Technology for Reading and Writing

As I am taking my current college class I have come to realize there are many technological tools available that encourage students to read and write.  Not only do these tools encourage students but they also increase their understanding of how to effectively communicate, read, and write when used in the correct way.  I already use a couple of tools such as wikispaces and Kahoot! in my classroom so I was eager to find some new tools to change things up a little.  There are a couple of tools that stick out to me as I do my research.  The first is Inspiration.  This application can be downloaded and used on phones, ipads, and computers.  It allows students to create web maps using fonts and images.  I can see myself using this later in the school year when we begin our first paper.  This would give students a good visual on the research they do before they write their rough draft.  I could also see my students using this to create a visual aid.  While presenting they would be showing their knowledge of the required materials read to create this visual aid.  I am sure there are many other ways to use this in the reading and writing world but these were the two ideas that came to mind first.  The second tool I found to be of interest is Curriculet.  After watching the introducation video I was intrigued by the abilities of this tool.  Last year I had the opportunity to test out discovery education (which I LOVED however since it cost a pretty penny my district would not allow us to purchase for our students this year) and I was pleased to see that Curriculet is similar to it.  I can assign students to a reading prompt and within that reading prompt I can embed videos, audio, questions and quizzes. I am definitley giving this a shot in my classroom this year as I found several free books that I can use to help reinforce some of the ancient civlizations we will be covering.  This application will allow students to not only read a selection but also listen to it and test what they understood.  I love that it gives instant feedback.  I use Socrative for quizzes and the students love being able to see what they missed right away.  It is certianly a moral booster for many students.  I will continue to do more research as I love being able to find new things to add to the classroom.  For now Curriculet and Inspiration are on my top list of new tools to integrate into my classroom.  Here it goes!

Literacy in the 21st Century Classroom

     As I sit and ponder this question I realize that I grew up during a time when technology was really beginning to take a strong hold in our public schools.  In the days prior to the 21^st century classrooms were full of blackboards with teacher centered instruction.  Students would often tire and tune out of that days lesson because of the monotony from one teacher to the next.  I remember these days in my elementary and middle school years.  It was in my high school years that I began to see the use of SMART boards and computer labs.  A transition was taking place that allowed each student the opportunity to locate information in a different and faster way.  It also allowed us to create, share, and collaborate with each other in ways we had never experienced.  In doing so we were able to learn on a new level how to read, write, collaborate and critique. 

     In Literacy 2.0 Reading and Writing in 21^st Century Classrooms Frey, Fisher, and Gonzalez make a clear cut as to the difference between literacy 1.0 and literacy 2.0.  They encourage us to look at literacy 1.0 as a means of accessing information where as literacy 2.0 is a means of finding, using, producing, and sharing information (p.1, 2010).  I can see this clearly now that I am an educator myself.  As when I was younger literacy 1.0 was prevalent by the use of paper, pencil, and textbooks.  Today Literacy 2.0 is the star of the show, allowing students to show case their work and collaborate with each other.  Often times my students are using blogs, wikipages, twitter, and facebook to communicate with each other.  It only makes sense for us to use and promote accurate, safe, and logical use of these tools in the classroom since this is the way of communication for this generation.  Frey et al. goes on to say, “Today’s students have a deep-seated need to communicate and collaborate, to access information at any time of the day or night, and to have the tools that will enable them to synthesize, evaluate, and create information”(p.5, 2010).  By allowing students to use technology while becoming literate students they are able to critically think, write, and respond in ways they never would with paper and pencil.  It is my goal to always be using literacy 2.0 but I realize that often times students can use literacy 2.0 without know literacy 1.0.  With this in the back of my mind I plan on showing my students how to access information first and then dig deeper into the depths of literacy 2.0.

References

     Frey, Nancy, Douglas Fisher, Alex Gonzalez. Literacy 2.0 Reading and Writing in 21st Century Classrooms. Bloomington, IN:Solution Tree Press, 2010. Print.

Summer Flew By

I can't believe how fast my summer as flown by after my first year of teaching.  Although it was a wonderful time I am in full swing into the 2015/2016 school year.  This year I'm doing things a little different in my classroom.  I've decided to slowly implement Standards Based Grading (SBG) into my classroom.  Our district will be completely transitioned next school year (16/17) with this year having a select few teachers piloting.  Allthough I'm not piloting I have found several ways in beginning the transition so my kiddos are not so shocked come next school year.   Since my social studies team has already come up with our essential learning standards the first thing I am doing is giving students a learning log over each standard as we go through each unit. 

Example of the first couple of strandards we will be focusing on this year. Students keep this in their binders. They self check by write down pre-test scores, checkpoints, and final test scores to see where they need improvement.

With social studies each unit will cover two, three, and even sometimes four standards.  The second thing I am doing is posting the standard of which we are focusing on for that day or week.  I thought this would be a good visual for those who are working on a project who may not have their learning logs visible while in class.  

Not the best picture, but the idea is for them to see the goals.  Eventually I'll post examples of  student work on this board that has been given scores of 3 and 4.  This way the students can see the quality of work and differences in each score. 

The third thing I am doing is attempting to implement Google Classroom.  I believe this will be essential in allowing students the ability to complete work at their own pace and allowing them the opportunity to explore further to reach that 4 score.  So here's to my second year of teaching, surely to be filled with excitement, craziness, and a lot of learning from my students and I. 
Here are some pictures of the setup of my classroom this year.  Enjoy!