Critical Literacy Webcast

Here are some notes that I took for the Critical Literacy Webcast:

1. What are Critical Literacies?

• Students challenge the text by asking question and raising their own ideas about the text
• Students interpret what the author was trying to say
• Literacy is everywhere and needs to be looked at as a whole (reminds me of LMC, "educate the whole student")
• Across curriculum questioning
• Be an active reader - participate
• multi-perspective

2. Critical Literacies for All Ages

• Four Literacy Practice
• Code Breakers - every letter has a sound, etc.
• Text Participants - prior knowledge and experience
• Text Users - form, audience, purpose
• Text Critic - comprehension
• Critical Literacy = Creative Literacy
• Goal: Confident and independent students (know themselves as a learner, good and bad)
• Teacher Clip: predictions and thoughts (part of Common Core); read-a-loud/think-a-loud, collaboration with others, oral/writing/reading

3. Loaded Language

• Language is powerful!
• Language is used to make readers feel a certain way (same idea as videos but just with words)
• Examples: "raided" "sweatshop" instead of saying factory (sweatshop is viewed as a negative word whereas factory is not)
• Vocabulary exposure

Week 12

Teaching about Language, Power and Text: A Review of Classroom Practices that Support Critical Literacy-

Language is a huge part of literacy and it is something that I get to experience in my classroom everyday! With teaching Pre-K students, oral language is something that I need to establish with my students. Some students that I have are just learning English because English is not the primary language spoken at home. I had to quickly adjust to incorporating an oral language time into our day. I cannot even begin to tell everyone how many times I have heard, “does he/she speak in class? He/she speaks (insert language here) at home, not English.” However, it excites me to say that I have seen such a difference in the ELL's since the first day of school; they participate when we sing and most of them I can have a conversation with. It is such a difference being in school for just over two months!

Becoming Critical Consumers and Producers of Text: Teaching Literacy with Web 1.0 and Web 2.0-

Upon walking into my classroom, you would notice that there are no computers. The most technology I have in my room is a TV with not a DVD player but a VHS player. With what our school has and the idea that students at my level should be using their imaginations, computers and the internet are not a part of our day. It did not really bother me at first because I already have a short amount of time to teach my students that adding a computer or technology aspect would take even more time from my day but with advances such as digital storytelling and the idea of going to youtube and finding a video that adds to your lesson seems like heaven. I truly think that my students would love the idea of listening to someone else read a story to then rather than hear my voice all day long. There is also so much that they can get out of a digital story or appropriate youtube video. It was also recently observed that parents will give their children their cell phone to play a game or explore in order to keep them distracted and quiet. It is funny to me that in some cases children are teaching their parents about how to use technology and computers. It is very interesting to see how Web 2.0 has expanded in not only schools but in life as well.

Weeks 10 & 11

Expanding the New Literacies Conversation

“The Internet is no more a technology than is a book; its functional affordances define it more than its technological affordances.” (p.3) This quote is very interesting to me. People always look at the internet as a technology, I think because it is constantly changing, but to look at it more as a book in function really makes sense. Books are used to read and discover more information; it's this what we are doing with the internet? The article then goes on to discuss framing the Internet into content areas rather than just in its own standards. Personal I feel that it should be included in all areas but how often does it/can it happen in schools? I think a big issue is that teachers are afdraid of spending too much time on teaching how to use the tools of the Internet rather than teaching the materials of the unit.

Research on Instruction and Assessment in the New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension

Right off the bat, this article mentioned that those who are proficient offline readers are not always proficient online readers. The first thoughts upon reading this I had where: why? Is it because there is a difference between the print of a text and the print on a computer screen? With the popularity of new technology on the rise, how long will it be before being a proficient online reader is the norm? This got me thinking about iPads and other similar devices being used in classrooms. Not only can a student read a text book on an iPad but he can also look up a word he doesn't know immediately. Would incorporating technology like this benefit our students in the long run? What do others think?

Exploring the Online Reading Comprehension Strategies Used by Sixth-Grade Skilled Readers to Search for and Locate Information on the Internet

The few education websites I have viewed over the years do seem to take comprehension into account when creating reading sites for kids. The one that pops immediately into my head is razkids. Razkids is a website that a teacher creates for students to read books on that monitors students progress. The little girl I babysit is in second grade and uses this website all the time. She needs to read so many books in her current level and then needs to complete a quiz on what she read. I believe she has only three chances to get a certain score on the quizzes. This is where the website has created a tool for her understanding. It also provides information to the teacher about where she is needing help with her comprehension skills. It is a great website that I feel is not always used in schools.

November 3, 2011

The second scenario in the beginning of the article Becoming Literate in the Technology Age: New Responsibilities and tools for Teachers was the main focus of the article but the first thing that I read that caught my attention. I teach in a school where there are several groups of students that are from other countries and speak languages other than English. In my own classroom for example, I have students who speak English or are just learning to speak English. One student in particular speaks Vietnamese at home and this is her first real setting in which Vietnamese is not the primary language. I am told that she speaks Vietnamese at home and is very talkative but at school she usually only repeats our songs and does not understand things like “sit on the rug.” I am always modeling to her how to sit on the rug properly and even then she does not understand. The way in which Ms. Doyle laid out her unit with her students would be a great project for our older students. They love to share about their culture and families and it would be a great way to get them involved with other literacies. It also gets them involved with their community, which is usually like an extended family for most people. Our students do have a technology time scheduled into their week and I feel that the technology teacher does a very nice job of providing that literacy to the students. Visual literacy is something that I feel the art teacher would cover in her class but I am not sure how much or if at all this happens. Information literacy is something that I feel our school does constantly. This happens a lot when kids are comparing their backgrounds. Students in the school are very open and interested in where others come from and how they are similar and different from each other. Our students truly love to learn and teach others about themselves.

Webquests

This week's articles are all about WebQuests. I remember doing WebQuests as far back as Elementary school. It was a time when I was new to computers as the up and coming technology and we did not own a computer at home; it was more or less a chance for me to explore and discover for myself what the world wide web was all about. Immediately, in the abstract in the article, A Good Teaching Technique: WebQuests, it stated that "the author first introduces and describes a new teaching tool called WebQuests to practicing teachers." (p. 109) After reading that statement I checked the copyright date and to my surprise I noticed that this article was from 2008. It surprised me in the fact that I had completed WebQuests at least ten years prior, so I was curious to know if WebQuests today were the same as when I completed them in Elementary school. I soon discovered that they described WebQuests exactly as I remember them as a student; following a set of specific instructions to gain knowledge in a particular area in a short amount of time. I can see how WebQuests are beneficial in the classroom, especially to help younger students who may be new to technology or even older students as a guide to help develop research skills in a set frame.

The second article, I Guess it was Pretty Fun: Using WebQuests in the Middle School Classroom, was similar to the first in regards to the fact that my basic understanding of WebQuests has not changed. It reiterate the fact that WebQuests are an increasing popular Internet tools used to help students in the classroom with research and technology skills. One thing I really liked about this article is the fact that it does not describe WebQuests as "busy work" which is one view point that can negatively affects its role in education. Helping students develop the right skills for find research on the Internet is a crucial skill that should be taught in school; seeking out good information over the bad (it reminds me of bad websites that are on the Internet to show students that just because it's on the Internet does not mean the information if right!!)

Classroom Websites

Using Websites Wisely was filled with tips and websites for teachers who are interested in using websites to accompany lessons. This article gave several websites and descriptions of the websites for teachers to consider using in their lessons. One point that the article mentioned was knowing what will benefit your lesson and anticipate any issues that might arise. I feel that these statements go hand in hand. First, teachers want to pick websites that are good as well as pertinent to the lesson; having students on a website that deals with three digit multiplication will not help students learning one digit multiplication. As far as anticipating any issues, I feel that this is something that teachers sometimes forget or over estimate their students’ abilities.

I am going to try to understand this article to the best of my ability as page one would not load on my screen. Making the Most of Your Classroom Website (from what I could read) based classroom websites on levels (1,2,3,4) Levels three and four were described as above and beyond websites that incorporated a mixture of resources and new literacies. One website I immediately think of is mrcoley.com. I feel that this website is frequently in the limelight about what a nice job Mr. Coley does to help his students outside of the classroom. I am anxious for class on Thursday to critique it and see if I can find another classroom website that is a level four.

Evaluating the Importance of Common Components in School-Based Websites: Frequency of Appearance and Stakeholders’ Judged Value did a very nice job of breaking down the components and thoughts that go into making a classroom website. It was a study based article that broke down its results into a chart that was easy to compare. It was interesting to see what information was included on some websites and not others. I also really liked that they included another chart to show the results of a survey giving to parents, students and teachers to see what each group felt was a necessary part of a classroom website.

Flickr

Chapter seven in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms touched on Flickr and its uses. I have heard about Flickr before but I was under the impression that it was a web tool for sharing pictures such as ShutterFly. I did not realize that Flickr was more than just the idea of sharing pictures with friends and relatives. Some positives that I learned about Flickr include the idea of being able to annotate pictures with audio as well as having the ability to post discussions about pictures. It reminds me some what of the albums on FaceBook (tagging, commenting.) The chapter made Flickr seem like it is also very user friendly. I am not sure that I like the fact that it deletes the account after 90 days of inactive use but I can understand why it is established that way.

The articles Photostreams to the People: The Commons on Flickr and Connecting the Dots: The Unexplored Promise of Visual Literacy in American Classrooms gave me more insight to what I already knew about Flickr as well as adding to what I had learned from the chapter. Again, it was reiterated that Flickr is much more than an online album. I also noticed that one of the pictures was captioned asking for help to determine the location of the picture that was taken in the 1920's. It reminded me of Wikipedia asking for help to verify the facts within the wiki. The second article really reached out to the visual learner, which I feel most times gets neglected in the older grades. Visual literacy also adds or corrects the way in which students view not only topics but the world. A student may visualize something, which is great use of the imagination but viewing a picture, video, etc. gives the student a correct image to build on.

Podcasting, Video and Screen Casting, and Live Streaming

Chapter eight in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms got in depth with the topics of Podcasts, Video and Screen Casting and Live Streaming. Before reading this chapter I was familiar with podcasts but have never used them before. While reading, I thought of the TV station my high school had that broadcasted the morning announcements everyday. I then wondered if podcasts were being used today to document the events of the school year. If you were an athlete it would be really cool to be able to keep all the broadcasts for your team; especially if it was a winning team. On pg. 113, the chapter discussed having an aggregator to upload new podcasts; this is something I did not previously know about. I think that this makes having listening to podcasts easier because you do not have to look through lists and lists and lists of podcasts. Video is something I am also familiar with. I remember one year in high school we had to make a video for my Spanish class. It was a lot of fun and interesting because it was something that we did not get to do before. I am also very familiar with Windows Movie Maker. Last year I went to Scotland to visit my best friend, when I got home I took all the pictures and videos from my trip and using Movie Maker I created a movie. I taught myself how to use the program and was able to include pictures, videos, text and music. I felt that it was a very user friendly program to use. Screen casting is something that is new to me but it seems that it would be very helpful in a classroom setting.

Podcasting in the Classroom: A Sound Success and The Educational Uses of Digital Storytelling were both really good articles. Here are some things that these articles brought to my attention:

• Having students using iPods appropriately in the classroom can be a huge success
• Using Podcasts in the classroom can reach out and help ELL learners
• Technology and podcasts can be an attention grabber for all types of students
• Digital storytelling is much more than just a simple PowerPoint
• Reminds me of "mini movies"
• Opens several doors for new literacies and skills

Wikis & RSS feed

                Chapter four Wikis: Easy Collaboration for All defines “a wiki [as] a Web site where anyone can edit anything anytime they want.” (p.55) Wikis are a tool that everyone has access to as well as the power to create, erase, add and change ideas and topics written. This tool opens a door to the way in which people publish their work. A question was raised as to how do people know if the information that they read on Wikipedia is accurate in regards to the fact that anyone can change it; it was answered that, “there are vastly more editors who want to make it right than those who want to make it wrong.” (p.56) As I read about how an entry was made for a earthquake it made me think of a blog in the aspect that the entry was create just after the earthquake happened; it documented an actual event at the time of occurrence. The difference is that anyone can add information to it; thus adding perspectives from other affected areas, people, pictures, etc.  I have always heard a warning about using Wikipedia but after reading this chapter I feel as though people do not understand the editing that thousands of people to do wikis to try and ensure that the information they are gathering is correct.

                Chapter five RSS: The New Killer App for Educators explains the process and idea behind RSS (Really Simple Syndication). “… What RSS feeds allow you to do [is] to [use] a type of software called an “aggregator” or feed collector. The aggregator checks the feeds you subscribe to, usually every hour, and it collects all the new content from those sites you are subscribed to. Then, when you’re ready, you open up your aggregator to read the individual stories, file them for later use, click through to the site itself, or delete them if they’re not relevant.” (p.72) RSS is not something that I have a lot of experience with; I have noticed the RSS feeds on websites but overlooked them because I was unfamiliar with it. However, after reading this chapter, I think I would try to set up an aggregator and see where it leads me; it seems like it could be a useful tool that is easy to establish.  Subscribing to the right RSS feeds can bring in new hot off the press updates to you and students. Older students might find use to follow their favorite topics for a month and write about everything that happened in that month.

                Keeping Up, 2.0 Style is a quick article that promotes the use of RSS feed.  The author discusses how she uses RSS feeds to keep up with what is going on in the literacy world. She also explains how easy it is to follow and gives users freedom from having to check several sites to try and keep up with the changes, especially during busy days and schedules. She remarks that “it allows us to choose exactly what types of information we want to find and what sources we want to follow, and have all that delivered to us on a regular bases.”

                Digital Literacies is another quick article that discussed wikis as a new digital literacy that is becoming a better known tool. The authors give a quick description of wikis and a quick overview of how wikis work. They also encourage the use of wikis in the classroom and provide resources and websites that are helpful for the promotion of wikis.

                Radical Change and Wikis: Teaching New Literacies is an in depth article about how to incorporate wikis in a sixth grade classroom.  It began by explaining a quick overview of wikis and how the “radical change” created a new literacy.  The article then goes on to describe the study in which students in elementary and middle school use new literacies, such as wikis, e-literature and other software in the classroom. The author shares some of the thoughts of the students as well as the researchers working on the study. Finally, she discusses the process of incorporating new literacies and provides thoughts on engaging students in a new literacies process.

Chapter 2 & 3

Chapter two in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms by Will Richardson discussed "pedagogy and practice" (p. 17) of blogs.  It stated that blogs are a great resource to have which allow can allow teachers to post about their lessons, day, questions, etc. and receive feedback from other teachers. This is something I did not think of before but strikes me as a great day. What better way to find more advice and answers for your teaching issues than asking other professionals. This can also allow teachers to get another view point and advice from what happens in other states and maybe even countries. This would be a VERY interactive practice.  On page 20, the author bullets "that blogs can:

• Promote critical and analytical thinking;
• be a powerful promoter of creative, intuitive, and associational thinking;
• promote analogical thinking;
• be a powerful medium for increasing access and exposure to quality information;
• combine the best of solitary reflection and social interaction"

I believe that these are all powerful points to consider when incorporate blogging in the classroom.The author also points that blogging is not just for an ELA or English class; blogging can be incorporated across the curriculum. This is something I have never considered before but makes sense. We are urging teachers to incorporate reading and writing to their lessons no matter what the subject so why not put it in a blog? 

Chapter three also raised some interesting points that I have not considered before. First, it discussed blogging WITH students. I believe that students would get more out of blogging if the teacher posts and comments on what students are saying. This can spark a enriching conversation between the student and teacher while benefiting all the readers. Second, it discussed the option of using a blog instead of a classroom website. I think it would be a better tool to use. It seems that a blog can be updated more easily than a classroom website. A blog would also give an easier access for parents; thus raising the question about getting parents, teachers and students all involved with classroom blogging. I think these are two strong points in favor of classroom blogging which open up new doors for education and classrooms.

HOT Blogging: A Framework for Blogging to Promote Higher Order Thinking by Lisa Zawilinski brought blogging from just a communication tool to a tool that promotes HOT skills; HOT skills are analysis, synthesis and evaluation. When blogging, students need to analyze the topic and what is being discussed; synthesis what is being stated and finally, evaluate his/her opinion. They are strengthening these skills in a fun, new way. Next, she wrote about how her students asked to use their blogs in a different way than just writing about the book they were reading. Lisa took their suggestions and allowed students to create a blog solely based on the individual needs of her students. I really like that she encouraged her students to do something different with their blogs.

Denise Johnson wrote Teaching with Authors' Blogs: Connections, Collaboration, Creativity. I was immediately shocked with the quote at the beginning of her article. "Thinking about launching your own blog? Here's some friendly advice: Don't. And if you've already got one, pull the plug." My first reaction was surprise that this was in her article and I was confused. I'm still not sure about the quote but this is what I gathered from her article. First, I never thought to check authors' blogs. I think back to Jaclyn's Children's Lit class and our author study. I chose Mo Willems, who is a humorous children's author, and can picture him using a blog. I do not remember every coming across a blog but if I had I do not think I would have seen how beneficial it would have been. Johnson discussed in her article that authors' blogs are very quick and informational blurbs. These blogs allow authors to connect with their readers on a more personal note. I am really curious to know if Mo Willems has a blog and I would like to check on other favorite authors. I can definitely see how author blogs can be useful in the classroom, especially with biographies and author studies!

Chapters 1 & 10

Chapter 1 in Blogs, Wikis, Podcasts and Other Powerful Web Tools for Classrooms, started out by discussing the short history of the Internet.  It began in 1989 to a few individuals where it spread rapidly to many people in 1993 because of the Mosaic Web browser. (p. 1)  Today in the 21st century, Internet is everywhere; it is not just a place to find information but a place of communication, sharing, uploading and much more.  Page five describes the 21st century as a "society of authorship" because of the rate in which people are using the tools on the Internet to "publish" their work.  The chapter goes on to discuss the place that technology holds in the classroom.  "Today's schools are faced with a difficult dilemma that pits a student body that has grown up immersed in technology against a teaching faculty that is less agile with the tools of the trade." (p.7)  I feel that this quote says it all.  Our students are more computer literate today than teachers are.  In order to embrace that, teachers need to keep up with the trends and research the newest technology advances and how to incorporate them into the classroom or lessons.  With technology becoming more prevalent, it is important now more than ever to make it a part of our day,

Chapter ten outlines ten shifts that have occurred because of the Internet.  I believe that three of those shifts are not just crucial but more beneficial in the long run; these shifts include portfolios, communication and not being limited to just text.  Teachers will always keep portfolios of student work; a blog or other Internet tools will keep that students work neatly in one place, in chronological order and give it a more professional look.  It is also nice that portfolios will be paperless which will take up less room and space in the classroom.  Next, the ability to communicate with others the Internet already has in spades (in my opinion.)  There are so many sites that keep communication open to everyone no matter where in the world they are.  Because of Skype, I have not only the ability to talk to my friend in Scotland but I can see her too.  Sites like Facebook, Twitter, etc. also give way to communication.  Finally, the ability to not only have access to text.is something that creates better lessons.  More and more teachers are using YouTube videos in their lessons.  This tool may be more interesting to students thus producing a better outcome later.  These shifts are huge in social aspects as well as in education.

The article on Blackboard  What is New About the New Literacies of Online Reading Comprehension gave an outlook on how far Internet has come since 1994.  It stated on page 41 that only three percent of classrooms from K to 12 had Internet access in 1994.  It then goes on to say that 93% of today's classrooms have Internet access. Whether the 93% of classrooms actively use the Internet was never mentioned.  But a 90% jump in 16 years is huge.  I don't think it will be that long before every classroom has an Internet connection and soon classrooms will be equipped with more technology such as SmartBoards, iPads and other new up and coming technology.