The
literacy I chose for my New Literacies project is cultural literacy. I chose
this literacy because I feel that it is one of the most important literacies and
should be included in the classroom as much as possible.
Cultural
literacy can be defined as " knowledge
of history, contributions, and perspectives of different cultural groups, including one's own group, necessary
for understanding of reading, writing, and other media." Because of it's connection to overall literacy, cultural literacy is incredibly important to keep in mind when trying to teach students about language arts. By teaching students about different cultures, it helps them to better understand the world around them as well as helping them to understand the stories they are reading much better, especially if they are about a culture other than their own.
From the readings for this week, I learned that cultural literacy is even more important for ESL students. These students may not be familiar with the dominant culture that is seen in many books they will come in contact with. Creating more opportunities to learn about a culture and gain cultural literacy also help ESL students to learn the language. Because of this, it is incredibly important to not leave out books with aspects of different cultures when teaching ESL students. According to Gibbons, "rather than avoiding books that carry any unfamiliar cultural material...the challenge for the teacher is to build up the knowledge and understandings that are relevant to the text the children will read, so that by the time the reader interacts with the text, the text will not be so unfamiliar," (p. 83). Again, this shows how important cultural literacy can be in the classroom for not only students familiar with the culture, but those who are not, like ESL students.
Through my research on this topic, I have also come to realize that cultural literacy is incredibly important outside the classroom as well. Cultural literacy not only helps students gain more literacy skills in the classroom, but it also helps them in their daily lives. Students must be aware of the dominant western culture in order to understand many of the things they come in contact with. Even knowing that a red octagon sign means stop is a part of cultural literacy. Exposing children to other forms of cultural literacy of different cultures also helps students to be more well rounded citizens and people as they leave our classrooms.
The new technology I am working with is iMovie. I have begun to do a little searching on how to make the video more interactive and I hope to continue to learn more about how to use iMovie in the most effective way.
Overall, I have enjoyed doing research on this topic and learning more about cultural literacy, and I am sure that I will find even more as I continue my research.
The literacy selection I have made for this project is social literacy.
ReplyDeleteIn this week's readings by Dodge, Husain, and Duke, I found the following quote to be most memorable, "Literacy...no longer only conjures up images of books." I thought this quote was especially important as future teachers need to not only teach students material, but be on the same level as the students in order to prepare them for the future. It is up to us as teacher's to not only fit our students with the proper knowledge, but to do so in a way that allows for students to engage with present-day technology and utilize it to its full potential. Furthermore, in the article, it described digital literacy as both a "functional skill and a social practice." Based upon this idea, it is essential to note that digital literacy connects both learning as well as allowing students to engage in social venues thus alluding to the idea of social literacy.
Another notable piece I took away from the reading was both parent's and teacher's perceptions of exactly how much a student knows about the Internet. Often times I believe we want to take a concept and "dumb it down" for our students, especially in elementary education. With the Internet and technology, these practices are unnecessary. As this article noted, students know far more about the Internet than we give them credit for. With a bit of direction, we have the opportunity to use the Internet for just as much of an informational tool for our students as it is for adults. It is our responsibility to keep our students updated on technology and in order to do that, we need to be able to draw out society's practice and "social-ize" via the Internet as well.
I am still unsure as to what technology I am using, as I am still in a state of confusion as to what/how we are presenting this to our peer's next week. Am I teaching them as if they were my students? Am I teaching them about the literacy specifically or a lesson that incorporates the literacy? My hope was to utilize Jing, an interactive tool that places a camera on the computer screen as opposed to directing it away from the computer. The hope is to be able to demonstrate the idea of a "flipped classroom" to my peers, and Jing is a great way to do this. One of the most valuable tools Jing offers is the opportunity for a student, who is working on classroom at home, to take a computer video of what they are working on, thereby allowing me to see exactly where they may or may not be having hiccups.
This technology deals with social literacy as it advocates for open lines of communication between parent-teacher-student in the event that homework or lectures may be difficult to complete/navigate at home. Why stop one's ability to finish their homework because they don't understand a program when this site allows for me to see what they are doing and direct them accordingly?
Like Kori, I have also chosen to focus on social literacy for my new literacy project. As technology continues to change, social media has become a way of life for now just adults, but young children and undoubtedly teenagers as well. As Kori noted, in one of our readings this week the author talks about how students know far more about the internet than we give them credit for, and this, in my opinion, is sad. So many opportunities for learning and discussions I believe are missed out on when teachers fail to realize and/or accept that their students are more than capable of navigating the internet. Although there are many elements of the internet that have a tendency to scare us, we must, as teachers, keep ourselves up to date on what the "latest and greatest" social media technology is in order to take advantage of not only teaching our students the proper way to use it, but also utilizing it as a learning tool.
ReplyDeleteAfter taking an online course through the university (CEP 416) I have seen how many opportunities the internet provides us with as teachers. Therefore, the technology I have chosen to use (although I am still not 100% sure) is weedbly. This is a website that allows you to design your own classroom website for both students and parents to view. This technology deals with social literacy because it would allow students to view questions from readings online and allows me (the teacher) to provide them with additional (appropriate) sources that they can use to further explore the questions. Also, because parents would also be able to view the weebly on their own, it would open communication between teacher and parent and would keep parents up to date on what their child is working on in school. Additionally, students could also learn to create their on weebly that could be a something like an online book review that the teacher and other students could visit.