Response to Melanie’s and Carrie’s Reflection

I’m not sure if it is because many of us are going through the same things right now as seniors, or because we grew up in the same time era, but it appears we all have a lot in common. We all seem to have gone through the same process as we developed our New Literacies Project. From the start the three of us discovered quickly that we did not have much technology background, and we would need to explore before attempting to do this project. Once the exploration had taken place we all embarked on different technologies, yet they all resulted in similar projects.

Each project allowed us to show the new information that we have learned in a creative, almost artistic way. What I think we all appreciated about this project was that it helped with two vital teaching aspects: literacy and technology. We had little information on both features and through this project we were forced to learn them. And as hesitant as we all were (and we all were) I think we all benefited from the project. From reading both of your blogs I see that once again we were in the same boat, when I say that literacy was the same to us. Literacy was reading and writing and although that seems like a vague definition I never gave it much more than that. Through this I learned that there are different literacies and different aspects to each of these. I was amazed.

On an ending note it seems that we all look at this project in a positive light and we all see how this will one day benefit our classroom. Yes, I did a digital story, but looking at Melanie’s and Carrie’s entries I was like, dang these are really cool. I secretly got excited when I read Carrie’s website because I kept thinking of all these ideas that I would want on my website to have. I can’t think of a better way to keep my student’s family in the loop and up to date on what is going on with my classroom. After reading Melanie’s blog I also kept thinking of the benefits of keeping a blog. I could keep a blog between students, faculty, or even parents. There are just so many things that could stem from setting up a blog in the beginning of the year.

As frustrating as it all seemed in the beginning, it definitely was well worth it.

Technology Response to Carrie and Olivia

After reading both Carrie's and Olivia's responses, I realized that I had many similar feelings while creating the project. For me, technology is definitely not my strong point and when I have to do anything on the computer (besides a power point), I become anxious and frustrated. I can definitely relate to Olivia, when she said she became frustrated at first, while trying to upload the pictures. I can't even count the number of times I've tried to do something online or other than typing a paper, where I just couldn't figure it out. That goes the same for blogs. When I was first introduced to blogs, I was so aggravated and then I couldn't remember my password or how to post something... But like Olivia, after much practice and playing around with the materials, I finally understood it. Just like I'm learning in my classes, I feel that hands-on activities (and through mistakes) is the best way to learn. After using the blogs myself, and through several unsuccessful attempts, I eventually became used to the technology. This definitely ties into our literacy project, because I'm becoming more literate with technology.

Reading Olivia's response made me smile in many places, just because I felt many of those same things. For instance, she said, "In a way the final product was frustrating to watch because it ran so smoothly that it seemed effortless," and "Through this project I was allowed to get out the information I would have written, but through a creative way." For me, I look at many webpages and sites and think, "Oh, well that doesn't look hard to do," yet if you're unfamiliar with how to do, it can be very dificult. I sometimes feel people forget how difficult a task really can be for people, and they may take it for granted. I also agree that this was a nice way to not write another 11 page paper. A project like this is a way for each student to explore their own interests and became familiar with something in order to express their work in their own creative way. I know that not all people like to be creative, but allowing students to do something like this, it lets us to see a little bit about who that person is.

Like Carrie, I also found my writing to be more informal when I used a blog. I feel that blogs are more casual and friendly for readers, rather than just having a long paper. Pictures can also make it more pleasing and inviting for readers to read about the blog. I also agree that "blogs can be anchors for many technology related experiences." Through this project, it has opened my eyes to new ideas and ways to present topics to my future students. I noticed that Carrie and I had the similar feelings about blogs being used in the classroom -that it allows enough time for students to response to other's, which could then lead to more meaningful discussions. Although there is still a lot of technology I should become familiar with, I feel that blogs are just such an easy way to continue building a classroom community and enriching discussions. I realize some students may not do the work, but I think at least introducing the idea to blogs in the classroom may reach the interests of more students.

Response to New Literacies Project

When reflecting on my own learning, I noticed one dramatic change that I had while using the new technology I chose (blogs). I am typically a formal writer: careful not to use pronouns, using the thesaurus to look up words, making sure to not say “said” too many times, etc. However, when writing on my blog for the project, my writing became much more informal and expressive. In addition, I enjoyed that the blog project showed growth in my learning and was a continuum of my thoughts. Instead of having to have everything together at once, I could look at small pieces of information and move between topics. It was refreshing and more enjoyable to have the freedom with this technology as I felt that I was less inhibited and more eager to share my ideas because I knew they didn’t have to be perfect or I could change my mind.

While creating my blog, I noticed that (as I mentioned in my reflection on Melanie’s blog) that blogs can be anchors for many technology related experiences. It would be interesting to have a classroom blog and be able to access classroom projects from the blog. Furthermore, I found the blog easy to navigate; I was able to include a video bar and “link” list to enhance my blogs. As a teacher, I might use this resource to link the blog to student work or sites that students may use for projects or personal exploration.

After reviewing the GLCEs for fourth grade (my current placement), it is clear that many of the goals correlate with the learning done through technology. For example, I feel that using technology to read and write would enhance student attitudes of both. Students could use digital story telling to share a story; this would be much different than writing a story on paper and would allow students to develop skills with technology as well as writing. In addition, using a blog would encourage student’s growth in terms of discourse in both speaking and listening/viewing. Students have to read their peers responses in order to provide an appropriate and connected response. Furthermore, students have time to formulate their ideas and responses; which may lead to more authentic and meaningful discussions.

Overall, I thought this project allowed me to explore technology in a new way. I am excited to browse through my peer’s projects and learn from their experiences. I feel like I am more prepared to use blogs in classroom and am excited to make it a reality in the future.

Literacy Reflection

When I first started this project, as well as this class, I didn't know a whole lot about the different types of literacies. I always understood it as just reading and writing, but I have been introduced to a whole new language of literacy. Not only is it reading and writing, but it's also speaking, communicating and comprehension. To add to that, there are so many different types of literacy, like social literacy, environmental literacy, cultural literacy...etc. I didn't realize those could all fall under the category of literacy.

To start my literacy project, I needed to become aware of what social literacy was and how I felt about it, as well as figure out what type of technology I was going to use. Although I have had some experience with blogs, I've never really formatted my blog page to fit the needs of information I wanted to present. I spent a lot of time just playing around with the blog and rearranging things to go in new places, so that it would be more aesthetically pleasing for the reading. The more I practiced and played with the blog, the more knowledgeable I became aware of what I could add to it. I found that's the same with any type of literacy -by practicing and becoming more aware of it, you naturally become more confident and knowledgeable about that type of literacy. I'm obviously no expert on blogs, but I'm definitely more knowledgeable about the different types of technology out there that I can use at my convenience. Not only did I learn more about technology literacy, I learned a lot more about social literacy, too.

I now have a much more opened mind about what literacy is and how I can incorporate it into my classroom, especially after doing this project. I will now include technology literacy as a valuable literacy to teach my future students. Creating the blog helped me to also better understand social literacy, and how technology can be used in several ways to incorporate several aspects of literacy. The blog let me see that it's a great way to not only introduce technology, but also social literacy because the students will be able to make new social networks by responding to each other's blogs. It can bring up important issues and topics for discussion through the blogs, which can also talk about cultural and environmental literacy (as well as others). I feel by tying in several concepts and aspects, it's easier for the students to make connections between the things.

This also ties into diverse learners benefiting from the technology I used (a blog). This is because when children are in a classroom, sometimes students may feel overwhelmed, anxious, or unprepared when having discussions about topics in the class. I know that I have definitely felt all three of those things before, as well as sometimes feeling like I would share the "wrong" answer -especially when I didn't know what others would say. For students like this, the blogs are a great way to build classroom communities and discussions. By responding to the blogs, the students can feel more at ease in their natural setting to give response about their opinions. It can also help prepare them to talk about the topic for the next day, as well as see other classmates opinions and thoughts. That can help them to build their confidence to participate in a large group discussion. This type of social literacy and technology can help several different learners. I'm in a 1st-3rd grade classroom, but I probably wouldn't use blogs for that age group. I would probably wait until fourth or the higher grades (like middle), so that they can really think critically about their responses and reflections. This also helps them to gain responsibility, as well as becoming respectful of other's views.

According to the GLCEs, third graders are to respond to other texts by reflecting, making connections, taking a position, and/or showing understanding for the speaking portion. Using the blogs can definitely help them improve in not only this area, but across all the areas. That's because using the blogs helps the students think critically about the other classmates thoughts and posts. It then helps them thinking about their own writing, and helps them improve typing skills and their thought processes. It can also encourage students to read more, type more, and get more practice with technology. And as mentioned earlier, the more practice one gets in something, the more knowledgeable and comfortable they become in that area.

Reflection to New Literacies

In my new literacies project I definitely realized I was technology immigrant. I started this project designing a website but, boy did I have a difficult time with uploading pictures and connecting separate websites to my own. I became extremely frustrated and I’m sad to say I decided to take a different route to my New Literacies Project. I came about a digital story last semester in our TE401. If you can remember Alison gave us a quick overview of all that you can do on Windows Movie Maker. Now, at that time I thought the idea was very cool, yet I did not have the time to explore the idea of all that it could do…until now. After several hours of just playing around to get the feel for it I attempted to put my depiction of Emotional Literacy into a digital story.

What I like about this technology is that it allowed me to be creative without being exhaustedly frustrated. One of my favorite things to read are inspirational quotes. I know that that’s really cheesey , but ever since 6^th grade I have loved them. I thought through this literacy and through this technology I could accomplish both while learning a lot on the way. Although there were many frustrating points, by the end of the project I became quite familiar with this technology. I can see how this technique could be used in various ways for years to come within my classroom.

The most challenging part for me was just learning the ins and the outs. I really found it beneficial to just explore the technology before actually putting literacy into it. By doing this it allowed me to see some of the special gadgets Movie Maker had to offer. Once the project elements were all uploaded the difficulty then became editing and matching up the times. In a way the final product was frustrating to watch because it ran so smoothly that it seemed effortless. However looking back I wish I could have talked a little slower and paused more with the pictures to give a reader a chance to both read and hear each slide appropriately.

By doing a technology project we were asked to step out of the box from the everyday paper norm. And at first I must admit I was extremely frustrated, but the project became to grow on me. I began to appreciate the purpose of the assignment and became thankful I wasn’t writing another 11 page paper. Through this project I was allowed to get out the information I would have written, but through a creative way. I was able to bring in pictures and quotes, both things that I love and are what helps make me, me.

I would definitely suggest exploring first. I would also make sure I set up the outlined story and pictures. A lot of my information and pictures came from the web, and my second grade students are not prepared to go on the web unsupervised. I might also show them the steps that I went through to get my final product. After my example, I may help them with the start off, the first 1 or 2 pages. Now that I think about it I think this project would work best if the children were to work in smaller groups. I see this as being very stressful and unmanageable if all the students were to attempt this project at once. However, I do imagine the students really enjoying setting up a story to share with their peers and their parents. I think with a lot of time and patience this would be a huge success in the language arts department.