Social Media

Classroom Social Media    

    Social media is a powerful tool, that if used in the correct way, can be beneficial. I believe that, depending on which platform, social media can be a fun way to teach in the class. I had a teacher in 12th grade have us do a project, using Facebook. If my students are old enough and I have a good idea, I would consider using social media for projects in my classroom.

Collaborative Productivity Tool

    It has become much more clear that being able to collaborate virtually and digitally within a class are extremely important. There are many tools that can help with this, like Padlet, Google Docs, which students and teachers to work together in an online environment. Taking other classes on implementing technology in the classroom has given me many ideas on how to have my students work together. They can partner up through Google Docs to work on a WebQuest.

Classroom Management

    Classroom management has been something I have been thinking quite a bit about lately. I know there are many techniques and methods that can be implemented to make class life to run not only smoothly, but efficiently. With my class, I would like it to be student centered. Allowing them to choose what we learn about. We will participate in class discussions, hands-on projects, exploring, and research. Going this route will allow my students to use technology to enhance their learning and allow them to do their own research and explore things on their own.

Final Thoughts

    When starting this class, I knew that teaching these "new literacies" were very important, but I now know just how important they are. Students will need to know these literacies to be able to succeed and grow in school and life itself. I still have concerns on how my students who can not afford technology outside of school will succeed. Or if I work for a school that cannot afford certain technologies.

    

Multimedia Presentations

    There are so many opportunities when it comes to using multimedia in the classroom, just thinking about it gives me so many ideas for the future. I plan on using videos, like from BrainPOP, to help enforce the subjects that we are learning in the lessons. There are also many ways to use multimedia as an assessment tool. You can assign a PowerPoint presentation or have your students make a video, etc. There are so many ways that you can use this to your benefit in the classroom. Besides funding, my main concern would be technology problems. Things not functioning properly.

 

Reading Process

     Today, it seems like there is an app for everything. Including the reading and writing process. This might seem intimidating and a bit confusing at times, but apps do not have to be a scary thing. In fact, they can be really useful and helpful to helping our students develop their skills. The following apps are ones that I find very impressive and creative.

• StoriumEdu: This ones is almost like a card game. A card pops up and and gives the student a prompt or the beginning of a story, they then have to complete the story. I find this very creative and a fun way to get our students motivated.
• Action Words: This one helps students learn new action words, this is a fun way to get your students out of the habit of using the same words over and over.
• Dragon Dictation: This one records your speech as you talk. I like this one because this is something I find myself doing while I am on the go. If I have a thought I do not want to forget, it is easy to turn on the app and just say what you want to remember.

    These different apps are a fun way to help get our students engaged, but like with anything, distraction and boredom can creep in. I even find myself pulling up multiple browsers while trying to do my homework. There are many distractions when working in a world full of technology.

Audio

 

     I had never considered using a podcast for my future classroom until now. Having really thought and read about it, it is a wonderful idea and a great resource to have in your toolbelt. Even thinking back, I remember in high school, when we were reading a few different things by Shakespeare, my English teacher would have it read to the class using videos on YouTube. You also have to be careful when using audio, it might not be right for every student. I know I am not the only one, but having all of my classes online and having to watch prerecorded lectures, it is very easy to get distracted and pull up other tabs or even pull up my phone.

Images

 

Influence

    Pictures are a very powerful tool that hold a great deal of influence over a group with how they feel and think about a topic. Just showing an image without giving any background knowledge or subtext allows someone to think whatever they want. I volunteered with the program called Michigan 826, and at this organization we would have students from a local school come in on a fieldtrip, we would break them into groups and give them a painting or picture to look at and then their group would come up with a story based on the picture. I think this is a great way to have our students "read" an image. They get to use their imaginations and come up with many responses.

Thoughts

    I believe teaching with images gives our students a brilliant advantage. Using images in our lessons will help our students remember what they have learned. I, personally, have an easier time remembering what I have learned if the lesson is taught using some sort of visual. I feel that if a visual is used, it helps drill the lesson into our students memories. It is the same with having our students come up with their own visual with the lesson. They get to draw and make up something that will help them remember the lesson even more. Imagery is very powerful

   

Digital Gos

     I have made many graphic organizers over the years in school. They have many purposes and they are a great way to organize your thoughts, especially before diving into an essay. I have always created my graphic organizers by putting pen to paper, it had never even occurred to me that you can make them digitally online. It was a different concept that most definitely has it's advantages.

    Creating a graphic organizer digitally is not all that different then making one by hand.  Honestly, the biggest difference is one is digital and one if hand written. I can't even make the argument that writing one on paper is faster because you still have to dig or your journal and your pencil and with the digital one you have to dig out your computer and pull up the website that you choose to you use.

    In my class with my students, I will give them the option to either make a digital graphic organizer or a paper one. I won't force them to use one over the other. I will be using graphic organizers to brainstorm for essays and all other types of projects. Like a compare and contrast chart, cause and effect, time lines, mind maps, concept maps, etc.

    The biggest concern I have with using a digital graphic organizer over hand writing one, would be what if the computer crashes and the student has not saved what they are working on. Then all of their work is just gone. Another concern would be "do my students have access to this technology outside of school"?

New Literacies

What is your current thinking about teaching "new literacies" as part of your ELA instruction?

 What exactly are "new literacies"? Well new literacies are all of our traditional forms of literacy, plus information literacy, visual literacy, media literacy, computer literacy, network literacy, and digital literacy. I believe that yes traditional literacy is important, but so are these "new literacies". They are our future and it is important that out students know how to use them. We want to set our students up for success and by teaching them all of these new literacies, we will.

What obstacles to you see for teaching "new literacies" in the classroom?

There are obstacles with everything we do in life, teaching is no different. Some of the biggest obstacles I see with teaching these "new literacies" are funding and how the parents feel. These "new literacies" are all involved with some sort of electronic device. What happens if a child does not have access to this technology? What if the school does not have the funding to supply all of the students with a device? Our students already spend a good majority of their day in front of a device. What is their parents do not want them to have the extra screen time at school? These are all obstacles that we need to keep in mind when going forward with our "new literacies".