurb is not the easiest tool to use, and it is far too time-consuming to use on a daily or even a weekly basis. However, I do think it has a place in the classroom. I plan to structure writing time using the Writer’s Workshop approach, and I think that Blurb could fit in well with this type of instruction. Students could use Blurb to publish the writing and illustrations they create. Students could type of their stories and scan in their drawings, take photographs and upload them to the computer, or use a website like flickr.com to get photographs to illustrate their books. Books could be printed and published – students and their families could purchase copies for themselves, or teachers could purchase copies to put in the classroom library. Since Blurb does have a page minimum for printing books (20 pages), it could also be a great way to publish books that have been created as a class. Books could then be put on display in the classroom and students could read and enjoy them throughout the year. Overall, I think Blurb is a fun and exciting tool for publishing books and engaging students in literacy, and it can fit into many language arts curriculums with appropriate instruction and scaffolding.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Comprehension Processes
Before this week, I had not really considered all the processes and strategies that go into comprehending a text. I can read and I can read for understanding, but until doing these readings and talking in class about comprehension processes, I didn't realize how many processes and strategies I use when I read. I think I just assumed that the more people read, the more they pick up and develop their own strategies and processes for comprehension, such as using schema, predicting what will come next, analyzing characters, and questioning the author. I now realize how complex these strategies are, and surely along the way I received instruction on how to read using strategies like these, but it has become so natural and internalized for me that I didn't stop to think about it before. This new awareness forces me as a teacher to make sure that I am providing instruction and modeling in not only decoding, but in comprehension. These are things that can be taught, modeled, and practiced during read alouds (thinking aloud and modeling as Miller demonstrates for us in Chapter 5: Schema), guided reading, and even centers.
Additionally, I had never thought about different types, or profiles, of comprehension as Applegate, Quinn, and Applegate discuss in "Profiles in Comprehension." As we have been discussing all throughout this course, knowing our students is crucial to understanding who they are, why they do what they do, and how they learn. Learning about students' comprehension profiles allows us another peek into the minds of our students -- how they understand and make sense of what they read. It is essential that we figure out how our students comprehend text, but it cannot end there. We must then use this information to differentiate instruction to meet the vast needs of our students. Applegate, Quinn, and Applegate sum it up well by saying, "Our ultimate objective in considering profiles is to identify the student's view of reading, or what that student thinks reading is supposed to be, and then to provide instruction that helps them to adjust that view when necessary," (Applegate, p. 50). I think the key words here are "helps them to adjust that view when necessary." Some students may have a "right" view of reading, but others may come into our classrooms missing what reading is all about. It is not just decoding words because the teacher says to, it is about decoding words while constructing meaning, interacting with the text, making connections, and appreciating an art form. Helping students to understand that reading is a rich and rewarding experience will set them on a path for future success in comprehension and literacy as a whole.
In the field, I do see some of these processes at work. After reading groups, Mrs. Tillman (or whoever is facilitating the group) has the students summarize what they read to see if they understand. During read alouds, Mrs. Tillman asks guiding questions, points out text features and illustrations that enrich the reading experience, and asks for predictions about what will happen next. I do wish that the comprehension instruction I see was slightly more focused on the why in addition to the how. Mrs. Tillman gives the students good and practical strategies for students to use as they read and make sense of a text, but they are missing the why factor, the point of reading. I think if students understood the beauty of written language, the truth that it is an art and a craft, something that can be built up in our imaginations and broken down to find meaning, then the students in my class would become more engaged and thoughtful readers. Then they may be more interested in reading for reading's sake, rather than reading because they have to in order to get by in school.
Additionally, I had never thought about different types, or profiles, of comprehension as Applegate, Quinn, and Applegate discuss in "Profiles in Comprehension." As we have been discussing all throughout this course, knowing our students is crucial to understanding who they are, why they do what they do, and how they learn. Learning about students' comprehension profiles allows us another peek into the minds of our students -- how they understand and make sense of what they read. It is essential that we figure out how our students comprehend text, but it cannot end there. We must then use this information to differentiate instruction to meet the vast needs of our students. Applegate, Quinn, and Applegate sum it up well by saying, "Our ultimate objective in considering profiles is to identify the student's view of reading, or what that student thinks reading is supposed to be, and then to provide instruction that helps them to adjust that view when necessary," (Applegate, p. 50). I think the key words here are "helps them to adjust that view when necessary." Some students may have a "right" view of reading, but others may come into our classrooms missing what reading is all about. It is not just decoding words because the teacher says to, it is about decoding words while constructing meaning, interacting with the text, making connections, and appreciating an art form. Helping students to understand that reading is a rich and rewarding experience will set them on a path for future success in comprehension and literacy as a whole.
In the field, I do see some of these processes at work. After reading groups, Mrs. Tillman (or whoever is facilitating the group) has the students summarize what they read to see if they understand. During read alouds, Mrs. Tillman asks guiding questions, points out text features and illustrations that enrich the reading experience, and asks for predictions about what will happen next. I do wish that the comprehension instruction I see was slightly more focused on the why in addition to the how. Mrs. Tillman gives the students good and practical strategies for students to use as they read and make sense of a text, but they are missing the why factor, the point of reading. I think if students understood the beauty of written language, the truth that it is an art and a craft, something that can be built up in our imaginations and broken down to find meaning, then the students in my class would become more engaged and thoughtful readers. Then they may be more interested in reading for reading's sake, rather than reading because they have to in order to get by in school.
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