New Literacies Reflection

When I started this class my view of literacy mainly focused on the more traditional definition of literacy being the ability to read, write, and think critically about a variety of texts. Now I understand that literacy is a huge complex component of language arts learning. There are a number of different types of literacies, although traditionally we simply think of reading text as literacy. This new literacies project has really contributed to the change in my understanding of literacy. This growth has shown me that as a language arts teacher there are many different aspects of literacy that I need to expose my students too, and that each of them has their own unique way of teaching. I explored visual literacy and this new literacy really has helped change the way I think of literacy. I think that a lot of people view looking at images and pictures as a really standard day to day thing but they do not understand the importance of it and the amount of critical thinking that this activity can generate. As teachers it is important that we understand that so we can best equip our students with the skills they need to be visually literate. Our society is becoming more and more media based, which in turn creates a more visual environment that we are living in. Our students really need to be able to negotiate meaning and think critically about the advertisements, images, posters, graphs etc. that they are being exposed to all the time.

Exploring new technologies really helped me gain a broader knowledge of how to add variety to my teaching in a fun an interesting way for my students. My new technology was an online comic book creator and this really showed me how you can bring visual literacy to students in a nontraditional way. I think that other than talking about the illustrations in picture books in a superficial way, traditionally visual literacy is not touched upon in classrooms. Having students create their own online comic book using the website that I explored would be an extremely fun, interactive way for them to explore visual literacy. There are many aspects to think about when creating a comic, such as the layout, how important little details are, and the look of the characters and background and how that affects the tone of the story. These aspects are all very important in visual literacy and can really get students thinking critically about the various images that they are surrounded by on a daily basis. The new technology that I explored, as well as the others that I have seen from my colleagues have shown a more interactive and interesting approach to literacy instruction than the more traditional methods. I think that they both emphasize the importance of a wide knowledge on all aspects of literacy, but the new technologies really present this material to students in a more appealing way.

In order to provide effective literacy instruction to all learners a teacher really needs to expose students to a multitude of literacies in a variety of different ways. The technology that I explored really emphasized this to me and showed me how many free resources are available online for teachers to use. I really think as teachers it is our responsibility to search these resources out and utilize them to their fullest. This variety of exposure and depth of literacy content will really benefit our students and help them become really well rounded and literate people. Visual literacy really fits into this well too because it is one of the very first literacies that students have exposure too. As teachers we can really hone into this and provide a plethora of examples and situations that demonstrate the importance of being visually literate to our students.

    In order for my class of second graders to be successful teaching each other about visual literacy using an online comic they would need to have a solid knowledge of what visual literacy is. They would also need to understand the informal talk that takes place in comics. They would also need to understand how to navigate the internet, and easy to use websites. Within this they would need to have good typing skills, which my students do not yet have because they are so young. My students would have to seek out other comics or graphic novels as a resource to gain background knowledge of comics before they begin. This would give them concrete examples to work from and help them better understand what is expected of them from this task. In order to be successful teaching about visual literacy students would need to believe that literacy is a huge and intricate idea that is extremely important for students to have knowledge on.

            I think that the new technology I explored would be too difficult for my students to work with because they do not have that much experience or skills working with computers. Instead I think that it would be great to work with them on visual literacy. To kind of combine the task that I did with a task that they could perform exploring visual literacy I could have them create their own comic in which they draw it themselves. The lesson could start out with a read aloud of a shorter graphic novel. We could then move into a discussion on some key points about graphic novels and begin thinking critically of the importance of understanding images. They could then work with a partner to create their own comic about a given topic. I would provide a few options for students to choose from and we would also go over different types of page layouts that graphic novels use. I would asses this by reviewing the comic that they created and examining the way in which they chose to depict their story. I could ask the group a few questions about the decisions that they made in the creating process to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of visual literacy. 

New Literacies Reflection

My idea of the concept of literacy has changed immensely since the beginning of not only this semester, but the beginning of this project as well. Traditionally, just like I did at the beginning of the semester, people view literacy as simply the ability to read and write. I never had imagined the extent to which literacy travels. Literacy encompasses so many different ideas, and is one of the most important aspects for students to learn and for teachers to display.

I started out having such a small definition of literacy, it wasn’t expansive, but it was limited. Once we started having discussions in class about what literacy really is, I started to recognize how literacy is EVERYWHERE. Literacy is not only reading and writing, but it’s speaking, and listening, and practically any other type of communication between people that can be done. Finally, I began to understand the different ways all different types of literacy can be displayed in and outside of the classroom.

            I think what surprised me the most is how many ways literacy can be described. Just by this project alone, we described eight ways literacy can be interpreted. All of these different types of literacy can be used within a classroom too. The possibilities are endless for how to demonstrate them! I think to effectively reflect these different types of literacy, a teacher needs to be very prepared and very aware of exactly the type of literacy they are trying to portray. For cultural literacy, for example, a teacher will need to be sure that anything they discuss or any resource they use does not offend anyone. They need to be open to any lifestyle and they also need to express why that is important.

            The new literacy I explored was Social Literacy. I think it is so important for students and teachers to understand this literacy because the way people interact with one another is greatly changing with the introduction of social networking, cell phones, texting, etc. Social literacy explores the way people communicate and exchange ideas. This can be used in a classroom in many ways. For my presentation, I explore different technologies that can be used as social literacy devices within a classroom. I explained things like using twitter, or a classroom blog, or the use of google docs or a wiki. These things can all be utilized easily and would be a great help for understanding the importance of social literacy.

            As for technology, it is a great idea to take advantage of the many technology resources available for us today. However, being able to effectively use these resources is important. It takes lots of time and practice to actually be able to learn how to use some of these technologies. It is important to be organized and neat when trying to display a new concept, and using these technologies sometimes it can be hard to do so. I think for a teacher to be able to use technologies would be easy enough, but for students to be able to use it would be a bit harder. Being sure that the technology is appropriate, easy to learn and easy to organize is very important, especially because time is limited in a classroom.

            I am in a first grade classroom right now, and I know that using the technology I used, which was a SlideRocket presentation, would not be the easiest option for them. Technologies that might be easiest for first grades to create themselves would be something like a google doc, where they can type at their own pace and easily maneuver through the site. Exploring social literacy, however, would be very important for them, since they are so young and they could learn at such a young age that there are many different options for communication between others and working together. Assessing a first grader’s understanding of social literacy, however, might be a bit challenging. I think the best option would simply be having a discussion with them and talk about the many ways they use to communicate with others, e.g. facebook, texting, and telephone. 

New Literacies Reflection Blog

            Since the beginning of participating in this course my definition of literacy has greatly changed in regards to my understanding of literacy and the many components that are integrated into literacy. In the beginning of the year my definition of literacy surrounded reading and writing, as well as the components of reading like the components of fluency, and the aspects of writing. I felt that literacy was a vehicle to connecting a person to the rest of the world. I still feel that this is an accurate perception of literacy, however I now see that my definition was missing many different components that I had not realized at the time of my initial definition.

            Halfway through the semester, my definition of literacy changed to incorporate that literacy is an unalienable right that every person has. It acts as a resource to help people grow into an individual identity and that literacy can be used to celebrate the differences among people and what makes them individuals. I also added to my definition to include that literacy can be used to self-express yourself through writing and reading in finding others in similar situations.  My eyes were really opened through the course readings in seeing that my definition was really lacking these new inclusions. “Teaching All the Children” by Lapp et. al, really helped me to see how literacy is a huge lacking component in the inner city schools, and is a huge vehicle for those students to see how they are not alone in their situation in regards to reading stories about characters that they can relate to, as well as help them to find hope in their situation that they can rise above and make it out. It also can be a vehicle for them to express themselves and help their teacher to better understand who they are and what kind of situations they are living in. They also can use literacy as a vehicle to release the tension they feel from the stress that they face in their young lives. Also from the course readings, “Seeing Color Seeing Culture” also helped me to see how people’s races and cultural differences should be acknowledged and celebrated and literacy is a great vehicle to do just that.

            Now that I have engaged in the New Literacies Project through this course I have come to realize that while my definition still is accurate there is another component that is missing from the definition. I also have learned a new technology to begin teaching literacy to my class as well as a new aspect to literacy. In exploring emotional literacy I have come to realize that literacy is not just reading, writing and the comprehension of words it also includes the reading, expressing, and understanding of emotions too. I never truly understood the importance of emotional literacy and the huge implications proper training and understanding of this literacy can have on my future classroom. I never stopped to think that many kids come to school with little to no experience in understanding their emotions and reading other’s emotions; but after reading about this literacy, exploring the implications, and the observations I have made in my kindergarten placement I now really feel that I am educated in realizing the importance emotional literacy has in everyone’s life.

            This new literacy that I have learned is something that is completely different from the traditional literacy of reading, writing and comprehension. Emotional literacy is less to do with reading and writing and has more to do with self-expression, understanding the self, the emotions that every person feels, and how to appropriately handle those emotions, as well as how to read and react to other’s emotions. Emotional literacy is a component to literacy that is a huge part in everyone’s life, and being literate in our emotions can help us with our relationships in our personal and professional worlds and getting us through all of the ups and downs of life. Emotional literacy can be included in my definition of traditional literacy, in that reading and writing can be a vehicle not only for self-expression, celebrate other’s differences, but also a vehicle to express your emotions and what you may be feeling in different situations. A person can do this through either writing about it, reading about what they’re feeling to better understand their emotions, or read about people who have felt the same way they do and how they handled their emotions to help them relate to the characters and learn how to deal with what they’re feeling.

            The new technology of the Prezi presentation is something that coincides with literacy and is a new technology that teachers can utilize to teach their students about literacy and other lessons. The Prezi is a presentation of words, pictures, and videos. It is an expression of information in a more high-tech fashion than what the traditional powerpoint is. This presentation technology also adds to the facet of what my definition of literacy consists of. The technology use proves that literacy is not just writing on paper, and reading from books, it also is using different technologies such as the Prezi where a student can create a story, or provide information, or create a poem, or any kind of literature in the technology. People can also use this technology to read and learn about different topics in the classroom environment.

            After exploring and creating this new project I have come to see that providing effective literacy instruction to diverse learners not only encompasses developing their reading and writing comprehension but also includes teaching my students about themselves as learners and as people. I think that it is just as important to teach my students about their emotions, that it is ok to have emotions, and how to handle those emotions appropriately as it is teaching traditional literacy. I also think that it is important to teach my kids how to handle other’s emotions in regards to reading their emotions and knowing how to react to those emotions exhibited by others. This is especially important in a classroom with a diverse population, because they all would come to the classroom with different methods of handling and exhibiting their emotions. They would then need to be able to understand one another and how to work together with their different emotional backgrounds. With the new technology that I have used I have seen how important it is to incorporate different technologies into my literacy teaching to reach every kind of learner I have in my classroom. Utilizing this technology for this project was really interesting to learn about in my own creation. I had a sense of accomplishment with this project because the technology made my information really interesting, and that is something that I want to empower my students with in the future. Giving them a new avenue to learn and utilize literacy with can help them to become interested in literacy and help them to explore different avenues of their creativity.

            In my Kindergartner class, my students would be limited in their understanding of this technology and emotional literacy, because they are still learning how to log into the computers at school, and they’re at the beginning stages of learning about their emotions and the emotions of others. My students would need to be able to read more in-depth information than what they are currently. I feel though, that with guidance and classroom discussions my students would be able to fill out some of the valuable information needed for this literacy, and would really be able to grasp emotional literacy with some of the classroom activities that I have included in my presentation. My students would not necessarily have to write in complete sentences because the Prezi does not require it so their abilities in writing would coincide with the Prezi. My students have been making great strides in their sentence writing however, and I feel that they would be able to write quite a bit about emotional literacy on the presentation with guided help. The students could also draw pictures of emotions and videotape themselves talking about emotions and what it means to be literate in those emotions and put that into their presentations. The students would have to learn how to use the computer a lot more, however, and would have to know how to import text and video into the presentation, and how to make a path to connect all of the ideas on the presentation to make it flow accurately. This would take a lot of guided practice and a teacher sitting next to the student to help them through the process. I feel that this technology would be more appropriate for older students because of the difficulties that goes along with it. I had a lot of difficulties with the technology and I feel that it would be really hard for my kindergartners. I do not think as a teacher I would have my students in my placement try to learn how to use the Prezi because it would be too difficult. I think that I would ask them what they wanted to include in the presentation and as a class make the presentation on the smart board so that they are still a part of the creation process, and it would not be over their heads with the creation since most of my kids have just picked up on how to log into their computers.

            I feel that emotional literacy would be a great lesson to teach my students because they are just beginning to learn about themselves and others and how to handle the feelings that they have. I would begin teaching my students about different emotions through reading my students different books that displayed different emotions, such as the books that I had in my presentation. After each reading of the books as a class I would have a discussion with my students about the emotion that was discussed, what occurred in the story, if my students have had a similar experience, and how they could handle the emotion they felt. I also would have my students discuss if they have seen someone else exhibit this emotion, what are the physical cues with the emotion, and what they can do to help that person. After each day of reading I would have my students go back to their seats and make a self-portrait poster where they drew a picture of themselves expressing the emotion that we learned about that day. After each emotion has been read and their emotions charts have been filled out, I would have my students write out a small journal entry that talked about a time that they felt one of the emotions on their chart. To end the unit I would have my students play a charades game where they were given an emotion and would have to act out the emotion for the class to guess. I then would have my students discuss what they could do to help the person who is feeling the emotion.

            I would use both the journal entry and the charades game to assess my students’ understanding of emotional literacy. I would assess that my students understood the emotions through their accurate portrayal of the particular emotions chosen, as well as my class as a whole being able to recognize the emotions that their classmates are acting out. I also would assess my students’ writing for their understanding of the emotion, and their ability to discuss their feelings in regards to that emotion in their journal entries.

This is a picture of a literacy chart that my MT uses when we work on daily 5. Each student has a nametag and then each differernt colored slip of paper (red,orange,blue,purple,and yellow) indicate a different literacy task that the students should be working on. This is a good way to mix up what students are doing on a daily basis and to add a bit more variety to their literacy learning. I also think it is a good tool because students are able to refer back to the chart to see what they should be doing. This helps them stay on task better. I would modify this a little in my own classroom though. My MT does not sort these and change them from the day before until reading time. This means that every day and the start of language arts the students are sitting waiting for about ten minutes while she is switchin what each student should be doing. I would definitely do this either at the end of each day or in the morning before students arrive. This would be a better use of time and wouldn't waste the literacy period time that has been allowed. I think that this idea could work in a classroom but it does not seem to be working to its fullest potential in my placement. I would recommend it only if a person is able to be really organized with it, otherwise it is just a waste of valuable time.

Literacy Resource

This is a picture of the back of my fifth grade classroom. This is where most of the kids read during "read-to-self" time. There is a carpet and a few bean bags in which the students take turns using. The literacy resource I would like to highlight in this picture is the classroom library. This is about half of the classroom library. There are buckets that have specific genres. Besides having the usual genres such as Science Fiction, African American Literature, etc., my MT has books separated by author and book series as well. She has the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, Babysitter's Club, Jerry Spinelli, and so on. These are not only books that fifth grade students enjoy, but they are being made available for the students.
When you think of being in an urban school, it is known that resources are low and aren't always readily available, the fact that this teacher has a huge library in her classroom with current books that are interesting to many of the students is quite incredible. If a student likes reading books by the same author, there are options. If the student likes reading a certain genre, there will be books available for those students as well.
Although I think this is a very important literacy resource for the classroom, I believe that this classroom library could be used much more efficiently. If the students had time to look for books and "check them out" in the classroom library for their read to self time, that would be more useful. I often see the students reading the same books over and over again during their silent reading time. I also feel as though she should have checked their books out to see what kind of reading level the books are, and if they match up to the students' proficiency level, their read to self time would be utilized much more efficiently. I think that my MT should keep track of the students' books that they use, as well as give the students' time to find a new book. I also think that daily, during read to self time, my MT should take 5-10 minutes to read with a student and ask questions such as, "What has happened so far?" "Why did you choose this book?" "What types of books do you like to read?" "What do you predict will happen next?" Then, I think she should recommend a different type of book that challenges the student and maybe takes them out of their comfort zone so they can get a new perspective on literacy.
All in all, I think that this classroom library has a lot of potential for students to move up in their reading levels, as well as enjoying literacy.

Literacy Resource

I apologize ahead of time, I completely forgot to grab my camera before I left, so I cannot show a picture, but I will add one later!

The literacy resource in my classroom that I find most interesting and helpful is the daily bookbags my students are given. At the beginning of the year my teacher read with each of my students and gauged their reading level. After that, my students were all given a bag with their name on in and within it was two or three books that fit their reading level and would be a sufficient book for them to read. Each day, the students are to bring those book bags home, and read them with their parents or guardian and get a paper signed that they had done so. The students are asked to bring the book bags back every day so my mentor teacher can replace the books with new ones. I find this system to be very helpful and great to get parents involved.

The book bags are a huge help because the students do not always get an extensive time of focused reading in class where they can practice and improve their skills. Also, having the students work at home with their guardians gives the guardian an idea of where there student is ability-wise and where they should be. There are a couple flaws to this, however, when it comes to involving guardians. Many times students will claim that they had nobody to read with, or parents will just sign off saying their students read when they actually did not. This process requires a commitment from the parent, teacher and student to complete all of the reading.

I would highly suggest this process as well as use it in my own classroom. The students love to receive new books daily and get excited to go home and show their family how much they can read. It really does help the students improve greatly and become more excited about reading. The only modification I would make to this is really insisting that the parents help out, or make sure there is someone, even a sibling, who would be willing to read for a few minutes with the student. Otherwise, I think this is a great idea!

Literacy Resource

This is a picture of a literacy resource that the students in my classroom use everyday. They are known as literacy boots. This is a great resource that my students have to help them in increasing their literacy abilities. My students use their literacy boots during an everyday activity known as "daily 5." During their daily 5 time they are assigned to either read to self, read to someone (which is only reading to one partner) or write. Inside each literacy boot, are several books that are "just right books." These books are specifically selected by my mentor teacher and are switched out every other week. Each boot has 5 books in them that are at the students’ specific literacy level. My teacher determines my students' literacy levels through ongoing assessments like running records, and reading street assessments, which is the reading program that the school utilizes. The reading street assessments are done each week based on the words that were learned that week, where they have to read about 10 words and then read 4 sentences. Then based on those assessments and the running records my MT determines what level each of my students are at and what books go into their literacy boots. There also is usually one slightly higher book in their boot to challenge their reading abilities. Each boot also has a composition notebook, which they keep in their boots to practice writing. The students can draw and write. This is a great way for my teacher to see their writing progression and each day during daily 5 she usually meets with 1-2 students to have them show her their writing so that she can see and gauge the progress they're making.

This enhances my students' reading skills both because they have books that are appropriately picked for their level and because they have at least one book that challenges their reading levels. This can help my students because it ensures that they are actually reading rather than just flipping through the book because they can’t read it, and it also allows them to move up in reading when they are ready. It also helps my teacher gauge their writing abilities and helps them to practice writing and expressing themselves, and telling stories.

I definitely would utilize this method in my own class if I had young readers and would recommend this system to a teacher to use. I think that it is a great way to help kids read through choosing level appropriate books, and maintaining that they are actually reading. I would make a few changes to the program to strengthen it however. For one thing, I think that it is important that you allow your students to have a voice in what they read. So every two weeks instead of me choosing the books, I would have my students chose their own books to go in their boots that are from a pile of books that are pre-determined and level appropriate. This way I am still in control of maintaining that they chose the right books but they get to have some freedom in choosing what they want to read. I also would have my students not only bring me their writing each week, but also their challenging book and have them read it to me to see where they are at in regards to being ready to move up a level or not. That way I can ensure that they are enhancing in their reading through a third check. I also would have my students at any time of the day that they finish their work early or don’t have something to do, to grab their boots and read from it. That way they are constantly practicing. I definitely will use this system in my class someday and really see the value in this resource.