The new literacy project has taught me a great deal about cultural literacy as well as scrapblogging. I took a course on diverse children's literature and completely fell in love with the topic. I never realized how important diverse lit was for students and I felt that more future teachers should realize this too. However, spreading this information was not as easy as I thought. this project allowed me to do this in a way I had never thought of before.
I decided to multicultural literature instead of focusing on just one specific culture. I find them all to be important and I could not chose just one. After looking at some other projects, I saw the importance of focusing on just one culture. I gave small amounts of information about many different cultures and I hope my peers will find the information helpful, but I was great to see other projects go so in depth about one specific culture. Hopefully my project will encourage people to learn more about different cultures.
Using a scrapblog was a lot of fun. Since I am rather technologically challenged, it took me some time to figure out how to use the scrapblog. I spent quite a deal of time experimenting with different functions of the technology and playing around with different applications. However, after looking at other scrapblogs, I realized that there are many functions that I did not know it had.
Although I struggled at first, it encouraged me to use my creative side and add my own flair to each page. I think this technology would be great for students to use; however, I would suggest it for older students (high school and up). While I already found the topic to be very interesting, I allowed me to present it in a way that was interesting to others. I was able to describe different cultures and also provide examples of books they could use in the classroom. I hope my peers have to opportunity to review some of the books I included in my project and think about using them in their classrooms one day.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
New Literacies Project Reflection
I must say that I really enjoyed completing the New Literacies Project. I chose to focus on emotional literacy because throughout my life I have been an extremely emotional person and it would have been beneficial for me as a student to be able to share my feelings without anxiety in the classroom and also have my teachers and peers understand my feelings and emotions. My aim for this project was to discover how to incorporate emotional literacy without making students feel overwhelmed. With this is mind I wanted to involve actual students into my project in order to make the topic of emotional literacy more relevant to myself and anyone else viewing my project. I had never created a movie before and I thought it would be a great way to show students interacting with emotional literacy.
The main idea that I have gained about emotional literacy through this project is that there are many different aspects that lead to a person becoming emotionally literate. It is not simply about sharing feelings and emotions even through this is a key part of it. However, emotional literacy involves a person being aware of their emotions and feelings and knowing why they are feeling that way and then being able to express those feelings. Further, emotional literacy also involves students being aware of and understanding the feelings of other people. Emotional literacy involves using the reactions and facial gestures of other people to make an informed decision about how they are feeling. This involves a person's ability to have empathy for another person, that is putting themselves in another person's shoes and thinking about how they would feel in the same situation. As I said, there are many aspects that make up emotional literacy.
Another key idea I have taken away from this project is that you cannot expect the reactions and the feelings and emotions that students are going to have about different situations. The use of the movie technology really helped me to see this. As part of the project I wanted to record the initial reactions of students. With the videos and voice recordings I gave the students their prompt and then immediately started to record. This technology not only helped me to capture the initial reactions of the students but it also helped me to reflect back on exactly what the students had to say. I was not dictating their answers but cutting and pasting what they said into the movie. I think that using video recording and voice recording in the classroom is an excellent tool, especially in capturing the feelings and emotions of students.
The technology also helped me to see the student responses right next to each other. The movie moved from clip to clip without a break so I, as well as my viewers, were able to see the differences right away. This is especially important for teachers trying to understand emotional literacy because it demonstrates completely the kinds of differences they can expect in their classrooms. Some students gave in depth responses while others gave one word responses. This helped me to understand that students have different comfort levels with sharing emotions which is why it is important to set norms and make the classroom a safe place for students. What was even more enlightening was that these students still varied in responses even though I had a personal connection with each one of them. This showed me that even when you form that bond with students and they feel comfortable with you, they may not always be comfortable sharing their feelings and emotions. One thing to take away from this is that emotional literacy is not about pushing students to share their emotions, but encouraging them to do so. There is a fine line between the two and we have to remember not to put students in a situation they do not feel comfortable with.
The last main idea that I have taken away from this project is that teachers need to be emotionally literate or at least moving towards it, in order to teach emotional literacy to their students. Teachers need to be aware of their own feelings and know that other students may not share the same ones. We can become defensive of our own feelings and emotions so being aware of possible difference and keeping our emotions in check it very important. Although I had different interpretations of the activities the students were doing in my video, I couldn't let that get in the way of what I was trying to get from the students. Teachers need to take ownership of their emotions but also be respectful of the emotions of the students. Also, teachers need to be aware of the feelings and emotions of the students. We need to look out for students who seem to be uncomfortable, or angry, or sad, not just in emotional literacy instruction but in day to day classroom activities. Emotional literacy is not something you turn on and off. If we are going to expect it from students, we need to live it every day.
I am excited to use some of the classroom incorporation ideas that I came up with for emotional literacy. Along with these, I think I will also try to incorporate the use of movies for my students. Although there were times that I was frustrated with the technology, I was very happy with the end result and I took a lot of pride in what I accomplished. I think that students could have the same reaction to movies, as well as any technology for that matter, and it is important to give them the opportunity to use different technology for class projects. I really enjoyed this project and I feel like I took a lot away from it.
The main idea that I have gained about emotional literacy through this project is that there are many different aspects that lead to a person becoming emotionally literate. It is not simply about sharing feelings and emotions even through this is a key part of it. However, emotional literacy involves a person being aware of their emotions and feelings and knowing why they are feeling that way and then being able to express those feelings. Further, emotional literacy also involves students being aware of and understanding the feelings of other people. Emotional literacy involves using the reactions and facial gestures of other people to make an informed decision about how they are feeling. This involves a person's ability to have empathy for another person, that is putting themselves in another person's shoes and thinking about how they would feel in the same situation. As I said, there are many aspects that make up emotional literacy.
Another key idea I have taken away from this project is that you cannot expect the reactions and the feelings and emotions that students are going to have about different situations. The use of the movie technology really helped me to see this. As part of the project I wanted to record the initial reactions of students. With the videos and voice recordings I gave the students their prompt and then immediately started to record. This technology not only helped me to capture the initial reactions of the students but it also helped me to reflect back on exactly what the students had to say. I was not dictating their answers but cutting and pasting what they said into the movie. I think that using video recording and voice recording in the classroom is an excellent tool, especially in capturing the feelings and emotions of students.
The technology also helped me to see the student responses right next to each other. The movie moved from clip to clip without a break so I, as well as my viewers, were able to see the differences right away. This is especially important for teachers trying to understand emotional literacy because it demonstrates completely the kinds of differences they can expect in their classrooms. Some students gave in depth responses while others gave one word responses. This helped me to understand that students have different comfort levels with sharing emotions which is why it is important to set norms and make the classroom a safe place for students. What was even more enlightening was that these students still varied in responses even though I had a personal connection with each one of them. This showed me that even when you form that bond with students and they feel comfortable with you, they may not always be comfortable sharing their feelings and emotions. One thing to take away from this is that emotional literacy is not about pushing students to share their emotions, but encouraging them to do so. There is a fine line between the two and we have to remember not to put students in a situation they do not feel comfortable with.
The last main idea that I have taken away from this project is that teachers need to be emotionally literate or at least moving towards it, in order to teach emotional literacy to their students. Teachers need to be aware of their own feelings and know that other students may not share the same ones. We can become defensive of our own feelings and emotions so being aware of possible difference and keeping our emotions in check it very important. Although I had different interpretations of the activities the students were doing in my video, I couldn't let that get in the way of what I was trying to get from the students. Teachers need to take ownership of their emotions but also be respectful of the emotions of the students. Also, teachers need to be aware of the feelings and emotions of the students. We need to look out for students who seem to be uncomfortable, or angry, or sad, not just in emotional literacy instruction but in day to day classroom activities. Emotional literacy is not something you turn on and off. If we are going to expect it from students, we need to live it every day.
I am excited to use some of the classroom incorporation ideas that I came up with for emotional literacy. Along with these, I think I will also try to incorporate the use of movies for my students. Although there were times that I was frustrated with the technology, I was very happy with the end result and I took a lot of pride in what I accomplished. I think that students could have the same reaction to movies, as well as any technology for that matter, and it is important to give them the opportunity to use different technology for class projects. I really enjoyed this project and I feel like I took a lot away from it.
Digital Literacies
For my digital literacy project I chose to create a video, using iMovie, about visual literacy. Once the project was finished, I posted it to YouTube, making it accessible to the public. Although I have always been interested in photography, and interpreting pictures to find meaning, I have never considered using it in the classroom. Once the idea was introduced to me, I realized what a powerful tool visual literacy can be. I understood the concept of visual literacy very quickly once I was given a definition which I found online (http://k-8visual.info/). In my free time I often peruse the images on the National Geographic website and various creative advertisements I find on the web so I immediately began thinking of images I have viewed in the past which demonstrated the concept of "reading" an image. This assignment may have been more difficult for someone who had not had the hobby of viewing images on the web.
I have also had experience using iMovie before. This time around, I used a newer version, which is acutally quite different from the version I have used before, so there were a few things I had to learn while creating my project. I was unfamiliar with how the program published projects and how to add sound to my video. Because I had used the program before, I was already literate with how it worked in general. Also, it would be helpful to have experience using Mac computers while making this project. All of these technologies can be learned, but often, it takes time to be able to learn how to manipulate the programs in the way you would like.
I believe that this program might be suitable for middle school students to use, but might be difficult for elementary students. A more user-friendly techonology that creates movies with sound from pictures is Photostory from microsoft. With this program, children could easily create movies using images they have taken themselves, or have found on the internet, to create a powerful visual literacy project. With the program that I used, I was able to convey the exact message I had pictured in my head, but children could accomplish a similar task using a much easier program.
From the beginning of the semester, my idea of literacy has been altered greatly. I once thought that literacy only involved picture books and novels, I now understand that literacy can be found in many real-life situations. It is very common for children to use the internet on a daily basis. Children today are bombarded with advertisements and images through various media devices. If our students already have the capacity to understand literacy through various technologies, and through images, why not utilize this understanding to create a new type of ecucation that is more suitable for the 21st century.
Visual literacy is a more effective tool for teaching many subjects. Sometimes, a picture can explain a concept in a much more meaningful way than words. Students should learn how to "read" these images in order to gain the knowledge necessary for meaningful learning. Although text will obviously always be the most essential piece of literacy, there are other pieces that can be used to make a more complete picture.
I have also had experience using iMovie before. This time around, I used a newer version, which is acutally quite different from the version I have used before, so there were a few things I had to learn while creating my project. I was unfamiliar with how the program published projects and how to add sound to my video. Because I had used the program before, I was already literate with how it worked in general. Also, it would be helpful to have experience using Mac computers while making this project. All of these technologies can be learned, but often, it takes time to be able to learn how to manipulate the programs in the way you would like.
I believe that this program might be suitable for middle school students to use, but might be difficult for elementary students. A more user-friendly techonology that creates movies with sound from pictures is Photostory from microsoft. With this program, children could easily create movies using images they have taken themselves, or have found on the internet, to create a powerful visual literacy project. With the program that I used, I was able to convey the exact message I had pictured in my head, but children could accomplish a similar task using a much easier program.
From the beginning of the semester, my idea of literacy has been altered greatly. I once thought that literacy only involved picture books and novels, I now understand that literacy can be found in many real-life situations. It is very common for children to use the internet on a daily basis. Children today are bombarded with advertisements and images through various media devices. If our students already have the capacity to understand literacy through various technologies, and through images, why not utilize this understanding to create a new type of ecucation that is more suitable for the 21st century.
Visual literacy is a more effective tool for teaching many subjects. Sometimes, a picture can explain a concept in a much more meaningful way than words. Students should learn how to "read" these images in order to gain the knowledge necessary for meaningful learning. Although text will obviously always be the most essential piece of literacy, there are other pieces that can be used to make a more complete picture.
Cultural Literacy Reflection
Having completed the New Literacies project, I can say that I've learned a lot not only about my own topic, Cultural Literacy, but the literacies as well through my peers' projects. I chose to do my project on cultural literacy because I feel that in our society today it is impossible not to interact with another person from a different background. Also, as a future teacher, it is vital to know and understand where your students are coming from, what they have experienced, and how these ideas of cultures can benefit the classroom.
Being culturally literate goes beyond knowing how to read, write, or speak a language. It's knowing the language and culture enough to work, live, and be a contributing member of society. Having applied cultural literacy to refugees, I can see how the definition fits into a real life scenario. Refugees have to learn an entirely new language and culture from their own. It's really interesting, because the government only gives refugees funding for six months. In those six months, they are expected to find a place to live, a job, and be able to live in this new country on their own. Having worked with refugees, it often takes YEARS before this is accomplished, which is why it's so important to be aware of the struggles that refugee youth as well as their families are going through. Keeping this idea in mind, while focusing on the difficulties refugee youth may find is what I chose to focus on.
In completion of my project, I was able to see where discrepencies fall with how our government funds refugees and perhaps considers them able to be contributing members of society, and long of a process it really is for refugees. This is especially important to remember as future teachers, as many refugee youth have added responsibilities in their families, such as translating for their parents, compared to their American peers.
Through the project I was able to make connections to what I've learned to how I will work with Cultural Literacy in a classroom. It is vital to understand and get to know your students. This may be difficult if you were to have a refugee who is still learning the language. But there are ways to build trust between student and teacher in order to build a trusting relationship. In the classroom, refugee youth should be able to share aspects from their own culture, while learning a new culture. By doing this, the teacher and students may be able to see similarities, as well as learn something new!
Being culturally literate goes beyond knowing how to read, write, or speak a language. It's knowing the language and culture enough to work, live, and be a contributing member of society. Having applied cultural literacy to refugees, I can see how the definition fits into a real life scenario. Refugees have to learn an entirely new language and culture from their own. It's really interesting, because the government only gives refugees funding for six months. In those six months, they are expected to find a place to live, a job, and be able to live in this new country on their own. Having worked with refugees, it often takes YEARS before this is accomplished, which is why it's so important to be aware of the struggles that refugee youth as well as their families are going through. Keeping this idea in mind, while focusing on the difficulties refugee youth may find is what I chose to focus on.
In completion of my project, I was able to see where discrepencies fall with how our government funds refugees and perhaps considers them able to be contributing members of society, and long of a process it really is for refugees. This is especially important to remember as future teachers, as many refugee youth have added responsibilities in their families, such as translating for their parents, compared to their American peers.
Through the project I was able to make connections to what I've learned to how I will work with Cultural Literacy in a classroom. It is vital to understand and get to know your students. This may be difficult if you were to have a refugee who is still learning the language. But there are ways to build trust between student and teacher in order to build a trusting relationship. In the classroom, refugee youth should be able to share aspects from their own culture, while learning a new culture. By doing this, the teacher and students may be able to see similarities, as well as learn something new!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Basal Reading Program
I had never realized all the material given in basal reading programs. The teachers are given so many different activities to to with the students and provide differentiated instructions to adapt to all students. I can see how this information can be incredibly beneficial in the classroom. The day to day lesson plans are already planned out and this could be a great stress reliever for new teachers.
While these programs can be a great tool, there seems to be way more activities than could ever be used in a lesson. I think it is important for teachers to pick and choose activities that will be most beneficial to the students and ones relevant to GLCEs that are trying to be covered. Basal reading programs were used quite often when I was in Elementary school, but I see them being used less and less in schools now. I've heard teachers say that basal programs are the east way out and teachers who use them are lazy. I see how they could think this but I do not completely agree. Basal programs offer great staring points for many lessons and many can be adapted to fit specific lessons. I would definitely use basal programs in my classroom.
While these programs can be a great tool, there seems to be way more activities than could ever be used in a lesson. I think it is important for teachers to pick and choose activities that will be most beneficial to the students and ones relevant to GLCEs that are trying to be covered. Basal reading programs were used quite often when I was in Elementary school, but I see them being used less and less in schools now. I've heard teachers say that basal programs are the east way out and teachers who use them are lazy. I see how they could think this but I do not completely agree. Basal programs offer great staring points for many lessons and many can be adapted to fit specific lessons. I would definitely use basal programs in my classroom.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Balanced Reading and Basal Reading Programs
Implementing a balanced literacy program would be an excellent way to teach the different aspects of literacy in the classroom. By using this type of program students are learning reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills. In addition, when used appropriately, students are learning in a variety of different ways—such as reading different genres, with different reading practices, writing different genres, using different techniques. This makes it so not only is the child not bored when approached with literacy, but is actually working with a program that fits her or his needs. Balanced literacy program would work really well in any classroom, especially since the program can be adapted to fit any ability, as well as work for English Language Learners.
Basal reading programs offer a lot in terms of the different aspects of literacy as well. Within this program, students will learn about reading, writing, fluency, comprehension, listening, speaking, etc. However, with the basal reading program, there isn’t much room for variation and so much information is to be covered in each topic. It would be difficult to implement a program such as this in classroom and expect to cover everything. With that—it may be useful for teachers who are just starting out, as long as the teacher realizes that she or he may pick and choose what they want to cover. This way, the teacher may pick certain activities that suit their students best.
Basal Reading Programs
Basal reading programs can be very useful to teachers, especially new teachers, but should not be depended on in a classroom. Basal reading programs offer one level of reading that all of the students can follow. This is helpful when conducting large group literacy lessons, but teachers must keep in mind that every student is at a different reading level. Students who are either above or below the reading level presented may not get as much out of the text as those students who are at that reading level.
Basal reading programs have also been criticized for lacking authentic literature in the stories they provide. When stories are presented to children that lack an interesting or relative plot line, children often become unengaged and uninterested. When choosing literature for children it is vital to present them with something they can relate to and diverse experiences.
Because of their standardized nature and already laid-out nature. Basal reading programs can be excellent tools in classrooms when used with authentic and diverse literature. My CT, for example, reads a few stories out of the basal book per week with her class. She also reads the children many other books outside of the basal reading program and provides her students with original lessons.
Basal reading programs have also been criticized for lacking authentic literature in the stories they provide. When stories are presented to children that lack an interesting or relative plot line, children often become unengaged and uninterested. When choosing literature for children it is vital to present them with something they can relate to and diverse experiences.
Because of their standardized nature and already laid-out nature. Basal reading programs can be excellent tools in classrooms when used with authentic and diverse literature. My CT, for example, reads a few stories out of the basal book per week with her class. She also reads the children many other books outside of the basal reading program and provides her students with original lessons.
Balanced Literacy and Basal Readers
The whole purpose of balanced literacy is to bring students a variety of literacy instruction. Teachers using balanced literacy tailor the literacy instruction to the needs and interests of the students. By relating the literacy instruction to the students, they start to form a love for reading and writing. Within balanaced literacy instruction, teachers bring a variety of reading materials into the classroom the help enhance students' reading ability.
Although basal readers are included in balanced literacy instruction materials, they should not be the sole text used for students literacy exposure. Basal readers provide a number of stories but the reading level is not varied. In a normal classroom not all students are at the same reading level and although the basal readers would be appropriate for some, not all of the students can read them. Also, the stories used in basal readers are not tailored to the interests of the students. Although some of the stories are very interesting and exciting, some of the texts can be boring for students which can decrese their interest in reading in general. Therefore, solely using basal texts in literacy instruction does not coorelate with balanced literacy instruction because it lacks variety and personal connection.
However, I do feel that basal readers can be very useful to begninning teachers because of the numerous lesson ideas that they provide. Some of the stories in basal readers can be great for students and teacher do have the ability to adapt the basal lessons to meet the needs of the students. Basal readers provide teachers with suggestions and guidelines for instruction but teachers still have the liberty adapt the lessons to work in their classrooms.
Although basal readers are included in balanced literacy instruction materials, they should not be the sole text used for students literacy exposure. Basal readers provide a number of stories but the reading level is not varied. In a normal classroom not all students are at the same reading level and although the basal readers would be appropriate for some, not all of the students can read them. Also, the stories used in basal readers are not tailored to the interests of the students. Although some of the stories are very interesting and exciting, some of the texts can be boring for students which can decrese their interest in reading in general. Therefore, solely using basal texts in literacy instruction does not coorelate with balanced literacy instruction because it lacks variety and personal connection.
However, I do feel that basal readers can be very useful to begninning teachers because of the numerous lesson ideas that they provide. Some of the stories in basal readers can be great for students and teacher do have the ability to adapt the basal lessons to meet the needs of the students. Basal readers provide teachers with suggestions and guidelines for instruction but teachers still have the liberty adapt the lessons to work in their classrooms.
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