Continuing the Conversation...

Extending the Conversation: New Technologies, New Literacies, and English Education

"Like the reader of print texts, the reader of digital texts takes an active role

in the creation of meaning." (p.356)

I didn't fully understand this statement until I kept reading.  The reader takes part in reading in different ways when it is in print than when it is in digital format.  I related to this statement in how I read about current events online and in the newspaper.  Different meanings are formed based on the writings, pictures, videos, sound, etc.  After relating to this statement on a personal level I thought about how the students relate in the classroom.  They are much more engaged when reading includes more than just text.  Technologies have helped us all be able to have more meaning and connections to the text.   

J. Swenson, et. al. (2006). Extending the conversation: new technologies, new literacies, and English education.  National Council of Teachers of English. (p. 356).

Where will technology go from here....

I enjoyed class Thursday night as we explored various digital tools.  Dr. Long was right when she stated that we were unlikely to explore these tools on our own.  I am glad she made me sit down and "play."  I think I could be a better teacher by learning to use some of these things.  RSS Feeds could be a way to stay up to date from the classroom.  My class subscribes to Scholastic News Magazines  and Highlights Magazines.  I am curious to see if these companies have RSS Feeds.  I will be adding this to my to do list to check into.  Back in undergrad I added educational internet sites to a bookmarking site like Diigo, but it was a different one.  I never continued to use the site after that semester.  I now see that I should have.  I think I could be better organized if I had kept it up.  There are several sites I want to search to help me in the classroom with my students.  It would be much easier to be able to locate these sites from any computer/place.  Animoto - HOW COOL!!  I loved it.  As I played with it in class I thought of using some pictures I had at home I would like to upload and put to music.  I hope to get to that this weekend.  I love to play with this more to learn how to use it to benefit my students.  I think this is something that could really catch their attention.

Everyday Literacies

Everday Literacies is exactly what it means.  Everyday literacies is the print that children come into contact with on a day to day basis. 
In my classroom I have a wall of environmental print. These are posters that I made myself out of different things in the newspaper, such as people, places, even food ads, and road signs.  I find that I and the kids refer to the wall quite a bit. It is so helpful and the kids can read more of it than they think because they are so used to seeing such print around their home, stores, and town. 
I have decided it is time to remake my posters and update them since they are a little fadded.  A summer task...after grad school!

StReSsEd = DeSsErTs :)

I am sitting at home on a Friday night...........eating a piece of leftover birthday cake!


Nonetheless I am working on school work (for my kiddos and myself).  It has been a long week however  the weeks seem to be passing fast.  I feel quite stressed as if I have so many things that need to be done.  I wonder if I will get it all done.....  I feel like things will calm down eventually.  I do better if I get ahead and stay ahead.  This year at school has been quite different.  We have had three meetings during this week, leaving little time to prepare for my students during my planning time.  This group of students is very challenging and not like one I have had in the past.  They are teaching me how to eat, talk, and play all the while I am trying to teach them how to spell, read, and write.  I wonder if we will end in June with everyone being taught a little more about ourselves!?

Art Show

Chowan University Faculty Art Exhibition 

Fall 2011

*There were many different pieces on display - graphics, pottery, floor art, painted pieces.  I enjoyed this field trip and it forced me to look more into why I like certain pieces of art

I chose to reflect on the following piece:
     The Wishing Tree
          by Jennifer Groves
     Acrylic on Masonite

The title reminded me of Shel Silverstien's book The Giving Tree.  This is one of my favorite children's books for its meaning.
I also chose this piece because of the title.  At this time in my life there are several things I wish for.
I did a free hand sketch of this picture, however to share that with you would do the art justice, compared to what I saw in person.

Marc Prensky article

Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants 

by Marc Prensky

When I first read the title of this article I really felt as though I was going to be reading about people native to a certain land and those that were coming in as immigrants.....however I saw the word 'digital', so I wasn't sure that was correct...

After further reading I grasp this:  "Digital Natives" are the children we teach that have grown up with all things related to technology.  We as teachers are the "Digital Immigrants" that consider some of these pieces of technology a foreign piece to our teachings.  

When I think back to 26 years ago when I was in first grade and six years old, all I can say is, "My the times have changed!!!!"  I remember a cassette player and an overhead and big desktop computers with a big floppy disk.  My students would be lost in a world that only contained these items...they are so accustomed to CD Players (hardly knowing what a cassette is), cell phones, iPods, iPads, Laptops, Playstations, Jump drives, SMART boards, Projectors, flat screen TV's, and field trips on the computer.  Do these children know how lucky they are to have so many different things to learn from?  I now must wonder where we will be in the next 26 years when I will be retired?  

Not growing up with these cool technological pieces can make us uneasy to learn how to use them.  But we must remember that this is what our children know and this is the language our students speak.  We need to speak this language to get on their level and educate them.

The second sentence in this article stood out as I began reading.  Prensky (2001) strongly states, "Our students have changed radically.  Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach."

Jeffrey Golub's article on the Common Core

I found this article very easy to read and well written.
I have heard a lot about the Common Core Standards through our graduate classes and a little bit through our district and school.  I enjoyed Golub's analogy of comparing the CC to the library sinking.  Sometimes we take on so much as teachers and try to do our best, but are not able to be well grounded becuase we are too loaded down.

As I read this article I looked at each of his aspects and how I felt about them.

1.  I think this is true, even with our NCSCS.  I think the CC could be beneficial with students that may move from school to school.  It seems we always hear this but then again are still required to teach certain things and in a certain way.
2.  Yes, reading comprehension does involve more then just reading the text.  Is this where we as teachers have to 'read between the lines' of the CC and continue to teach that which we know is important (such as comprehension, engagement, and experiences through reading)?
3.  We have seen evidence of this statement through some of our previous readings and classes.  We all know things have changed since we were in school.
4.  True - We continue to prepare for the future "test" that we miss out on opportune times to take advantage of teachable moments and teaching from our heart.  Those are some of the best and most enjoable moments in my classroom.

This article allowed me to think about teaching in general a little bit more.
I do agree with most of what Golub has to say about the Common Core Standards and enjoyed seeing his point of view.