Erica's Reflection

I chose to explore social literacy through podcasting technology.    Social literacy is actually a very broad terms that generally refers to the literacy skills that a person needs in different social contexts.  Due to social literacy referring to so much, I decided to approach one aspect of it-literacy skills needed for written communication through technology (such as contributing to a wiki page or using an instant messenger.  Traditionally, writing skills referred to a person actually writing with a pen and paper.  Now, this terms refers to so much more because of the large use of computers.  

I used a podcast as my technological means for sharing my newly gained knowledge of social literacy.  A podcast is where someone records a conversation, posts it to the internet, and then allows people to access the .wav or .mp3 file so that they can listen to the conversation.  

Before I began doing research for this project, I had an idea of social literacy was based upon just knowing what the word "social" and "literacy" meant.  However, the details and if I was completely right was where I was still unsure.  After researching the topic, I learned a great deal about social literacy and that it includes more than I had thought.  I know realize that it has to do with peoples'  body language, spoken word, written (pen and paper, internet, etc.) and reading ability in different social contexts.  I was very surprised to learn that this term referred to so much! 

Also, before  I began researching information about podcasts, I already had experience in listening to them.   However, the reason why I chose to use podcast was because I had absolutely no idea of how to even make one.  Actually, making the podcast took up more time than actually the researching of social literacy.  I had a very difficult time finding a website that would allow me to post my podcast without paying money.   In the end, because I had such a challenging time, I now feel more confident and experienced with podcasts and how to get them posted so that people can access them.

I created a lesson plan for Kindergarten students.  I believe that creating a podcast is something that they could do as in providing the spoken part.  The students have the ability to write down or draw pictures of what they know or have learned about.  If not, the teacher could even prompt the student with questions and he/she could respond verbally directly to the audio recording for the podcast.  As long as the students are able to talk about any topic I believe that they could create an actual podcast.  However, when it comes time to actually put the podcast on the internet, I believe that they would not have the skills to do so and would need assistance from the teacher.  It has many steps including registering, uploading files, etc.   After this project, I now see more than ever, the importance of including technology into literacy.  Technology and literacy go hand-in-hand in so many ways in terms of why we use it (to communicate for example), how it can be used (sharing written or spoken information on the internet) and why (in order to communicate).  By incorporating technology into literacy as soon as possible, I think that students will learn to feel more comfortable with technology thus allowing them to have access to many more resources to further their own knowledge and understanding.  

Emotinal Literacy through Virtual Environments

For my new literacies project I chose to also do emotional literacy but I chose to explain it through virtual environments. To start emotional literacy has many key components including (from the definition I found) the understanding of our own emotions, empathy towards others and feeling remorseful for our mistakes towards others. These three things I have realized through the completing of this project that these three things are completely difficult for young students to understand. While I did not focus this, reading Jessica's new literacy project helped me to realize that.
While I have been on numerous virtual worlds such as Sims, Zwinky and some online video games I never thought about the components of emotional literacy while I was on these sites. Usually in online video games I get competitive and I am not normally as forceful with my competitiveness when I am next to an actually person not talking to them half way across the world. It was not until Jessica asked me how i was going to explain emotional literacy through virtual environments that I realized I had never thought about that before. I also thought that literacy was reading. While looking through Tompkins I realized that there is a lot more to literacy than just reading. Once I realized this the thought of explaining emotional literacy through virtual environments started becoming clear because I could focus on the emotions that people were portraying while they were talking. This project is what helped me realize that there are many different types of literacies and that they are in the natural and virtual worlds all around us.
While the site (Zwinky.com) i chose to use is not suitable for younger students or any students there are other sites that are available, which are safer. The reason I used Zwinky is because it is really easy to see the emotional literacy through the way people talk to one another. On educational sites it may not be as blatant. Using virtual environments in classrooms i think is a great idea. Students today are a lot more technologically advanced then we are because they grew up in a world were technology is all around them. This also caters to many different learning styles because it is hands on, you have to click where you want to walk and type what you want to saw, it is visual because you have to view the pictures of the places you want to visit and read the sentences that other people are writing. While all students may not like the reading aspect they can be allowed to play games if they read and write conversations. Even younger students, with an appropriate website can get the emotional literacy value out of virtual environments because they can learn many different ways and be rewarded by playing games or exploring on their own.
I would try to incorporate this in a classroom by setting up a private online world where only our class or school could get access to it and there could be games and educational conversations going on. In my opinion all students no matter the age can get literacy knowledge from virtual worlds.
That is what the new literacies project helped me to realize.

For my new literacy project I focused on Emotional Literacy. Emotional Literacy deals with emotions, and feelings. It is about understanding not only your own, but others emotions. To be Emotionally Literate means you can recognize your own emotions, and know how to deal with them, and you can read others emotions, and respond to them appropriately. To me this sort of seemed like something I do naturally, and before studying this I never knew there was such thing as Emotional Literacy. After researching this topic, I learned that it is actually quite complex. I learned that being emotionally literate isn't something that comes naturally. Young children especially, really struggle with being emotionally literate. It begins by teaching students how to identify their own emotions, and what your do when you are feeling a certain way, after they have learned this they begin to learn how to identify others emotions. This encourages students to be empathetic.
Learning this changed my view of literacy because I had always thought of literacy more as teaching students to read, and to comprehend. I never considered the other challenges and lessons you may run into. As a teacher of language arts you need to go beyond helping the students to understand what the words say, but also help the analyze the story, and the feelings within the story. Learning about emotional literacy also changed my view because it made me realize how much literacy can help you in other aspects of your life. As students read about characters emotions, and discuss them they begin to learn how to handle their own and others emotions. Studies have been done where it has been proven that students who are emotionally literate are less likely to engage in self destructive or harmful behavior. This made me realize how important the development of this type of literacy is.
For my technology I used a website. I was really glad I chose to use this technology because I had never made a website before, and honestly I never realized how easy it was to do. Making this website made me realize how much is available to us as students, and as teachers. Making this website was something fun and different from just typing a paper. I think as a teacher it is important to remember this when coming up with a activities for your students to do. I would definitely use this in my classroom, I think students could really benefit from learning how to make a website, and from making something a little different that challenges them to do more than just write a paper. This also relates to creating a diverse learning community. Not all students learn the same way. So switching it up, or even giving the students the option to make a website, may help suuport diverse learners
Doing this project made me research a topic I may have never learned about, and also opened my eyes to so many more possibilities. I had never heard of new literacy before this class, and I had no idea there were so many different types of literacy out there. I think by doing this project I will be a better language arts teacher because I understand the many layers of literacy,

New Literacy Project

For my New Literacy Project I chose to teach about environmental literacy through the use of a digital story. As I began this project I was overwhelmed and did not know where to start. By the end, however, I felt confident in my presentation.
As I began the process of learning about digital storytelling I became nervous. I reviewed many different digital stories to get an idea as to what a digital story is. After viewing many different stories I started researching different programs that allows one to create their own digital story. The program that I first attempted to use was Bubbleply. I failed miserably in trying to learn how to use this program. Next I learned about Windows Photo Story. I was easily able to understand this program and decided to use it in creating my presentation. As I learned about different digital storytelling programs I also researched the topic of environmental literacy. I found two organizations that provided great information on their websites, The Environmental Literacy Council (http://www.enviroliteracy.org/) and The Campaign for Environmental Literacy (http://www.fundee.org/facts/envlit/). The Environmental Literacy Council provided the viewer with information regarding the different types of environmental literacy. The Campaign for Environmental Literacy gave the reader a great definition and a ladder of steps to take in order to obtain environmental literacy. Overall, as I worked on this project my understanding of literacy and technology changed. I began with a view that linked literacy to the ability to be able to read and technology to the ability to be able to use Microsoft Word. Today, I see literacy as a broad category of understanding. Literacy incorporates how people work with other people of their society, people of a foreign land, and the environment. I realize, at the same time, that there are other forms of literacy that I have yet to be introduced to. By far the biggest change I have seen in myself is that I am more opened minded to what literacy can be. Technology is no longer turning on and off a computer, technology is using a computer or device in a way to display knowledge. Technology is websites, digital storytelling, blogs, wikis, and many more things I have yet to learn.
In the classroom I would definitely use digital storytelling to teach. With the first grade classroom I am currently placed in I would use a digital story I made to teach the class. However, I would not expect them to teach others through the use of digital storytelling. I do feel that older students, third grade and up, could replace the classic research paper with a digital story. Overall, using Windows Photo Story is much more interesting than typing a paper. It also forces the student to think outside of the box in terms of creativity. With diverse learners, a digital story would give them a way to show what they have learned without having them talk in front a large crowd, minimizing the number of mistakes.

Mini-Lesson

Topic: Introducing Vocabulary Words in Song of the Trees
Grade: 4th Grade
Time: 30 minutes

Introduction of the Topic
In order to understand text that is being read, it is important that students understand the words in the text. One way of addressing key words that are found in the book being read is through the use of a word wall. Words that are personally confusing or that are essential and appear frequently should appear on the word wall so that students are able to reference them when need be.

Share Examples
I will have created the word wall on a wall that all students will be able to see. I will model by adding the first word, “lumbermen.” Together, the class will sound out the word as I write it in the “L” box. We will then discuss why I chose this word (as in how to we find words that are on the wall) what the word means by me asking the students, “What do you know about lumbermen?” If students have limited prior knowledge on this word I will scaffold the students and ask them, “What is the main job of a lumberman?” Together we will discuss the word and how the word will always be on the wall for students to reference when writing or when discussing the story.

Provide Information/Guided Practice
I will break the students into small groups. Each group will be responsible for looking up words that are essential or confusing that they believe should be added to the wall. The group will have to discuss why they chose to the word, what the word means, and where they found it in the story. I will talk around to each group and continue to help students find words that are important. We will regroup as a class and then the students will go up to the wall, group by group, and add the word to the wall. The group will have to share (with the class) why they chose to the word, what the word means, and where they found it in the story.

Assess Learning
The next day I will ask students to write about the reading from the day before. In the writing, I will ask the students to incorporate at least three words from the word wall. I will then read the responses and see if students were able to use the wall as a reference and if they understood the words that they incorporated into their writing.

Maniac Magee Minilesson

Topic: Understanding Vocabulary

Grade: 3rd Grade

Time: 30 minutes

1. Introduce the Topic:

Explain to the students that in order to understand what we are reading we have to have an understanding of the words. Sometimes the unknown words can be huge clues to what is happening in the text.

2. Share Examples:

Give the students an example from the first two sections of the book. Some examples are:

● Pg. 25, pandemonium. “Pandemonium on the sidelines. It was raining red and green hats.” Tell the students that: “From the text ‘it was raining red and green hats’ I think that the word has something to do with excitement because when I graduated we threw our hats in the air. Also, in movies sometimes kids through their hats in the air after they win a baseball game. “

● Pg. 55, juked. “They found he could do more with a football than catch it. He could run like a squirrel. He juked and jived and spun and danced and darted, and he left them squeezing handfuls of air.” Tell the students that: “When I watch football players score a touchdown, I see them dance. Because of this, I think that the word juked has to do with the dance players do after a touchdown. Also, I know that juke, as in jukebox, has to do with music. Many people dance with listening to music.”

3. Provide Information:

Next, explain to the students we do not always have the proper old knowledge to know what a word means. However, someone else may. Explain to the students that it may be more helpful to ask someone else for help while reading than it is to look in a dictionary.

4. Guide Practice:

Write the following words on the board (do not include the stuff that is in parenthesis):

● Solitary (p. 121)

● Satchel (p. 121)

● Succession (p.125)

● Rasped (p.126)

● Bellowing (p.128)

● Lambasting (p.129)

● Mongrel (p.131)

● Relieved (p.131)

● Carrion (p. 132)

● Flinches (p. 134)

Tell the students to write down the words and then what page numbers they find the words on as I read allowed. After chapters 33 through 35 have been read, conduct a think-write-pair-share, with all pairings sharine, using the vocabulary words as the focus of conversation. If the whole class develops misconceptions about the words, correct them at the end.

5. Assess Learning:

Use the students “writing” step to see where the students stand at understanding the text on their own. Then use the share portion to see what improvements have been made thanks to the pairing activity.

Todays Readings

With the chapters in Tompkins and the Applegate article there are many things that i learned about my own reading comprehension. In my group, we were Chapter 2 of Tompkins, i started to think about the strategies that i had when i was learning to read. 

I learned to read through hooked on phonics because my mother was afraid that if she taught me to read i would pick up her accent. I remember that i was really excited to always study with my hooked on phonics. I was also trying to remember how i learned to take notes because of something that had happened in my classroom. When i walked into my classroom the other day my teacher asked me how i remember what my teachers say during class. I told the class that i take notes while listening to my 3 hour lectures. And then without any instruction my teacher told them that they were going to write down notes to a move on penguins. She told them to write down keywords and sentences that they heard about penguins. The students were confused but some of my first graders had enough comprehension to at least write down one fact. But i was confused because when this was happening i was thinking about my own learning of note taking and how that was a major beginning to my reading comprehension, but i do not remember learning HOW to take notes. This is something that my group and i talked about towards the end. The strategies that we were given to help our reading comprehension we what we were talking about.