Literacy 3.0?

After finishing the last chapter in this book I really do now have a new outlook on technology as a whole. I have always enjoyed the more traditional views of homework and reading but I have come to learn about all the learning tools that the internet and technology has to offer. My favorite part of the chapter was the PLNS. I think that as a future teacher this is a great tool to know how to use. However, like I said in my summary I do not think that it should be the only form of communication used between teachers. I think that if teachers cannot meet face to face to talk about projects/curriculum then this can be a great way of communication. Although, tones of voice can be hard to understand over the internet and miscommunication is something that happens very often to all of us. Overall, I think that sharing experiences over the internet with many people even around the world can be a life changing experience. It is awesome that you can post something on a blog from the USA and someone form Ireland could comment on it. We use so much social media such as facebook, twitter, google, etc, on an everyday basis. Now we just need to bring more learning and sharing into it! If more people had experiences with blogs, I think that it would be just as popular as facebook is today!

Assessment in a Literacy 2.0 Environment

This chapter was all about assessments. It described how assessments are changing and how they are working on how to make the criteria for the assessments better. The new research supports that the new assessments should include:

1.) Be paired with instruction, learning- centered, ongoing and authentic

2.) Support the students’ self reflection and self- regulation strategies

3.) Engage the students in self, peer and teacher reviews of their online learning/ reading strategies

4.) Include multiple assessments and any alternative forms of the assessment

5.) Have an evaluation of the online learning products and processes

The new research on assessment puts a lot of great new qualities into the assessments. These five new assets supply a great online to what an assessment should be looking for.

This chapter also talks about how observation is the best way to assess a child as well.  By sitting and observing a child you can learn many things. I learned in my psychology class that this type of observation is called “Naturalistic Observation” and as a teacher you should not do anything to encourage or discourage anything the child is doing. This type of observation is nature taking its course. This is the best way to see how a child read, writes, and interacts on their own without scaffolding. Another important part talked about feedback. Feedback is important because it gives a child the advantage to know what they did right and what they need to work on. A great way to give feedback is through a rubric. I really like rubrics and think that they are important because they tell the student exactly what you want them to do. In my experience I have had some rubrics that have been very vague and I did not complete all the pieces so it is important that the teacher comes up with a detailed and precise rubric for their students.

            One of my favorite parts of this chapter was on the portfolios. I always loved bringing my portfolio home to show my parents when I was younger! However, these types of things seem to always be thrown away now a days or left at school. After reading about digital portfolios I think that this is a great idea and it gives parents a chance to save them on their computers and go back to them whenever they want. This is a great tool because now students work isn’t being thrown away by accident or lost!

Technology Across the Curriculum

          A quote that really stood out to me in this chapter was from the second paragraph, “The crux, however, is not whether teachers teach the curriculum, but how they teach it.” This sentence really hit home to me because I have experienced it first hand like many others probably have too. During my junior year of High School, I had a professor that did not know how to teach pre-calculus. This professor was very talented and very smart. He knew all of his content because he used to be an engineer, however, he did not know how to teach. I struggled a lot in this class because even though he taught all the content and curriculum to our class he did not explain it very well. I could tell that this was a hard class for everyone. Being a future teacher, I will keep this quote and experience in mind when teaching to my future classroom. I will make sure that I am doing my very best to make sure I am teaching my students the greatest way possible for them to strive and understand.

            Another topic from this section that I quickly noticed was the question asking. In my opinion it is very important to always ask questions just like the book explains. Most students think that if they ask a “stupid” question that they will get laughed at for not understanding. Most children sit back and pretend they understand. In reality this is not helpful at all, this is how students fall behind and become afraid of ever asking questions. As teachers we need to be aware that many children are nervous and we need to address this in a way so each student knows that asking questions is a good thing. Asking questions can benefit students in multiple ways such as learning from the questions asked and stimulating their brains to want to learn more.

            Teachers have to take into account that many students are shy and need to be motivated to learn. We have to encourage students to ask questions and think critically in order for them to learn and succeed in school. Its all about the teachers involvement!