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,