New Literacies Noteblog

Conceptual Understanding

My conceptual understanding of literacy has definitely changed a lot since the beginning of class. In the beginning of class, I did not really know what the definition of literacy was, or if it even differed from the meaning of language arts. I also didn’t know that there are several different kinds of literacies. I think that by diving into a specific literacy, of which I chose social literacy, allowed me to explore options and ideas that I could use in my classroom. I really learned a lot about social literacy because for one, I didn’t even know that it existed, and I could never image how I could use tools such as Facebook or Twitter in my classroom. Through my research, I found that I could use all social media tools that I use now for personal use, as powerful tools that myself, my students, and parents could use to be interactive in the classroom.

I also think that by selecting a new technology gave me the chance to explore tools that I haven’t ever used before. For example, I chose to use iMovie and Snapz, which I think worked very well for my project. I am familiar with iMovie, but I was not familiar with Snapz before I began working on this project. However, I think that trying a new technology and working with it is something that I will have to teach my students, so it is important for me to work with it and know how to use it first. You never know what could come up in your classroom, so this is another tool that I can keep in mind when planning technology rich lessons for my classroom.

Furthermore, I think that by looking and critiquing another student’s project was very helpful because not only did I learn about a different type of literacy, but I got to see and experience another new technology. I think that through this project, I have really expanded my ideas on both literacy and technology and how they can be easily intertwined to be used in my classroom.

Effective Literacy Instruction

I think that providing effective literacy instruction means to teach to all learners. Every person has a different learning style, so everyone learns things in a different way, whether it be visually, hands on, through listening, or even through speaking. As a teacher, I think that it is very important to recognize these different learning styles and to be aware of it in your classroom. If you figure out early in the year how each of your students learns, you will be able to plan lessons around those different learning styles, which will provide a successful lesson for everyone. I think that the different types of literacies can also tie into this because some students could benefit more from certain types of literacy, than other types. For example, a visual learner would benefit mostly from visual literacy because visual literacy is about what we see and how we process what we see. I think that as a teacher, the most beneficial thing to do in your classroom is incorporate all types of literacy, so each student will be able to find their own type of literacy useful in accordance with their learning style.

With regards to students in my placement classroom learning social literacy, I would think that many of them would struggle with it. There are only three computers in my placement classroom and many of my students have trouble with turning the computers on and off, or even getting to the Internet, so I do not think my students would benefit through using most of the actual tools of social literacy. Since social literacy is all about using tools on the Internet to connect to your students with, I think that I would have to implement a lot of scaffolding in order to get my students to understand the tools of social literacy. However, social literacy also encompasses building and maintaining relationships with other people in your life, which is something that I think my students would benefit greatly from. Since I am in a first grade classroom, I often find that my students tattle and fight with each other, which is not an attribute of a successful relationship.

I think that if I were to introduce social literacy in my classroom, I could show them my project, since it is a video, and my students would learn from it. Some of my students are already familiar with Facebook, and I am sure that they have heard of Twitter, and possibly Blogger, but I am sure that most of them have not had experience with these tools. However, I think that a website or a wiki would be very beneficial to my students and their parents. I think that my students would be able to navigate through a classroom website and use the website to find links to reading games, math games, or any other resources that I would post. I also think that the parents of my students would find a website to be a great resource for a class calendar with upcoming events, class information and other educational links.

As far as using an integrated approach to teaching social literacy to my placement students, I think that I could use a wiki or a website that my students would have access to. I think that my students could write a story on a specific topic, such as a field trip, a writing theme, or a particular writing style, and each student’s story could be posted onto the website. Each student could have their own page to the website, which would allow all of the other students to view each other’s work. The great thing about using a website or a wiki is that students would have access from home and parents would also be able to have access to the site, so they could see their child’s work and other classmate’s work. I think that this would be the best tool to use at a first grade level because I could create the template for the website or wiki, and I could show students how to post their work onto the site. This lesson would be addressing reading, writing, and social literacy.

Lesson Plan

Target Area and Rationale:
I think that by using a classroom website, my students would learn how a website works and operates, and would be able to view and read their own work, along with classmate’s work. Students would be responsible for writing and posting their own story, and then commenting on another student’s story that is posted on the website.

Objectives:
Students will show their understanding of social literacy by posting a story that they have written on a website, and comment on another student’s story.

Materials and Supplies:
Student stories (which will be written in class), a computer lab with computers for every student, Weebly website design, projector.

Outline of Key Events:
-Students will write a story during their writing time, on a specific theme demonstrated in a read aloud book. (Groups of three, rhyming, repetition, etc.)
-I will show students how to locate the class webpage on the Internet.
-I will then show students how to navigate through the class webpage and how to post their story to their specific page, which will be titled by their name.
-Students will then type out their stories, and post them on their specific page.
-Students will be given the chance to explore the website and look at their classmate’s work.
-After exploring the site, students will be instructed to find one story that they found to be interesting and write two things that they really enjoyed about the story and one thing that could be improved on the story.
-Student will then be given the chance to edit their stories, if needed/wanted.
-The web address will be sent home with students so parents will have access to the site.

Closing Summary:
I will close the lesson with reminding students what social literacy means and why it is important to their learning. I will encourage students to post more of their work to the website and look at the website at home with their parents, so that they can teach their parents about social literacy.

Ongoing Assessment:
I will observe my students to see if they improve on aspects of social literacy in their own behavior. I will remind students that by becoming a responsible second grader that they need to build successful relationships with their classmates, so that they can have a classroom environment that is filled with learning.