Chapter 10: What About Literacy 3.0? Continuing Professional Development

Chapter ten of Reading, Writing, and Literacy 2.0, was extremely interesting because it shifted the focus away from the students and towards the teacher. It is just as important for us as teachers to be “continuing professional development” as the title of this chapter states. I was very interested by the two models presented in this chapter, targeted to assist in this continuation of professional development. These two models are professional learning communities and professional learning networks.

Professional learning communities (PLC) consists of all teachers and administrators within a school working collectively and collaboratively on an inquiry through shared planning and curriculum development; accessing resources within and outside the school; and providing feedback, support, or coach for teachers. The successful implementation of a PLC requires extensive and sustained planning. A critical component of PLCs is communication. As the chapter states, “it is essential for teachers to plan, reflect, and problem solve in ways that support on going inquiry and integration; however, time to meet face to face is limited” (154). I could definitely see myself as a future teacher using and benefitting from the use of PLCs. It would be a great way to share ideas and gain useful information and tips to further improve my teaching. As the world outside and inside the classroom is constantly changing it is important for us as teachers to be able to communicate amongst one another to ensure we stay up to date with all of these constant changes.

Professional learning networks (PLNs) are online tools that can help teachers find and connect with colleagues and capitalize on virtual professional learning opportunities. By subscribing to professional learning sites to share and acquire ideas and resources teachers can build these online PLNs. This chapter provides us with several examples of PLNs that we could use in the future that we as teachers would benefit from greatly.

Chapter 9: Assessment in a Literacy 2.0 Environment

Chapter 9 of Reading, Writing, and Literacy 2.0 focused on the several ways to assess students and knowledge and ability to use technology successfully in terms of literacy development. As teachers, we use assessments to be able to measure a student’s ability to comprehend and use the information taught within the classroom. Assessments are important tools as they allow teachers to know which students require more attention and help in a specific field of study than others, making the teacher more aware of these needs ensures that all students receive the proper help to get them where they need to me academically. I think it is extremely important to assess students in their ability use and understand digital tools, students that lack this ability will ultimately not be benefitting from these tools.

This chapter explains of the two ways we as teachers can view assessment tools, “assessment is often viewed in terms of formative and summative” (138). Formative assessment, or assessment for learning, focuses on the process of learning, is ongoing, and provides information needed to adjust teaching and support learning. This type of assessments helps teachers monitor a student’s processing and understanding of a lesson or activity. This helps us as teachers know whether or not the material we are presenting our class is too fast/slowly paced and to make further adjustments to meet each and every student’s educational needs. On the other hand, summative assessment, or assessment of learning, focuses on learning at a particular point and provides information on the learning outcomes. This type of assessment allows us as teachers to get a better sense of what students were able to grasp and understand a unit and learned all they needed to before progressing into the next unit. Both assessments are extremely important and without the other it is impossible to have a complete and accurate assessment on students’ learning. However, “formative assessments are most important in assisting students with acquiring skills and strategies in new literacies and informing instruction” (139).

Although these types of assessment are mostly used in traditional learning, they have to be used when teaching and using technology as well. We as teachers must prepare and ensure that students are able to correctly use digital tools when it comes to learning as a student’s inability to comprehend how to use these tools in a way that benefits them educationally it can result in their educational back track. 

Chapter 8: Technology Across the Curriculum

Chapter 8 was probably one of the most interesting chapters I have come across so far. I really enjoyed how this chapter focused on the importance of critical thinking. We use critical thinking in our everyday life by asking questions and attempting to solve new problems. As the chapter states, “the ability to think critically think can happen at all ages and developmental levels” (122). What I liked about this section of chapter 8 was that it provided some ideas for scaffolding critical thinking in the classroom when reading, writing, and thinking about content area:

·         Introduce a concept and ask questions that draw from students’ everyday knowledge and experience

·         Model critical thinking strategies for students and allow students to practice using them independently

·         Create anchor charts that label and provide different examples of a particular strategy that can be used as a guide for ongoing practice

·         Provide opportunities for students to engage in conversations around content in a manner similar to book clubs. Discussion and debate among classmates provides multiple perspectives on content to create more insights and questions

·         Offer opportunities for students to engage in reading, listening, and viewing multiple sources of information on a topic.

·         Promote questioning the author/text as the authority

As a college student I find myself using critical thinking when it comes to many of my assignments and papers. When I think of the concept of critical thinking my mind always connects it with younger age students that are working towards developing the skill but after reading this chapter it has become much more evident to me how much we use critical thinking on a daily basis at any age. I think it was really interesting for this chapter to shift focus from just technology and literacy to technology and the curriculum as a whole, as well as focusing on the important fundamental aspects of learning such as asking questions and critical thinking!

Chapter 7: Writing Online

Chapter seven of “Reading, Writing, and Literacy 2.0” really focuses on the idea of writing online. As we have learned technology is and will continue to be part of the everyday educational norm. As the chapter discusses, many and almost all aspects of education are transitioning from print/text to using digital tools. As the chapter states, “The U.S. National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) recently switched from a paper-and-pencil to a computer-based test” (99). As a college student, I have experienced this transition first hand and see more and more aspects of my education being dependent on online/digital tools. Because of this, chapter seven really interested me and brought to my attention several new ways/techniques to positively incorporate and use digital tools to enhance students’ writing online and overall.

This chapter introduced me to many resources and tools teachers can use to begin transitioning students towards using technology and digital tools to engage in writing online. One of these resources that really stuck out to me was the idea of using digital writing notebooks. As we learned from the chapter, "a notebook (both digital and print) is a place where a writer can collect ideas for writing, write to think about ideas, rehearse ideas and textual forms, try out ideas that might end up in drafts, and develop initial ideas into more extended text" (115). The idea of using digital notebooks as opposed to print notebooks adds endless possibilities for students to further expand their ideas with the use of other media tools such as incorporating video, audio, and images as well. With these extra tools, students can find new and different ways to express their ideas without the restriction of only being able to write down what they want to say or what they are trying to explain. Digital notebooks do not take away from the importance of print notebooks and the importance of having to write down ideas, thoughts, etc. but actually allows students the opportunity to incorporate more aspects of the world around them. Digital notebooks can be at a student’s reach regardless of whether they are in the classroom or not which allows students to write down or add to their already existing ideas without having to necessarily be in school. With an advantage like this, a student has a new way of learning how life outside and inside of school can intertwine and positively influence their learning.

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak

"Where the Wild Things Are" is a story about a young boy named Max who embarks on a fantastic adventure where he encounters and befriends many "Wild Things" who accept Max as their king. Children will really enjoy this classic and outrageous story as they follow Max's adventure due to his wild imagination!

This story is not only cute and entertaining but also has an important message for its young audience that there is a "wild one" in all of us and its important to embrace that in a positive way! This book also emphasizes the importance and fun of having a wild imagination and how with your imagination you can experience the most amazing adventures! This book is also extremely visually entertaining and will definitely catch the eyes of young readers. Where the Wild Things Are is an enchanting and fantastical story that shows kids the power of imagination and the fun our creative minds has in store for us when we learn to embrace our "wild side". This is definitely a classic piece of children's literature!

Chapter 6: Using E-Tools to Scaffold Comprehension of E-Literature

Chapter 6 introduces us to new digital tools that can further assist in the comprehension of digital texts. Some of these tools include, book talks, virtual author visits, and online annotations among many others. This chapter really helped implement new and different ways for teachers to effectively show their class how to correctly implement these tools with what they are learning. As the book states, “as with traditional print texts, teachers need to provide direct instruction and teacher modeling on the reading process as it relates to students’ ability to apply strategic behaviors for comprehending digital texts” (82). The book reminds us of many strategies used by good readers when comprehending printed-texts that also applies to students when comprehending online and digital texts. These strategies include:

• ·         Awareness of purpose
• ·         Skimming, scanning, and reading selectively
• ·         Activating prior knowledge and maintaining the dialect
• ·         Discovering new meanings of words
• ·         Rereading an note-taking for retention of key information
• ·         Interpreting or paraphrasing text and “conversing” with the author
• ·         Evaluating text structure and quality
• ·         Reviewing information

It is key for teachers to assist students in using the appropriate comprehension strategies to students when using digital and online tools. One method the text focused on was the read-aloud method. When using the read-aloud method teachers can present to the class the online/digital tool they are using, for example a website, and go through and explain to the students what they should be thinking and doing as they explore the site themselves. They can go over confusing elements of the website and answer and questions the students have prior to exploring it themselves. The book reinforces this idea about the think-aloud method when it states, “teachers can project a website on a screen so all students can observe how they navigate while listening to them think-aloud about the strategy they use” (82). Although this chapter included several methods and strategies that could assist teachers with further comprehension of online reading and the use of digital tools, the think aloud method really stood out to me as it gives students good preparation before independently working and allowing them to self-dialogue and raise their awareness of their comprehension strategies.  

Chapter 5: Sites and Selection Criteria for Ebooks

Chapter 5 of Reading, Writing, and Literacy 2.0 by Denis Johnson focuses on digital books and how they benefit both students and teachers when incorporated into literacy lessons. This chapter was overall extremely informative to me as my knowledge about eBooks and the criteria needed for eBooks to be beneficial to a student’s education was extremely limited. This chapter opened my eyes to the many forms of digital reading and how as teachers we can find the best form to incorporate into the classroom. As I learned in this chapter, digital media stems from two main categories: online read-alouds and interactive storybooks.  Online read-alouds have the “capability to integrate audio and video so students can hear and/or view stories being read aloud” (66). With online read-alouds students listen to the story being narrated as well as see the book’s illustrations appear as they would when reading the printed text itself. I found it extremely interesting that “some eBooks highlight words or phrases as the story is read aloud to promote concepts about print, word recognition, and fluency” (66).  Although the idea of online read-alouds are simplistic, they push students towards attaining positive literacy skills. The second form of digital books is interactive storybooks which “transforms traditional print stories by adding graphics, sound, animation, and video to create interactive texts, much like a storybook on a CD-ROM” (67).  Interactive story books are a more hands-on way for students to read and analyze a text which helps them “become more personally involved as they learn lessons presented in the storybook” (67). Both methods are extremely beneficial to both students and teachers as they open the door for further learning from a simple book and allows students to grow independence when it comes to reading in general.

Chapter 5 also touched upon the idea of e-readers and how they are and can be a beneficial tool in the classroom. Personally, I have noticed that the use and distribution of e-readers to younger students has become more apparent in the past couple of years. I used to nanny twin 5-year olds in kindergarten who were given their own tablets to use at school and at home for digital reading purposes. This was something that came as sort of a shock to me as when I was growing up it was extremely unheard of for schools to be providing and allowing the use of e-readers in the classroom. I personally do not believe that e-readers and eBooks should replace printed texts as a whole in classrooms but I do believe that beginning to integrate them into literacy lessons and using them as a tool alongside printed text could be extremely beneficial for both students and teachers.