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!